Seattle Seahawks head coach and self-professed soccer nerd Mike Macdonald simply doesn’t perceive why any coach or workforce would ignore the possibility to lean into information and analytics.
“Why wouldn’t we use the perfect info on the market?” he mentioned throughout an interview this week on the Dan Patrick Present. “Why would you be scared about issues which might be going to probably aid you?”
Macdonald referred to as himself a “psycho information man” who wants “numbers and tendencies.” He has a brand new Tremendous Bowl ring to point out for his teaching type, however he’s additionally clear that whereas superior know-how and metrics could assist assist the workforce’s planning and in-game choices, they don’t drive these choices utterly.
“You don’t need to do what the numbers say,” Macdonald mentioned, including that variables reminiscent of how a sport goes, the texture to your personal workforce, and intestine intuition can all cancel out information strategies.
That data-be-damned mentality got here into play firstly of final season when the Seahawks, going through a 4th-and-1 from the San Francisco 49ers’ 19-yard line, ignored the analytical mannequin that mentioned to go for it. Macdonald opted to kick a area aim for a three-point lead and ended up shedding when the 49ers got here again and scored a landing.
Seattle began 0-1 and 6 months later received its second NFL title.
This yr, Seattle opens towards the New England Patriots, the workforce they beat 29-13 in Tremendous Bowl LX.
Macdonald hasn’t discovered a lot but from that sport, as a result of he mentioned he’s solely watched it as soon as, by way of tape and never the usual TV broadcast.
“Are you nervous there’s a special ending?” Patrick laughed.
