Soon after he was hired as Illinois’ head football coach, Bret Bielema hosted a Zoom call for current University students. After addressing the student body, he opened up the virtual floor for questions. I came prepared. With the first question, I asked him, “What role will analytics play in your football program?”
I did not like his answer. He mentioned that Philadelphia Eagles coach Doug Pederson was a proponent of analytics, and that he had just been fired. And Bielema made sure to point out that choosing to go for it on fourth down and failing could cost him his job.