Ep. 22 - Steve Palazzolo - PFF & The Role of Analytics in Football

In this conversation with Steve Palazzolo, we talk through how he got involved with the football analytics juggernaut - Pro Football Focus - and the role that their data plays for decision makers across the sport.

 

Broken down to its core, PFF provides information to help football teams make better decisions regarding gameplanning and personnel.

 

Instead of taking the route of efficiency and evaluating the most recent four games, PFF cuts down the time it takes to cutup games and allows coaches to digest a higher sample size of plays. This leads to more informed decision making, better data and a better process overall!

 

From a personnel standpoint, production isn't limited to archaic stat lines that left out the context of the other players' contributions to a given play. PFF's vision and aim is to find the truth in the stats, and Steve does a great job of going into detail with multiple stories and examples.

 

Lastly, when talking through the best team builders in the NFL, Steve dropped the following insights on what separates the good from the great teams in the league. The top two teams from a team building perspective, the Patriots and the Ravens, consistently remain ahead of the curve and always seem to zig when the rest of the league zags.

 

Hope You Enjoy the Show & Below is Your Listener's Guide to the Pod:

 

• Interview with Steve Palazzolo (2:50)
• Steve's Experience as a Minor League Pitcher (4:48)
• PFF & Seeing the Vision for Success (10:00)
• How Teams Utilize PFF Data & Analytics (15:10)
• "Figuring Out What the Data Means" (19:09)
• Baseball Cards & Steve's Passion for Stats (25:48)
• Why the Patriots & Ravens Excel at Team Building (29:39)

 

You can follow Steve on Twitter at @PFF_Steve! Also, don't forget to check out our official website, UpCloseInPersonnel.com for complete show notes and future updates on the show!