Josh Harris values analytics. Is that likely to be a point of friction with Ron Rivera?
July 25, 2023
Josh Harris values analytics. Is that likely to be a point of friction with Ron Rivera?
13 comments
Only if Ron’s too dumb to understand analytics. The dude has a hard time understanding clock management 😆
No, because Ron won’t be here when Harris really starts implementing it.
It’s a great question. I have two different thoughts, both of which are just guesses based on three years of observation of Coach Rivera.
The first reaction is yes, it hurts Coach’s prospects, because historically he’s chosen and developed players by feel rather than by analytics.
But Coach Rivera is a wise man. He’s a real grown up leader, and grown up leaders constantly evolve to be better. I see Rivera embracing the evolutionary dynamics that Harris brings to the organization, and doing his best to improve the football side by learning about, and incorporating, the analytics that one of the world’s foremost financiers brings to the organization.
Anything less than a playoff run during this season will result in Harris cleaning house and installing his guys. Heck, even if Rivera wins a playoff game, I can still see Harris wanting to get his guys in the building because he could believe that they could do even better with the current roster.
At this point, if Harris requires him to coach while wearing a pink tutu, Ron better smile and say yes sir.
I think Rivera is probably gone after this season anyway unless Howell hits in a big way.
If its long term analytics, it should be fine. Ron shouldn’t be anti analytics, and analytics and coaches gut shouldn’t have to be at odds with each other.
Analytics do not tell you what decision to make in the moment. They give you background context and information to assist you in your decision making.
Now, you shouldn’t take any individual decision and go “well the chart says do X”, BUT you can look at a decision and say “the chart suggests these are the probabilities” and then later, looking BACK on the game, the month, or the season, you can say “:ok the data says our decision making helped us here, hurt us there, did we do a good job? Should we tweak things? Do we need to admit that our decision maker just had an awful batting average AND a tendency to go against what data/logic suggested?”
point is, analytics isn’t going to make Harris overrule Ron. It will give Ron and Josh a tool to make better informed decisions, AND to make better post decision evals on whether they did the right thing.
Didn’t Ron Rivera use analytics when he foolishly went for 2 all those times early in the game?
Who cares?? Riversunk Ron be on borrowed time. I hope he takes that assclown Jason Wrong with him when he gets shit canned.
Football analytics is tough to convert to on field success compared to other sports. I remember an article that the Jags were going to stick with Henne(maybe Bortles?) because his QB analytics (like QBR) were high when he has 2.5 seconds plus to throw. But they never were able to get a line to give him that time. Kahn’s son was huge into analytics. Never really maintained success. Did reach an AFCCG.
I think the entire coaching staff and most of the front office will be gone by next season.
not so tin foil hat theory: EB is the future. Ron is going to transition to a front office role where his input and leadership will be valued, but he’ll be one of many voices in a room that (hopefully) is putting analytics at the forefront. So we can still utilize his football knowledge without it handcuffing on-field output.
Rivera is a lame duck, he won’t be around for the 2024 season
13 comments
Only if Ron’s too dumb to understand analytics. The dude has a hard time understanding clock management 😆
No, because Ron won’t be here when Harris really starts implementing it.
It’s a great question. I have two different thoughts, both of which are just guesses based on three years of observation of Coach Rivera.
The first reaction is yes, it hurts Coach’s prospects, because historically he’s chosen and developed players by feel rather than by analytics.
But Coach Rivera is a wise man. He’s a real grown up leader, and grown up leaders constantly evolve to be better. I see Rivera embracing the evolutionary dynamics that Harris brings to the organization, and doing his best to improve the football side by learning about, and incorporating, the analytics that one of the world’s foremost financiers brings to the organization.
Anything less than a playoff run during this season will result in Harris cleaning house and installing his guys. Heck, even if Rivera wins a playoff game, I can still see Harris wanting to get his guys in the building because he could believe that they could do even better with the current roster.
At this point, if Harris requires him to coach while wearing a pink tutu, Ron better smile and say yes sir.
I think Rivera is probably gone after this season anyway unless Howell hits in a big way.
If its long term analytics, it should be fine. Ron shouldn’t be anti analytics, and analytics and coaches gut shouldn’t have to be at odds with each other.
Analytics do not tell you what decision to make in the moment. They give you background context and information to assist you in your decision making.
Now, you shouldn’t take any individual decision and go “well the chart says do X”, BUT you can look at a decision and say “the chart suggests these are the probabilities” and then later, looking BACK on the game, the month, or the season, you can say “:ok the data says our decision making helped us here, hurt us there, did we do a good job? Should we tweak things? Do we need to admit that our decision maker just had an awful batting average AND a tendency to go against what data/logic suggested?”
point is, analytics isn’t going to make Harris overrule Ron. It will give Ron and Josh a tool to make better informed decisions, AND to make better post decision evals on whether they did the right thing.
Didn’t Ron Rivera use analytics when he foolishly went for 2 all those times early in the game?
Who cares?? Riversunk Ron be on borrowed time. I hope he takes that assclown Jason Wrong with him when he gets shit canned.
Football analytics is tough to convert to on field success compared to other sports. I remember an article that the Jags were going to stick with Henne(maybe Bortles?) because his QB analytics (like QBR) were high when he has 2.5 seconds plus to throw. But they never were able to get a line to give him that time. Kahn’s son was huge into analytics. Never really maintained success. Did reach an AFCCG.
I think the entire coaching staff and most of the front office will be gone by next season.
not so tin foil hat theory: EB is the future. Ron is going to transition to a front office role where his input and leadership will be valued, but he’ll be one of many voices in a room that (hopefully) is putting analytics at the forefront. So we can still utilize his football knowledge without it handcuffing on-field output.
Rivera is a lame duck, he won’t be around for the 2024 season