Sloan Sports Analytics Conference Video

The video of the panel I participated in at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference has been posted. The panel consisted of Herm Edwards, Jack Del Rio, Thomas Dimitroff, and myself. Tony Reali was the host and made it one of the more entertaining panels at the conference.

The format kept the event from becoming a dry drone fest. We took several interesting in-game decisions and analyzed them from our own perspectives. Also, Herm was wearing really colorful socks. If you want to know why there is a picture of an air conditioner in this post, you'll have to watch the panel.

As a bonus, here is the link to the other football panel at this year's conference, featuring FO's Aaron Schatz, Paraag Marathe (SF), Kevin Demoff (STL), and Scott Pioli (formerly KC). The videos of the other conference panels can be found here.

Thanks to Ben Levitt, Monte McNair, Daryl Morey, and the other organizers who made the event so much fun.

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8 Responses to “Sloan Sports Analytics Conference Video”

  1. Ian says:

    Thanks for the links!!! I was hoping to attend but I wasn't willing to cough up the $600 or so for a ticket. Maybe next year I need to try to get on a panel so I can go for free :-P

  2. Ben says:

    Those results showing before voting was over would've skewed the results

  3. Ben says:

    Commentator when MJD takes a knee at the 1 "Oh he outfoxed them!". Ok firstly no, this guy is an idiot and secondly, they had an opportunity to "outfox them" by grabbing MJD before he went down and dragging him across the gaol line.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Pioli says that he doesn't believe much in the combine and yet drafted Poe...

  5. Anonymous says:

    I have to say I was disappointed that everybody seemed to agree on all the decisions. It's a shame they couldn't find something more controversial. They also highlighted only bold decisions made by coaches and not the missed opportunities that never become controversies.

  6. DOL says:

    Fun panel to watch! Del Rio surprised me the most - he was much more knowledgeable and open to stat analysis than I expected. Your analysis was interesting as always, and it was nice to see that Reali clearly has a high opinion of you (rather than the usual stats analysis stuff where the host is hostile).

    Maybe work on the breakpoint explanation though - it got too complicated and I don't think the coaches followed it. It's a great concept and inherently simple, so a good soundbite explanation is probably worth developing.

  7. Sampo says:

    Herm gave me cancer.

  8. Matt H says:

    That was a great panel. Reali helped move the whole thing along. One comment I found really interesting is the comment Del Rio made about not explaining his reasoning to the media. What effects do you think you'll see on your model in a perfect world where everyone uses the stat model to make their decisions? A large part of football is misdirection and surprise and knowing the smartest decision and thus the decision your opponent is making could have effects on a lot of these success rates. I realize this is just a thought experiement, but at the same time it could help defensive coaches watching out for fakes or said misdirection.

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