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Interesting - Belichick not a fan of Analytics

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Analytics have limited value in football. They are useful for making game management decisions like going for 4th down conversions or 2 pt tries. A lot of dinosaur coaches leave points on the board when they ignore basic probability math. Baltimore is the best team in the NFL right now and they also happen to be the most progressive with analytics. Philly won the Super Bowl the year they were aggressive with analytics too.

But analytics without context can be worse than age old wisdom. If you struggle in short yardage but you have a good kicker and you're up 6 points you should kick a FG on 4th and 1, for example. I see a lot of coaches get greedy when they don't need to. The worst was when McVay called for an ugly fake punt pass in a game this year.
 
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Cuban-Cane said:
“The reason we got beat is cause we can’t tackle” I don’t know man that sounds pretty manny Diaz to me.
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Lol...Except one is maybe the greatest mind to ever walk a football sideline and the other well...He became the first head coach in the history of college football to loser 3 games as 14+ chalk (and won by 5 in another as 27 point chalk and lost another as 9 chalk) in the same season.
 
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skeeter said:
Lol...Except one is maybe the greatest mind to ever walk a football sideline and the other well...He became the first head coach in the history of college football to loser 3 games as 14+ chalk (and won by 5 in another as 27 point chalk and lost another as 9 chalk) in the same season.
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Yup.

Saban couldn’t lace Belichick’s boots.
 
I think the message Belichick is sending is fundamentally correct. However, there are at least two scenarios where analytics make a ton of sense:

  • Game management decisions (like going for it on fourth down -- which typically is the correct answer); and
  • Understanding opponents tendencies. It can really help coaches better prepare their players, if an analyst (together with software) identifies that on 3rd down & long in the redzone opponents typically either (for example): (1) throw to their TE down the middle or (2) their leading WR on a fade to the right side of the endzone.
If you have the resources to perform analytics, it should definitely be done. Emphasizing that over basic fundamentals (like tackling) is an error though & that is essentially what Bill was saying.
 
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When you pick your best play, your using analytics. When you decide to go for it your using analytics. When you decide to kick a XP instead of going for it your using analytics. If you have a QB who struggles to push the ball down the field so u implement a short pass game your using analytics.

it’s always been apart of the game just not explained in that fashion. Sports is always a numbers game
 
As I've said before analytics is an area where, done improperly, it can harm as much as help. Data quality and meaningful metrics are not as easy to produce as some might think. Belichick just trusts his instincts because they work.
 
Canegrad89 said:
I think the message Belichick is sending is fundamentally correct. However, there are at least two scenarios where analytics make a ton of sense:

  • Game management decisions (like going for it on fourth down -- which typically is the correct answer); and
  • Understanding opponents tendencies. It can really help coaches better prepare their players, if an analyst (together with software) identifies that on 3rd down & long in the redzone opponents typically either (for example): (1) throw to their TE down the middle or (2) their leading WR on a fade to the right side of the endzone.
If you have the resources to perform analytics, it should definitely be done. Emphasizing that over basic fundamentals (like tackling) is an error though & that is essentially what Bill was saying.
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If a guy decided to break down the most efficient technique to tackle a ball carrier, and broke it down with numbers and facts a coach would be dumb not to implement that If the numbers and facts back it.

Just everything in football is based on putting yourself and team In the best possible position to win. If you don’t want to use the word “analytical” to explain it is neither here nor there. But it’s always been apart of the game. When a OC or DC is calling plays they are tryna figure out probabilities of the situation and what the opponent might do. Why not have the numbers to help you?
 
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