Coach ,

There is a way to gain an edge with your team by better understanding analytics. It can help you build your schemes and strategy and increase your wins. If that has your attention, the good news for you is that most coaches still are not paying attention to this area. 

Matt Edwards, of Analytics at the University of Virginia gave a presentation “Finding the Wins in Statistics.” That’s his job for the Cavaliers, and the opportunities both career-wise as well as for teams to maximize what they do through better understanding analytics continue to grow. Teams who can harness this information can certainly find an edge over their opponents.

Here he identifies the 5 factors of football that make a difference:

He explains how these come into play on game day:

This applies to just more than the NFL and FBS levels.  

Kevin Kelley, now head coach at Presbyterian College, built his entire program around better understanding analytics and building his team to increase their win probability through that understanding. At the high school level, this translated to a 216-29-1 record and nine state championships. 

When he put together this video, Pulaski Academy was 116-3 when they recovered 1 onside kick and 52-0 when they recovered 2. 

Here he is talking about what he discovered about the kick-offs and how that builds into a bigger strategy and their culture.

We also see our library growing which is another indicator that coaches will continue to learn more about analytics and how they impact the game. Here are a couple more compelling statistics and philosophies.

How Much is a Turnover Worth?

Can you answer that question for your program? Indiana state champion head coach Jake Gilbert of Westfield HS did that study and knows exactly what it is worth to his team and his opponent. He shares that here:

Statistics and data are great if they are actionable. Coach Gilbert took that to help build out what his team works on and focuses on in practice as shared in this video:

Strategic Flexibility

Retired head coach of the University of Charleston Tony Demeo is a big believer in in finding meaningful stats and building his strategy around those. He explains his philosophy here:

Again, the statistics are used to build out a strategy that allows them to create an edge. Coach Demeo calls it “strategic flexibility,” and he explains it here using the Vince Lombardi Green Bay Sweep as an example:

As I said earlier, analytics can provide an edge to your program. Find that coach on your staff who is interested, or talk to the math teachers in your school. They may be able to help and even put together an analytics department of math whiz kids for you. 

I am deeply interested in this topic and love to hear different ways you use analytics, so please shoot me a message and let me know what you are doing in this area.

Always be growing!

Coach Grabowski