Good interview. There's a segment towards the end that sums everything up pretty nicely. It's easy to get lost in all the ambiguities and how they apply to "analytics in football". This isn't word for word, I was just jotting it down in context...
Quote:
How we judge results... we reject the narrative that we're going to create some magic formula that will be correct 100% of the time and default to Paul DePodesta's mantra.
Creating better frameworks for making decisions under uncertainty.
Although it's a broad term, it comes through in the use of our data and creating our models, it comes through in outlining a process for making decisions and adhering to that process. In essence, it's a bunch of small decisions that add up to wins over time.
I think the whole "analytics approach" is misunderstood by most fans. There isn't some magic algorithm running the draft or scripting the first twenty plays of a game. It's about data sets being available for every circumstance. With FA and the draft, this data is communicated over months. On gameday, available data has to be packaged, ready, and communicated over a few seconds in some cases.
The two most important ingredients are not spelled out in the above, you have to read between the lines, they have absolutely nothing to do with data and crunching numbers...
Alignment and trust.
Alignment: We are aligned, from top to bottom, that we will explore all available data before making decisions. We know that as long as we adhere to the process it will equate to success over time.
Trust: We trust, from top to bottom, that decision makers will adhere to the process. Whether that decision maker is a coach on gameday when provided info on a team's tendencies, or a player on the field that has been informed on his head-to-head adversary.
As long as we are aligned and trust, there is no need for finger-pointing or becoming the rogue agent that thwarts the process. Algorithms don't win football games. It takes talent, great decision making, and sometimes a little luck to do it week in and week out. "Analytics" is merely a matter of being armed with as much pertinent information as possible.
I listened to this and kept hoping it would get better. It didn’t get better. The host seemed to be in over his head in asking relevant questions. Mina Kimes interviewed the guy from the Ravens who holds the same position in Baltimore and it was much more interesting.
Good interview. There's a segment towards the end that sums everything up pretty nicely. It's easy to get lost in all the ambiguities and how they apply to "analytics in football". This isn't word for word, I was just jotting it down in context...
Quote:
How we judge results... we reject the narrative that we're going to create some magic formula that will be correct 100% of the time and default to Paul DePodesta's mantra.
Creating better frameworks for making decisions under uncertainty.
Although it's a broad term, it comes through in the use of our data and creating our models, it comes through in outlining a process for making decisions and adhering to that process. In essence, it's a bunch of small decisions that add up to wins over time.
I think the whole "analytics approach" is misunderstood by most fans. There isn't some magic algorithm running the draft or scripting the first twenty plays of a game. It's about data sets being available for every circumstance. With FA and the draft, this data is communicated over months. On gameday, available data has to be packaged, ready, and communicated over a few seconds in some cases.
The two most important ingredients are not spelled out in the above, you have to read between the lines, they have absolutely nothing to do with data and crunching numbers...
Alignment and trust.
Alignment: We are aligned, from top to bottom, that we will explore all available data before making decisions. We know that as long as we adhere to the process it will equate to success over time.
Trust: We trust, from top to bottom, that decision makers will adhere to the process. Whether that decision maker is a coach on gameday when provided info on a team's tendencies, or a player on the field that has been informed on his head-to-head adversary.
As long as we are aligned and trust, there is no need for finger-pointing or becoming the rogue agent that thwarts the process. Algorithms don't win football games. It takes talent, great decision making, and sometimes a little luck to do it week in and week out. "Analytics" is merely a matter of being armed with as much pertinent information as possible.
Absolutely spot on.
The more things change the more they stay the same.
I understand the confusion some of you have. You're confusing me with someone who gives a damn about your opinion. If you guys don't want comments about Sashi, don't bring up Sashi then act like it's someone elses fault.
Nobody gives a damn about what you think so any time I see Sashi comments I will comment as well. You might as well get used to it.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
No one was even making a comment in regards to Sashi and the Browns. The interviewer named a podcast after him, I made a joke about it, and you get so triggered simply seeing his name you have to respond.
Every.Single.Time
Quote:
You might as well get used to it.
Oh, we are used to it. Which is why it's so funny.
At DT, context and meaning are a scarecrow kicking at moving goalposts.
The Constitution shall never be construe to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms. – Samuel Adams
I an really surprised this is working. How can a baseball guy and Ivy League grads run a successful NFL team?
I think we tried (and failed) to put together an Frankenstein of 'football guy' and new-age analytics guy and the disparate parts just weren't able to coalesce into a unit/team. Oil-and-water. It's not enough to simply tell people that they need to work together. Aside from the winning (the cure-all) we seem to have people that are on the same page. IMO, we had lots of talented people, but they seemed to spend half their energy fighting each other.
While I would vehemently disagree with this only a couple years ago, now (with where the franchise is) I think it's perfectly fine to discuss the finer points of the Sashi era (and it's roots and what it was disassembled into). We're in a good spot now, so it should hopefully be easier to talk about the past dumpster fires in a more constructive way.
TLDR: While there are plenty of arguments about how Sashi shoulda/coulda done this/that, at the end of the day the only person that deserves to eat the poop sandwich from the Sashi/Hue/Dorsey debacle is Haslam.
When the subject of Sashi and what he did and didn't do comes up, I always refer back to that one ESPN article (I think you all know which one I'm talking about). It was a "what the hell just happened" piece that went into a LOT of details of the inner workings that saw Sashi and Depo hired, Hue hired, and then Sashi fired and Dorsey hired. I don't remember if it covered Hue being fired or not but IMO, it's irrelevant as the one that was the root of all that drama was Jimmy Haslam. As the info came out, I became more and more sympathetic to Sashi's side of the story. He (allegedly) was transparent about The Plan and how it was supposed to work. Jimmy bought was Sashi was selling, and then tried a return-without-receipt-after-the-30-days when the going got tough. Admittedly, Sashi's picks didn't inspire much confidence when it came time to cash in, but he was also a consensus guy that had Berry on his staff... so who really knows how it would've gone.
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
The aggressive collection of draft and FA resources was something that really wasn't done prior to Sashi. He got real creative with the Brock Osweiler trade/cut. I think they made a rule against that after Sashi got it through.
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
You might want to look at what was going on before he got here. We were already trading down fort lesser talent and collecting draft picks. Losing isn't an accomplishment. It wasn't an accomplishment before he got here nor was it an accomplishment after he got here.
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Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Sashi had a job to do. He did it about as well as it could be done. Period. He wasn't a typical GM, he wasn't a "team builder", he was the lead architect in tearing things down.
Haslam, DePodesta and Sashi were sold on the idea. Depo and Browns were like mad scientists in acquiring draft picks while cutting salary and hoarding carryover cap space. When they were done we had the most draft capital in the salary cap era and the most available cap in the history of the NFL. The trade down with the Texans became Denzel Ward, "suckitude" became Baker Mayfield, Brock O became Nick Chubb and Andy Lee (the first battle in what became a war between Sashi and Huey) became the cornerstone and first sign that the painful "phase one" was complete in a trade for Jarvis Landry.
People look at dysfunction and point the finger at Haslam -- rightfully so. He's the man in charge, all blame lies squarely in his lap. What some seem to ignore is that "the plan" didn't magically work without his approval and restraint, for that he deserves a huge amount of credit.
The most important hire in this process was the one he never made. It can't be emphasized enough, in my opinion. Sashi Brown was executive vice president, Haslam never hired a GM and that's one of the most important moves that were made along the way. Sashi was a placeholder for a real GM, but not before the time was right.
What was the likelyhood of another high-profile GM being hired (instead of Sashi) and adhering to 2-3 seasons of sucking and stripping the roster? Not high, because that person would feel like a sitting duck, as I'm sure Sashi did. JH ws already past the point of no return with the constant turnover (domino effect) of hiring from the top down. We were not getting rid of this "stench" with wash, rinse, repeat... And we were not hiring a "real" GM because that would only serve as interference with the plan.
The goal - plain and simple - was to make this one of the most attractive landing spots for a great GM. JH was tired of prospective GMs and their list of "conditions" to their employment. He was tired of acting and hiring out of desperation. He was tired of being the red-headed-step-child when it came to hiring coaches. Every year the same thing... Browns end a terrible season, throw their hat in the ring in the HC pool, watch everyone (with a fighting chance to turn this around) fill other vacancies... while the peanut gallery flat-out laughed at us.
He was sticking with Sashi and Hue til the deed was done. Sashi's days were numbered the day Deshaun Watson went down with an injury in 2017. Ironically, the draft pick we recieved from the Texans was the one they gave us to move up and draft Watson. As we knew we would watch that draft pick climb the boards, Haslam knew it was "time". No way, no how, was Sashi making those picks. JH had an eight week head start looking for the GM. The moment Dorsey was available, Sashi was fired.
Did analytics play an important role? Hell yes, one of the most important, also "behavioral science" (see link at the end of this TLTR post).
But once again, ALIGNMENT was the prerequisite. Jimmy, Paul and Sashi were aligned. Dorsey was not -- that's why Dorsey is gone. Hue was not -- that's why Hue is gone. In his defense, what coach would be? In Jimmy's defense, for what everyone points to as "dysfunction and bad decisions", he gave Hue a life-line for phase two, Hue still wasn't on the same page and his refusal to get there caused even more dysfunction with the coaching staff and FO.
So here we are. The "analytics-driven-team" on the verge of greatness. I have a hard time looking at the whole process without remaining firmly in the camp of "Sashi Died So We Could Live".
The man sucked as badly as Hue. He was sent packing after two years. He left the cupboards bare and some of you are making this shlub out to be a martyr. It's hilarious watching people grasping at straws to defend a loser.
What is the funniest thing about it is people act like trading down and getting draft picks in return is some superpower. It's not. Every NFL team in the league gets picks in return for trading down.
People make it sound like cutting high priced players to build salary cap assets was some little known secret. It's not. When you cut your best players and cut spending it builds salary cap. Gutting a team doesn't take talent. Building a team from the ashes does.
Since trading down for picks and cutting high priced players to build salary cap is something everyone with even the basic understanding of how this works knows, I have no idea why people think that is some big accomplishment. It's not.
Sashi died so we could live! All hail Sashi!
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
I'm well aware of what was going on here before, and I never said losing was an accomplishment. It was the plan. Two different things. The degree to which we accumulated draft picks year over year wasn't done before, and our strategy of rolling over cap wasn't done before. Perfect example of the creativity he showed in executing on the plan was BO trade/cut.
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
Maybe Sashi didn't (and didn't have the expertise to) cook the dinner... But saying "He left the cupboards bare" is one of the most outrageous statements in the history of this board. And that's saying a lot.
So what happens when any team trades down in the NFL? Normally they get future picks. What happens when any team cuts high priced players? They add to their salary cap.
So all he did was the same thing thousands of people at the very least could have done. When I see a beautiful new building I don't even attempt to give the credit to the demolition crew.
He left us with draft picks which anyone who constantly traded down could have done. It isn't complicated.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
It's true that it's easy enough to simply trade down, slightly harder (but not difficult IMO) to get good value back in the deal(s). But despite that, so few NFL GMs embrace trading down as the first tool to rebuild a roster. IIRC, no GM had 'gone all-in' in tearing a roster down to the studs (remember that phrase?) to kick off a rebuild.
If you want to argue what the roster would look like if Sashi had been kept long enough to cash in on those picks, then I'd probably jump all the way over to your side of the debate. But saying he "left the cupboard bare" is demonstrably (and hilariously) false.
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
Maybe Sashi didn't (and didn't have the expertise to) cook the dinner... But saying "He left the cupboards bare" is one of the most outrageous statements in the history of this board. And that's saying a lot.
And it's a good thing we had all that draft capital as well. If not, the only player left from the 2018 draft on this team would be Baker Mayfield.
At DT, context and meaning are a scarecrow kicking at moving goalposts.
What was the big "historic" thing Sashi supposedly did that Mac was talking about?
Destroying the fax machine and telling Jimmuh no one uses those things anymore.
Nice video. I never really thought of the what ifs had Sashi not sabotaged that trade. No Baker, no Chubb, no Landry....McCarron at qb. Hue and Sashi running the team. We do owe Mr. Brown a big thank you.
And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul. - John Muir
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