The Eagles are Looking for a Senior Analytics Mind
Attn. Sam Hinkie and other nerds: Do you like football? Do you love analytics? Are you ready for all of the hot takes that come with liking both of those things? Maybe the Eagles have the job for you.
According to a listing on Teamwork Online, the Eagles are looking for a person to fill a senior analytics position in the Football Operations department. The duties are to “help apply analytics to units across the football operation…work with football data to draw insights and improve decision-making… [and you’ll] be exposed to all parts of the modern NFL front office, including player evaluation, game preparation, resource allocation, sports science, and player development.”
They’re looking for all the hallmarks of the position, including knowledge of a word you don’t hear around sports too often: Econometrics. What exactly does that entail? A Boston College course from Fall 2014 called Sports Econometrics focused on forecasting team performance, home field advantage, parity, “the importance of population in driving competitive imbalance, the relationship between performance and player compensation,” draft pick value, and more. Basically trying to figure out every way to get a leg up on the competition. So, analytics.
Last year, ESPN the Magazine ranked the Eagles in the “Believers” column of their Great Analytics Ranking. That had a lot to do with Chip Kelly, however. Maybe some part of Chip rubbed off on Howie.
[h/t HOF reader @PhillyPartTwo]