WEBVTT - Bengals Booth Podcast: ABC 0:00:03.640 --> 0:00:06.439 Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:13.760 the Bengals boot Podcast the ABC easy as one two three. Addition, 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:16.119 as I introduce you to one of the guys that 0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:21.239 Zach Taylor hears in his headset during games, Sam Francis. 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:24.600 Sam's title is Football Data Analyst, meaning he's the guy 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:27.680 who crunches the numbers and advises Zach on when to 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:30.159 go for it on fourth down, when to try for 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:33.680 a two point conversion, when to start calling timeouts, late 0:00:33.680 --> 0:00:36.920 and a half, etc. I'll talk to Sam about his 0:00:36.960 --> 0:00:40.640 path to Cincinnati and how he does his job during 0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:44.440 a game. Then I'll spend a few minutes with the 0:00:44.479 --> 0:00:47.879 goat Anthony Munio's and get his thoughts on the Bengals 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:51.400 offensive line improvements and find out what advice he has 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:55.880 for the players the year after going to the Super Bowl. 0:00:56.520 --> 0:01:00.520 The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals. Download 0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:03.720 Ultimate Bengals ahead of the twenty twenty two season. It's 0:01:03.760 --> 0:01:08.360 free to play next level fantasy football with fantastic Bengals prizes. 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:11.120 Get it now on the App Store and Google Play. 0:01:11.440 --> 0:01:13.400 If here's a quick reminder that you can have the 0:01:13.480 --> 0:01:16.840 latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:21.319 or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:27.319 the greatest thing since Jungle to the Hall two. This Saturday, 0:01:27.480 --> 0:01:31.479 June twenty fifth, Bengals super fan Jim Foster is organizing 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:34.880 an event with a worthy purpose to try to get 0:01:34.880 --> 0:01:38.240 more Bengals in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, deserving 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:41.760 candidates like Ken Anderson, Ken Riley, and Willie Anderson to 0:01:41.920 --> 0:01:44.400 name a few. The first Jungle to the Hall event 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:47.520 took place last year in Canton, and this year it's 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:50.920 being held at the in Between Bar in downtown Cincinnati. 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:54.000 I'll be there along with my broadcast partner Dave Lapham, 0:01:54.280 --> 0:01:58.480 and Willie Anderson will be there too. Tickets are limited 0:01:58.560 --> 0:02:02.200 and going quickly, so if you're interested act now. You 0:02:02.240 --> 0:02:04.880 can get all of the details by finding Bengal Jim 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:08.680 on social media or by searching for Jungle to the 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:14.160 Hall two. Now, let's get to my first guest. Last year, 0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:17.000 the Bengals ranked in the top five in the NFL 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:19.080 from most points scored in the final two minutes of 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:21.640 the first half. They were in the top five and 0:02:22.040 --> 0:02:26.560 fourth down conversion percentage, and they won five games on 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:32.200 walk off field goals, indicating skillful clock management in those situations. 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:36.079 Sam Francis deserves some of the credit. As the Bengals 0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:39.920 football data analyst. He advises Zach Taylor on situations like 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:43.240 those during games. I spoke to him this week about 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:47.000 his job and how he landed it. Sam, let's start 0:02:47.040 --> 0:02:50.320 with your background. You attended Bates College in Maine, where 0:02:50.320 --> 0:02:53.359 you had a double major in math and economics. It 0:02:53.400 --> 0:02:56.320 feels like you should be managing a hedge fund. How 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:59.720 did you wind up working in professional sports? So when 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:01.520 I was graduating, I thought I was going to take 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:03.720 a normal job in Boston, like a bunch of people 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:07.000 sort of had a couple lined up. Spoke to one 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:09.079 of the fathers on the lacrosse team that I was 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:11.239 playing for, and I kind of explained to him what 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:14.760 I was thinking about doing, and he sensed little enthusiasm 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:17.000 in my voice. So he knew a guy who worked 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:20.280 for the Bills put me in contact with him, interviewed 0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:22.840 for an internship up there, ended up getting it. That 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:26.680 was a right win. Sean McDermott was coming in and 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:28.359 Rex Ryan was going out, so it was a little 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:30.160 bit of a similar transition to what was going on 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:32.720 in Cincinnati at the time. Worked for them for four 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:34.640 or five months, and then got a job with the 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:38.080 Craft Analytics Group, which is based in Foxboro, sort of 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:40.480 under the Craft umbrella for the Patriots, but it's on 0:03:40.480 --> 0:03:44.360 the business side of analytics. And then the Bengals job 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:46.720 came open, and in twenty nineteen, when Zach was starting, 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:48.560 I threw my name in the ring and ended up 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:54.560 in Cincinnati. Did you read Moneyball or Scorecasting or other 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:57.480 books about sports analytics and developed an interest in it 0:03:58.000 --> 0:04:00.840 a little bit? Yeah, it was. It was It always 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:02.760 seemed like a pipe three while I was in college, 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:04.680 Like you think about how a few few of these 0:04:04.760 --> 0:04:08.120 jobs there are. Um, I definitely saw a Moneyball. I 0:04:08.160 --> 0:04:11.400 read it when I was I was younger. Um, but 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:14.200 that it's just I don't know, it's you always expect 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:17.560 your want to be able to connect your your passions 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:20.440 for math and and analytics and stuff like that with 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:22.640 with your passion for sports, but there's just so many people, 0:04:22.720 --> 0:04:25.400 so few people will get the opportunity to do it. Um. 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:28.000 It's It's definitely something I wanted to do, but I 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:30.560 don't know's it's always you're always hoping for it, but 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:32.240 you never know if it's actually gonna come, and I'm 0:04:32.320 --> 0:04:35.680 happy happy it did. As you mentioned, you came aboard 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:38.239 with the Bengals in Zach Taylor's first year as head coach. 0:04:38.400 --> 0:04:41.520 Did you have specific marching orders or did you kind 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:45.680 of develop the Bengals analytics side of things on your own. 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:49.640 There's some ideas that they had in place, things that 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:54.240 were that were asked of people from the prior staff. 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:56.760 That was sort of why they created the position. It was, Hey, 0:04:56.800 --> 0:04:59.240 we need to find the skill set to to fit 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:01.160 what we're being at to do that we don't really 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:04.480 have that skill set in building. So from the coaching side, 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:06.200 I kind of worked with them to sort of build 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:08.039 it up and make sure that we had systems in 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:10.480 place that fit what we needed to do. Right. This 0:05:10.720 --> 0:05:13.960 thing is so young around the NFL that you probably 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:16.240 look at all thirty two people around the league with 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:19.159 my title and they probably do thirty two different things. 0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:22.080 So what we try and focus on is what works 0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:25.680 for us and solves the problems that we have. The 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:27.720 one person who who I always try and give a 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:29.960 shout out to who who doesn't get outside. As Tyler 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:33.000 grows who's upstairs. So he was building out the scouting 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:35.240 system and he's our web developer up there, and he's 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:37.480 phenomenal at his job, and he builds that out upstairs 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:40.240 and working with the scouts for I think I'm going 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:41.920 into my fourth season. I believe this will be his 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:45.159 fifth season, if not a little longer. And he does 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:47.440 a great job up there. So from a scouting side, 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:50.840 work with him a bunch to add what I can 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:52.680 add to the system that he's already built out for 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:55.720 them upstairs. Sam Francis is our guest. They did a 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:59.960 little Internet research, and I'm fairly certain I saw your 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:03.800 father played lacrosse. He was an All American at Cornell. 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:06.880 He played in the nineteen eighty seven Final four, which 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:10.440 I covered because Cornell faced Syracuse and beat Syracuse in 0:06:10.480 --> 0:06:14.960 the semifinals. How did his athletic success in background influence you? 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:18.480 So he coached me in my whole life from when 0:06:18.520 --> 0:06:20.920 I was young. I picked up a lacrosse stick, probably 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:23.760 when I was three or four, throwing the ball around 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:27.000 in the backyard with him and my brothers. So he 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:30.279 coached me my entire life, all through all through high school. 0:06:30.279 --> 0:06:32.040 He was my high school acrosse coach. He started the 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:36.239 high school across program in New Report God two thousand 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:39.920 and eight ish somewhere around there, maybe earlier than that, 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:43.680 and he was a great, great influence. I mean, never 0:06:43.680 --> 0:06:45.400 missed a game while I was in college, was at 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:48.240 every football game at the majority of my lacrosse game. 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:52.599 So it's kind of that a little bit of a 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:55.440 coaching background that I have. Him and my grandfather was 0:06:55.480 --> 0:06:58.480 the athletic director and coached out in Williston. And it's 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:01.640 probably a sub anxiously what drew me to to a 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:05.440 position like this Since your dad was an ivy league athlete, 0:07:05.520 --> 0:07:08.760 did you discuss strategy and xs and ohs growing up 0:07:08.839 --> 0:07:11.720 or just play like a normal kid would play a 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:13.640 little bit of both. I mean, you always want us 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:14.880 to go out there and have fun. That sort of 0:07:14.920 --> 0:07:19.120 his philosophy to lacrosse is it's a free flowing, creative sport. 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:22.760 That's it's built under some structure, but it is at 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:24.160 a certain point it's up to the players to go 0:07:24.200 --> 0:07:27.320 out there and execute. You can't can't just have set 0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:29.480 plays every time. It's a little bit like basketball in 0:07:29.520 --> 0:07:32.119 that sense. Um, But there's I mean, it was always 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:34.200 my coach there's always a little bit talk of strategy 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:36.000 and how we were going to play and things of 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:38.160 that nature, and who we're playing and how how the 0:07:38.200 --> 0:07:41.800 matchups fit. So you're a linebackerround the football team at 0:07:41.800 --> 0:07:45.440 Bates and obviously played lacrosse as well. Do those experiences 0:07:45.520 --> 0:07:49.640 have a big impact on you now? Definitely? It's I 0:07:49.680 --> 0:07:53.240 think what this position fills for me that uh, you 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:55.280 don't really get in some other jobs. Is that that 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:58.920 sense of competitiveness, right, It's you You prepare all offseason, 0:07:58.920 --> 0:08:00.680 you prepare all week, and you went out and tested 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:02.640 on Sunday, and it's measurable you win or you lose. 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:06.000 I think that's something that I've always enjoyed, is the 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:08.960 preparation and then you get to go actually see the 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:12.200 results of that preparation and how it pays off on 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:16.320 the field on Sunday. So let's get into the nitty 0:08:16.360 --> 0:08:20.720 gritty of your job a little bit. On game day? 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:23.040 Where are you and what do you have in front 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:26.160 of you? So I'm in the booth with all the 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:29.000 other coaches talking to Zach and the other coordinators and 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:32.640 everyone up there, and I've got all sorts of charts 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:35.400 and stuff in front of me. What I always try 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:38.960 to mention is that the charts. It's nice to chart 0:08:39.000 --> 0:08:40.760 everything out, but some of these decisions have to be 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:43.120 made in three, four or five seconds, so you don't 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:46.640 always have time to reference them. So it's really building 0:08:46.679 --> 0:08:48.720 it into your brain and making its second nature during 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:50.800 the process of making the chart, and then during game 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:52.920 day it's you don't always have time to reference that. 0:08:53.000 --> 0:08:54.720 So it's nice to have, but it's a little bit 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:58.079 of comfort paper. At a certain point, can you have 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:01.439 a computer or a tablet in front of you or no? Now, 0:09:01.480 --> 0:09:04.280 the only sort of technology you can have is those 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:08.360 surface tablets that have the play or play pictures on them, 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:10.200 same ones that they have on the sideline we have 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:13.280 up in the booth. But other than that, no computers, iPads, 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:17.000 nothing like that. Sam Francis is our guest. Do you 0:09:17.040 --> 0:09:20.560 wait until Zach asks for your input or do you 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:23.119 weigh in on a headset when you feel it's appropriate. 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:26.719 Whenever it's appropriate. You're trying to anticipate everything that's coming up. 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:29.120 Some of these situations sort of jump up on you 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:33.160 and there is really no time to santicipate. You got 0:09:33.160 --> 0:09:34.839 to just recognize it off the top of your head 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:37.080 and process what way you're going to suggest and be 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:40.240 able to communicate that very quickly. There are certain ones 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:42.520 like the fourth down one, which gets a lot of publicity. 0:09:43.480 --> 0:09:45.960 That's obviously something you can't anticipate because you know the 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:47.959 downs are coming you you sort of give them the 0:09:48.000 --> 0:09:50.280 heads up and first and second down and just try 0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:52.679 and find time where there's dead air on the headset 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:55.520 to sort of slip in your message. And Zach's not 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:58.719 always going to respond, but he hears it, and then 0:09:58.760 --> 0:10:01.800 he'll always always ask questions if he hasn't. How about 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:06.320 during timeouts, timeouts, TV, timeouts, challenges, those are those are 0:10:06.320 --> 0:10:07.800 always a good time to do. You have time to think, 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:09.880 process and there's always a little bit of open air 0:10:09.920 --> 0:10:12.600 where you have more than five seconds to communicate something. 0:10:14.040 --> 0:10:17.160 This is a young coaching staff. Do you think that's 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:21.760 a factor in being open minded about your input? I 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:25.040 think so. I think it helps um, But there's there's 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:28.040 people around the whole staff who don't necessarily fit that 0:10:28.200 --> 0:10:31.600 that that young description, who are open to it as well. 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:34.280 I mean Mark Duffner's office, not not to call you 0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:36.760 old Duff, but using his offices right next to mine, 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:38.920 and I do a bunch of work with him, UM 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:41.720 throughout the season, throughout the office, in really year round. 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:46.080 So it's it is. I think generally it does help, 0:10:46.240 --> 0:10:48.319 but I do think that that there are people young 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:51.600 and old who are open minds to this. So we 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:54.120 think of decisions like when to go for it on 0:10:54.240 --> 0:10:57.040 fourth down, going for a two point conversion is pretty 0:10:57.040 --> 0:10:59.880 obvious things where you might be involved. But what are 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:02.959 other in game decisions that you might weigh in on 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:07.840 to help with with with challenges, UM, sort of timing 0:11:07.920 --> 0:11:10.720 and aggressiveness at the end of the half, just anything 0:11:10.760 --> 0:11:14.400 that really is about managing the game and less about 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:17.079 specific schemes and play calls and things of that nature. 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:20.200 UM just sort of while Zach's calling the plays, give 0:11:20.280 --> 0:11:23.040 him an overview of here's sort of the situation in 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:25.960 the game, Here's here's what it looks like going forward, 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:27.840 here are some things that could come up, and trying 0:11:27.840 --> 0:11:31.280 to anticipate, trying to sort of be able to anticipate 0:11:31.320 --> 0:11:33.520 and give an idea of what's coming, what could be 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:36.160 coming down the pipe. While he's focused specifically on, hey, 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:38.959 here's the first and second down play calls. Here's we're 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:40.959 third in this third and that here's here's what we're 0:11:40.960 --> 0:11:42.800 going to want to call. Trying to take some of 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:45.080 that off his plays that that he can he can 0:11:45.120 --> 0:11:48.040 focus on play calling as much as he can. So 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:51.079 the Bengals were exceptional last year in the so called 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:53.800 middle eight last four minutes of the first half, first 0:11:53.800 --> 0:11:56.480 four minutes of the second half. Do you consider that 0:11:56.559 --> 0:11:58.439 to be a key stat and was that a big 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:01.640 point of pride last year? We've taken a lot of 0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:03.960 pride in that every season we've been here so far. 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:07.520 Last season sort of a lot of it paid off 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:09.640 and we were super successful doing it. But it's something 0:12:09.679 --> 0:12:12.480 that we always focus on. It's the goal at the 0:12:12.520 --> 0:12:15.080 end of the half for most teams, or really for 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:17.800 all teams, is you want to score as the clock 0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:20.320 ends as little time as possible want it so the 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:23.000 other team can't drive back down. And the only way 0:12:23.040 --> 0:12:25.000 to gain an extra possession of football is to also 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:26.439 get the ball at the start of the second half, 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:28.520 So you want to score with zeros on the clock, 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:32.280 get the ball back and score again. There's it's proven 0:12:32.320 --> 0:12:35.120 that that that really has an impact on winning. The 0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:36.760 less time that they have the ball in their hands, 0:12:36.760 --> 0:12:39.520 it sort of ends up being sometimes close to an 0:12:39.520 --> 0:12:41.760 hour in real time without the other offense having the ball, 0:12:42.400 --> 0:12:44.920 and you get it twice in that time, and if 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:46.760 you can put fourteen points on the board, that's a 0:12:46.920 --> 0:12:50.400 big toys winning. We're chatting at Sam Francis, the Bengals 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:52.800 data analyst, what do you do in the off season, 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:56.880 so it'll start right when the season ends, sort of 0:12:57.160 --> 0:12:59.960 help the coaches put the past season to bed, whatever 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:01.959 reports and stuff they need there they need, sort of 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:05.040 turns to a scouting focus from there, help help do 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:08.360 can his staff as much as you possibly can with 0:13:08.559 --> 0:13:10.839 getting ready for the free agency and the draft. And 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:14.520 they've by that point. It's sort of the tenth eleventh 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:16.280 dollar at that point, so so they've got a lot 0:13:16.280 --> 0:13:17.880 of stuff. You're trying to just add as much value 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:20.880 you can working with Tyler Gross, like I mentioned earlier, 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:23.920 and then as soon as that ends, it's getting getting 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:25.959 everything we're going to need ready for the season. It's 0:13:26.040 --> 0:13:28.199 all the projects and pain points that we felt that 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:31.679 we didn't have time to accomplish during the season, making 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:34.680 sure we've ironed those out and have processes and whatever 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:37.560 it may be ready to solve those problems in season, 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:40.400 and then working with the new coaches who were on board, 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:42.720 and so, what are you guys going to need, What 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:44.440 did you have in the past, what are you going 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:46.720 to need access to? How can I help you? And 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:49.040 just get them familiar with what we already have in place, 0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:52.040 but also pick their brain on what they've done in 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:54.000 the past and what we can do to help us here. 0:13:55.120 --> 0:13:58.960 Do coaches or front office personnel give you projects? Yeah, 0:13:59.040 --> 0:14:03.439 for sure, I think coachings. Obviously, it's two different types 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:06.600 of work. The scouting is more of a long term project, right, 0:14:06.960 --> 0:14:09.920 so there are some solutions that work for coaching that 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:13.080 don't work for that just because the form of information 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:17.160 I give you, If it's sort of a short term fix, 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:18.679 this is going to get lost in the whole year 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:21.760 long process of scouting. Whereas coaching, it's you're asking me 0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:23.560 a question on Monday, You're using that to put it 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:25.880 in the game plan on Tuesday, it's installed on Wednesday, 0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:28.640 and a couple of weeks later you may want to 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:30.960 reference that, but rarely you do. It's sort of a 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:33.280 new game plan each week. So it's two different types 0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:37.400 of questions and information. Once more long term, one short term, 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:41.920 but definitely definitely get projects from both sides. So when 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:45.480 I was in college watching sporting events with my broadcasting 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:50.600 want to be fellow students, kids that were not prospective 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:53.600 broadcasters used to hate it because we'd be picking apart 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:55.920 the announcers the whole time. We couldn't just watch the 0:14:55.960 --> 0:14:59.320 game for the game's sake. Do you watch all sporting 0:14:59.360 --> 0:15:03.400 events with analytics in mind? Yeah, I think it's it's 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:05.520 that's part of my job as I watch all the 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:09.400 situations in the league or situations from around the league 0:15:09.400 --> 0:15:13.480 each week, so I'm already watching those with with that eye. 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:16.240 And then if it's whatever, if it's Monday night football 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:18.960 or Thursday night football and I'm not in the office, 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:21.400 I do end up watching it that way. And then 0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:23.920 it hasn't fled a little bit into other sports where 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:28.240 watching the Celtics in this past this past playoff run 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:31.120 that they had and the little trick they did where 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:34.120 I think there was three minutes twenty seconds or so 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:36.480 left and they scored and the ball rolls out of 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:38.480 bounds and they let the clock take before they picked 0:15:38.480 --> 0:15:41.280 it up a toss to the ref. They about twenty 0:15:41.280 --> 0:15:43.200 seconds bleed off before they passed it in because they 0:15:43.240 --> 0:15:45.680 think they're abut ten or so at that point. Yeah, 0:15:45.720 --> 0:15:48.160 there are little clock tricks in every sport that that 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:51.760 maybe I'm not aware of. So there was a playoff 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:55.239 game several years ago where the Patriots used an ineligible 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:57.680 receiver to confuse the Ravens and it led to a 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:00.360 rule change in the offseason the next year. And then 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:02.960 more recently, in another playoff game, the Titans took a 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:04.800 few minutes off the clock late in the game by 0:16:04.840 --> 0:16:08.560 having intentional penalties that was against the Patriots before they punted, 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:12.000 and that led to a rule change. Without giving away 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:16.360 any secrets, are there still loopholes in the rules that 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:20.560 you dream of exploiting in the right situation. Yeah, there's 0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:24.000 there's a few. Um they've gotten. They've done a very 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:27.440 good job of sort of closing the big ones, but 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:31.200 there's a few that we've recognized, and there very unique, 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:35.600 niche situations that probably will never come up. That's one 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:38.040 thing I learned early on working with Dan Pitcher that 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:39.800 I did in the first year is how you got 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:41.600 to prepare for everything. And some of this stuff is 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:43.000 probably never going to come up, but you've got to 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:44.680 treat it as if it is. You've got to take 0:16:44.680 --> 0:16:46.120 it seriously, and you've got to have a plan for 0:16:46.160 --> 0:16:49.160 if because because the worst thing is if it comes 0:16:49.200 --> 0:16:52.000 up and you recognize if it aren't prepared to sort 0:16:52.000 --> 0:16:54.560 of take advantage of it or to handle that situation. 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:57.240 So that's that's one of my jobs is to know 0:16:57.280 --> 0:16:59.400 the rule book inside and out and be able to 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:03.160 advise act when those sorts of things come up. But 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:05.920 there's there. They've done a really good job of making 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:08.800 sure that there aren't those those little loopholes in the 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:12.480 rule book like you mentioned. How does a data analyst 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:16.919 deal with luck? I think that's football. I think that's 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:20.600 what makes football as successful of business as it is. 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:23.720 That's why it has the popularity. It's it's not predictable. 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:26.960 Um it's Baseball is probably the most predictable and that's 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:31.720 the example. But that's what makes football. Football makes football 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:34.480 great is on any given Sunday, you don't know who's 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:36.920 going to win, right, and it is predictable to a sense. 0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:38.359 That sort of my job is to try and make 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:41.679 it as predictable as possible and be able to predict 0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:43.920 certain things that are going to come up. But that's 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:47.200 that's why people love football. Is on any given Sunday, 0:17:47.200 --> 0:17:50.280 any team can come out on top. So I hear 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:52.960 from a lot of aspiring young sportscasters who would like 0:17:53.000 --> 0:17:55.680 to get into broadcasting. I imagine a lot of young 0:17:55.680 --> 0:17:57.520 people would like to do what you're doing right now. 0:17:57.560 --> 0:18:00.760 What advice do you give them? Find a way gain experience. 0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:05.480 That's what I always tell them. There's battle thirty two 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:07.440 of these jobs, but there's I mean there's more than that, 0:18:07.480 --> 0:18:10.280 because obviously teams have multiple people in certain positions, but 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:12.639 there's very few of these jobs. And what people are 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:14.840 always looking for in a job is you have to 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:17.640 have experience, right, and that's a tough thing to get 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:20.400 for this job because there's only so many sports teams 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:22.120 that you can go work for that have these positions. 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:25.280 So I always tell them, you're always going to lead 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:27.800 with Hey, I want to, like I mentioned earlier, connect 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:30.720 my passions for math and analytics with my passion for sports. 0:18:30.760 --> 0:18:33.919 That's awesome. That's that's great, Like, you can't do this 0:18:34.000 --> 0:18:37.679 job without that. But I always look for the follow 0:18:37.720 --> 0:18:40.679 up of So I did whatever right. I did this 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:43.399 project on my own time. It was my thesis or 0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:46.400 for this class, whatever it may be. I took this internship. 0:18:46.960 --> 0:18:49.440 One of the big ones now is Michael Lopez, who's 0:18:49.440 --> 0:18:52.520 the director of Analytics with the NFL, is actually a 0:18:52.600 --> 0:18:56.200 Bates grad as well. So he runs every year this 0:18:56.760 --> 0:19:00.119 competition called the Big Data Bowl, and it's open or 0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:03.080 He takes actual NFL data to the next gen stats 0:19:03.160 --> 0:19:05.760 data I think this past year at PFF Data as well, 0:19:05.760 --> 0:19:07.680 and he provides it publicly to anyone who wants to 0:19:07.800 --> 0:19:11.000 enter the competition. You get to work with real NFL 0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:16.480 data and solve problems brainstormed by real NFL people, coaches, scouts, etc. 0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:21.520 And you get to submit a project. It's part of 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:25.280 the competition, and there's judges. I believe a couple of 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:29.640 years ago the new GM of the Vikings, Questia Dopelmenta, 0:19:30.119 --> 0:19:32.000 was a judge in it. So there are real NFL 0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:34.879 people looking at this, and to me, that's probably the 0:19:34.880 --> 0:19:39.240 greatest way to gain experiences is to solve actual NFL 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:41.600 problems with actual NFL data and have them judge by 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:43.800 actual NFL people. I don't think it gets much better 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:46.199 than that. So that's I always point people in that 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:48.240 detection of if you're looking to do this, you've got 0:19:48.240 --> 0:19:50.520 to sort of take initiative to gain experience. It's not 0:19:50.560 --> 0:19:52.960 an easy thing, but here's sort of a competition and 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:55.919 a resource that's out there for you to do. So. 0:19:56.880 --> 0:20:00.520 Did you write a football related thesis, Abates did. I 0:20:00.560 --> 0:20:05.720