(SportsRadio 610) - With the Texans moving on from David Culley after one season and replacing him with defensive coordinator Lovie Smith, it's worth noting they went from one coach in his 60s to another one.
Culley, 66, was notoriously adverse to analytics over his gut feeling. He alluded to this several times in press conferences over the course of last season.
Smith, 63, did not speak much on analytics when meeting with media members Tuesday as he was announced to be the Texans' new head coach.
But general manager Nick Caserio joined Payne & Pendergast on Wednesday morning for a wide-ranging interview, which included questions about how this new coaching staff will use analytics to inform their decisions.
To Caserio, "analytics" is just a fancy word for "information." Most coaches use it, even if that's not what they call it.
"You just have to find the right information," Caserio said. "We're fortunate enough to have access to a lot of different ideas, a lot of different areas, and it's really how you incorporate that into your overall weekly game-planning. Let's say you want to look at a number of third down plays, look at the amount of times that they're in the (shotgun), look at the amount of times that the back is offset, whether it's near or far. Is it run or pass on 3rd and 2 (to 3rd and 6). Those are things that you can process. I think analytics is really about making decisions. So, it's more decision-making science than it is analytics. So, analytics is kind of a fancy term. But really what you're trying to do is process that information and as you formulate different game plan ideas, or different schematic thoughts, try to figure out what's the best way to deploy our resources, to deploy our assets. It's the same thing offensively. I know (offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton) uses a lot of information on a week-to-week basis and some of the technology that we have available, he finds valuable.
"So, I think what's happened is regardless of how long you've been in the league, everybody has different philosophies, is how you use that information, being open-minded to that information. And it doesn't necessarily mean you have to use everything. You have to use the information that you feel is appropriate, that makes the most sense, that you can make the right decision. It's really about what happens during the course of the week, because once you get to Sunday, things happen so quickly. ... Your preparation beforehand is going to give you the best chance going into the game. And if something happens real-time and you have to make a decision or an adjustment, maybe you have a guide or resource that tells you what you're going to do in that situation. Those things happen pretty quickly, so a lot of it is utilized during the course of the week and your decision-making mechanism. So, how different coaches use that is on an individual comfort level. But I would say, more and more coaches are open-minded to the idea because it's available. So if it's there, we might as well use it."
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Brandon Scott is the senior digital content coordinator for SportsRadio610.com. Follow him on Twitter @brandonkscott .
