Steelers: Analytics? We don't need no stinking analytics!

Team Gut Feeling marches on.

https://steelersdepot.com/2021/07/steelers-lose-analytics-front-office-member-to-jets/

 

Interesting. I didn't know we even had an analytics department. Maybe we started one to be more inclusive?

And I'm not sure how I feel about this. It's not like Tomlin uses anything but his gut to make decisions, so why try to be proactive/prepared/productive?

So did the dude leave because it was futile working with analytics here? Or did we only need 1 person in that department? Or was he bad at his job? I mean, he went to the Jets. Not like he was a superstar in his field.

 

This has been known news since the day Tomlin was hired. He has never been an analytics driven coach. I do not expect that to change either.


Relying heavily on analytics in a sport with infinite variables is illogical anyhow. Something like Baseball, Soccer, Golf and to an extent in Hockey is something analytics can thrive in as the variables are more controlled in those domains. In American Gridiron Football where literally anything can happen?!?! Heck to the no.



All this said, having a good balance of analytics is not a bad thing at all.

 

Welp, we're doomed we lost a analytics guy .

 

He said he didn't feel wanted, needed , Used enough, or some crybaby analytical crap.

 

I see what you did there!

 

What's Tomlin gonna do now with 1/2 his analytic department? Use MORE of his gut to make decisions?

 

Analytics will only take you so far. Good coaches use a combination of analytics and instinct to be successful.

Tomlin trusts his gut more than he does numbers. I have no doubt. I dont dislike that about him.

 

It's more than big enough

 

I don't think that was ever in question.

I'm counting down the minutes for an apologist to show up and say that his gut can be whatever size he wants it since he's never had a losing record and that the mark of a great coach is what he does in the regular season and that he should already have been enshrined in the hall.

 

Looking at my post above, I just realized something. There's a lot of men winking at each other on this message board.

 

I could do with fewer fullback dives and punts on 4th and short when trailing by multiple scores.

 

This. Analytics can't measure heart, desire, the ability and will to improve, etc. They are cold hard numbers based on relevant parameters. I believe it is a useful technology, but I think some teams across all four major U.S. sports place too much importance on them. To me, analytics helps separate capable pros from borderline or practice squad players. I think they also help identify players that might be more efficient in certain systems than others. I don't think any coach needs analytics to identify All-Pros. As such I really could care less what PFF or some of these other analytics media sites have to say about a player. If a guy can make plays, especially in critical situations then I want him on my team if he isn't a slap-d!ck.

 

I would give You 2 winners for this, but they only allow me one.

 

I always found them more useful for Defense and I also thought they had good value for your Offense from a make sure we are not being to predictable from a play calling standpoint..

 

Moneyball comes to mind. Now if we can win 20-21 straight like the Oakland A's did I'm all for analytics.

 

To the Jets at that, you have to wonder how this guy came up with the analysis to go there...collect a paycheck with an historic organization knowing you really are doing nothing...or go to a place where all analytics would suggest your career will die within two years.

 

We've tried "want it more, beat the man across from you" in the last two playoff games, to no avail. Maybe we need to tell Robert Spillane in a very stern voice next time that he has to beat Jarvis Landry one-on-one.

 

Hmm....


In terms of schematics? Analytics do have their benefits. Scouting? Hard pass.

 

You're spot on with one side of this coin. Analytics aren't just about personnel decisions, however. I agree that analytics don't measure intangibles. But where they do come into play are tendencies and patterns as they relate to game-time decisions. Team X has a personality and a coach that makes decisions based on scenarios. Analytics can tell you that on a certain down, at a specific time in the game, with a certain score differential, and certain weather conditions, the coach is more likely to attack or defend in a certain way. No offense to @AskQuestionsLater, but we are creatures of habit, and football is played between the ears. It is a chess match. And analytics can be extremely beneficial here. When a coach makes decisions based on gut feelings, he's going to make similar decisions in similar situations. Analytics can find the most likely decision he will make.

 

I don’t know that it’s thst hard to understand. The analytics guy is question is likely just a front office hack, he’s not a player, a coach or a scout. He’s more like the communication guys or accountants. He’s probably a mid level guy who went looking for a job that paid more and found it.

 

Again everyone, neither is to be fully employed when dealing with game based or scouting based decisions. For that matter, analytics as a whole date back to when the Dallas Cowboys were the first team to use computing abilities to scout players way back during the late 60s all the way up until Gil Brandt's removal in 1989 when Jerry Jones purchased the team. I personally have little to no doubt that some form of analytics even played in the factors of selecting some of those legendary 70s players. That said, at the end of the day, the NFL was, has and always will be about two major aspects; player, coach, GM or Owner.


1.) Perseverance


2.) Desire



Analytics cannot and will never measure either. They do have their place in the game.... just not to the substantial degree other teams believe.

 

Maybe it has nothing to do with analytics, but that the people hired didn't work out.
Kassim left in 2019, but he didn't last long in Jacksonville.

When Lake was let go, it wasn't that the team decided they weren't going to use a DB coach anymore.

 

Well isn't that a little more like scouting the other team???? Not really analytics is it???
I believe all teams scout other teams.
I could be wrong

 

My opinion was based strictly on player evaluation. But, great point, and I'll bet Belicheat employed this years before anyone else.