By MAX GOLD, guest commentator
Max Gold holds a PhD from MIT and has followed the Titans since the Steve McNair-Eddie George years. He's a scientist with a background in machine learning and biology who is looking forward to seeing how the team's new regime uses data analytics on and off the field. He's from New Jersey and lives in Boston.
In 2022, an ESPN survey of the NFL found that the Titans were seen as the least analytically inclined team in the entire league. Since then, the Titans have shifted their attitude and made a series of moves to change that reputation. Ran Carthon was hired as the GM in 2023 and he has spoken at length about the value of analytics. Carthon has also hired people with analytics backgrounds, such as Chad Brinker and Sarah Bailey, for key roles in the front office and chose analytically-minded Brian Callahan as the coach to replace Mike Vrabel.
“Analytics” is a vague term that can refer to many different things, so I was happy to hear Callahan describe it as “using hard, concrete data to help decision-making.” Based on interviews and press conferences, it seems the Titans organization has bought into this definition of analytics, so here are some areas I expect this regime will be different from the last …
