Bills’ Analytics Department Highly-Ranked

[Magox]

On 1/22/2022 at 2:19 PM, Coach Tuesday said:

Somehow missed this article during the regular season.  Anonymous front office execs were polled by ESPN about the most analytically-minded franchises and Buffalo ranked as the 3rd highest level of analytical work product.  Dennis Lock, the Bills’ Director of Football Research and Strategy, got a call-out as someone who might get a big front office job some day.

 

Thought this was really interesting considering Beane and Schoen basically built the analytics program from scratch when they got here.  And it’s a reason Schoen was such an attractive GM candidate for a team like the Giants after their Stone Age approach to team-building under Gettleman.

 

Anyhow, apologies if this was posted back in the fall, if so I just missed it and thought it was worth a thread given Schoen’s departure.

 

Yep, I remember reading this when the Bills were going to be embarking upon their new analytics program and how it was being built from the ground up.   Glad to see that it has been paying off for us, yet another feather in the cap for Beane/McDermott and what they have built for this Bills franchise.

[machine gun kelly]

Analytics aren’t something new.  They’ve been using analytics in some form for decades.  I’m glad we made a commitment to the program, and it’s how McD uses it in games, and Beane in selections of players meeting McD’s requests for what they mutually believe will work to improve the team.

[ColoradoBills]

23 minutes ago, machine gun kelly said:

Analytics aren’t something new.  They’ve been using analytics in some form for decades.  I’m glad we made a commitment to the program, and it’s how McD uses it in games, and Beane in selections of players meeting McD’s requests for what they mutually believe will work to improve the team.

 

First time hearing about "analytics" was watching North Dallas Forty as a kid.

 

 

[machine gun kelly]

10 minutes ago, ColoradoBills said:

 

First time hearing about "analytics" was watching North Dallas Forty as a kid.

 

 

Thats funny as he gets teased by some on this board as he is getting senile now and needs to get off NFLR, but HOF Gil Brandt was known for using analytics in the 60’s and 70’s for the Cowboys.  It’s well documented by other people he was an innovator back then just like Paul Allen.

[boater]

5 hours ago, machine gun kelly said:

Thats funny as he gets teased by some on this board as he is getting senile now and needs to get off NFLR, but HOF Gil Brandt was known for using analytics in the 60’s and 70’s for the Cowboys.  It’s well documented by other people he was an innovator back then just like Paul Allen.

Who is Paul Allen? Co-founder of Microsoft fame, or of American Psycho fame?

[machine gun kelly]

14 minutes ago, boater said:

Who is Paul Allen? Co-founder of Microsoft fame, or of American Psycho fame?

I’m sorry Boater, it must have auto corrected, George Allen.  He was a pioneer in the 70’s and earlier.  He coached the Rams and Redskins.

Edited June 4, 2022 by machine gun kelly

[Chandler#81]

7 hours ago, wppete said:

I miss the legend that is Buddy! Where is he these days???

I called him earlier. He was napping.. 💤 😴 

[boater]

9 minutes ago, machine gun kelly said:

I’m sorry Boater, it must have auto corrected, George Allen.  He was a pioneer in the 70’s and earlier.  He coached the Rams and Redskins.

I googled George. An impressive record. He coached college, NFL, USFL and CFL. I think he stands unique in that achievement alone.

[machine gun kelly]

Sure, he was innovative and Bill Walsh credited learning a lot of his tenets of coaching from Allen.  He was ahead of the game in analytics, and how he was ahead of his time in offensive schemes.

42 minutes ago, Chandler#81 said:

I called him earlier. He was napping.. 💤 😴 

That old coot.

[Orlando Buffalo]

Analytics are only as good as the guys using them,and I say that as a math teacher, because all MLB teams crunch the numbers the same but some teams can find ways to use that to make a good team, regardless of salary. In football you need your vision and then to find what stats help build that team 

[wppete]

50 minutes ago, Chandler#81 said:

I called him earlier. He was napping.. 💤 😴 

 

 

[Sierra Foothills]

1 hour ago, boater said:

I googled George Allen. An impressive record. He coached college, NFL, USFL and CFL. I think he stands unique in that achievement alone.

 

Coincidentally Bills HOF Coach Marv Levy is a George Allen protege and like Allen was a Head Coach in college and all three pro leagues.

 

In college he was head coach at New Mexico, Cal, and William and Mary.

 

In the pros Levy was head coach for the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, the CFL's Montreal Alouettes, and the USFL's Chicago Blitz before getting the head job in Buffalo in 1986.

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

1 hour ago, machine gun kelly said:

I’m sorry Boater, it must have auto corrected, George Allen.  He was a pioneer in the 70’s and earlier.  He coached the Rams and Redskins.

 

1 hour ago, boater said:

I googled George. An impressive record. He coached college, NFL, USFL and CFL. I think he stands unique in that achievement alone.

 

Think his "slogan" was "The future is now" as he was also famous for trading away draft picks like they were candy for vets.  LOL Must be something about coaching the Rams though from what I recall, he was more known for trading them away when coaching Redskins

[boater]

35 minutes ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

Coincidentally Bills HOF Coach Marv Levy is a George Allen protege and like Allen was a Head Coach in college and all three pro leagues.

 

In college he was head coach at New Mexico, Cal, and William and Mary.

 

In the pros Levy was head coach for the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, the CFL's Montreal Alouettes, and the USFL's Chicago Blitz before getting the head job in Buffalo in 1986.

Thanks. I was not aware that Marv had USFL experience. Marv was a learned and well rounded man for certain.

[Sierra Foothills]

9 minutes ago, boater said:

Thanks. I was not aware that Marv had USFL experience. Marv was a learned and well rounded man for certain.

 

Boater, check this out:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Pardee

 

 

John Perry Pardee (April 19, 1936 – April 1, 2013) was an American football linebacker and the only head coach to helm a team in college football, the National Football League (NFL), the United States Football League (USFL), the World Football League (WFL), and the Canadian Football League (CFL). Pardee was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1986.

[machine gun kelly]

8 hours ago, boater said:

Thanks. I was not aware that Marv had USFL experience. Marv was a learned and well rounded man for certain.

 

Boater, you’ve helped add to an interesting conversation as Allen never had a losing record.  He stood toe to toe against the vaunted Dolphins and Cowboys and won some of those games.  He turned around the Rams who had 8 losing seasons and made them a winner.

 

One of the nice things on this board is each of us can add to other conversations on the history of the NFL. Brandt was doing old fashioned analytics in the 60’s.  He helped Landry win a couple of SBs in the 70’s and at least get there a couple more times, but just couldn’t beat the Steelers.

[TBBills]

So the Analytics say the Bills are good at Analytics...

[Don Otreply]

On 6/3/2022 at 9:35 AM, Watkins101 said:

Maybe they need analytics on their use of analytics 😂. 
 

I honestly think analytics has a more impactful place in other sports like Hockey where each player has more of a role, and you can derive possession numbers, transition numbers, etc. I feel like in football the eye test is a bit more effective/prominent, but there certainly is room for analytics as a tool for evaluation. 

Agree, what comes to mind for me every time the word analytics is used, “ he gets on base” 😁👍

[Mr. WEO]

How would any one analytics staff know so much about all other teams' analytics staff and use of analytics?

 

How can the Browns be at the top of multiple lists--is is because they simply have the biggest analytics staff?  Their decision making, as a team, has been chaotic for years.

[Another Fan]

The over dependence on analytics kinda ruined sports for me.  Takes the heart out of the game.

 

That being said I'm not anti-analytics.  But rather all this extreme over dependence on them 

6 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

How can the Browns be at the top of multiple lists--is is because they simply have the biggest analytics staff?  Their decision making, as a team, has been chaotic for years.

Well imo then that shows analytics certainly doesn’t account for communication skills