RIP-James A.Lights Website

THAT STINKS!!! That site was UNBELIEVABLE!!!!  

I noticed earlier in the week the All 22 films had been pulled... Man that really does stink!! 

No! Damn them!

This is the first that I've ever heard of this site. To the guys who are sad to see it go, you had to know that this day was coming eventually. Auburn is wearing the black hat here but if it wasn't them it would have been somebody else. The fact is that Light was sharing stuff that wasn't his to give away.

I would like all the tcu clinic videos, if they're online somewhere else can we link them? Scribd, Google drive? Really would like to locate them.

Years ago, before the internet, it was possible to get stuff like game film, cutups, and even playbooks pretty easily. Some college coaches would send you a DVD even if they didn't know you well. The internet sharing culture dried that up. Coaches got tired of seeing stuff that they gave away getting posted online. Maybe it's paranoid but it is their right. It's their stuff. The last few times that I got anything other than drill tapes it was only from somebody who I knew pretty well and only that they mentioned that they didn't expect to see it travelling around. 

One of my best friends coaches at a D.1 school. He can't give me tape. They have a hard rule that nothing leaves the building anymore. If you visit, they're welcoming. They'll talk to you and let you watch tape but you can't take anything home. That's been the rule at every place that I've visited lately. 

So, whoever first acquired those game tapes should have known that there was at least an implied promise that it was for their use only. If I gave somebody something then saw it online I'd consider it a breach of trust. 

I just don't understand this. The only people this hurts are HS and small college coaches. That site is only used for educational purposes. It's not like someone is going to watch it and post a top secret code on how to melt Auburn's face on Huey

It's their's and was posted without permission. What's their benefit? Better coaching equals better recruits? Naw, that's a function of genetics rather than HS coaching. Opponents already have all that info? Maybe. Maybe not. I'm sure that Alabama has a full library of Auburn tape but maybe Louisville doesn't. Even if it is paranoid, it's their stuff and they have the right yo be paranoid with it. 

BTW, let me make it clear that I don't think there was anything morally wrong with the site. Hell, I would have watched it too if I'd known about it. I'm just saying that I don't see Auburn as a bad guy in this (and I'm not an Auburn fan).

Can you DVR an all-22?

If you're talking about the Chad Glasgow ones, pretty sure those are TFS property, for what it's worth.

When I first saw his site, my first instinct was "This isn't going to last."

It's unfortunate, but I don't really feel the outrage that some of you guys are showing.

I was on there all this week, I wasn't finished with the Patriots Y Stick

I share film with our staff and few other coaches by simply having an unlisted YouTube link. I copy clinic videos that I buy and then I can also watch it anywhere. No one can find the video unless they have the specific link.

You can also do like Tim Murphy has started doing and put everything on Vimeo and sell login information. There are a lot of different ways to protect video online.

If he'd been selling the film outright, I think this would've gone a lot worse for him, tbh.

As far as film being secure on Vimeo, that's not true.  Pretty easy to download a program to rip videos off of that service.

James Light is a good guy and I think he was doing good work with his site, but the reality is I saw a lot of stuff on that site which had been shared with me by others only on the promise that I not share it. Right or wrong, there was bound to be blow-back.

Now, eventually the networks/conferences might do something like what the NFL has done with all-22, but for now all of that stuff is intellectual property they own. This is one reason why with my site and works I always try to be sure to "transform" the work into something original -- an article, a video clip that isn't just someone else's video, etc -- because then it becomes an original work and not just posting something owned by someone else.

There are good questions asked when people point out that there's something weird about the fact that the public (coaches, fans, etc) don't get to watch the film but their opponents do, but that's also their prerogative with video, materials, etc owned by someone else.

I have always tried to be very careful with my work that I don't publish things that could be seen by the coaches themselves as competitively hurting them, or even a gray area. It's not worth it. And I can say I've had blowback from coaches who confused what I do with what some of the more recent sites have done with just dumping information on the internet wholesale, and I had to point out I don't do that and they softened up (and then shared info). I'm not saying this is a good way to be but it is reality.

Information travels a lot faster on the internet now, but it's also still a game built on relationships and trust (not to mention a little paranoia). And keep in mind too that if the conferences/schools decide to put the all-22 out there they still won't want websites publishing it elsewhere, because they will want you to pay for it.