The NFL has partnered with Microsoft. FootballScoop has detailed twice in recent weeks the extensive analytical data inroads from Teamworks, which has 25 NFL teams and 25 major college programs now utilizing its proprietary coaching and scouting platforms.
The expanding behemoth for all things college athletics and technology, Teamworks even just struck a deal with ESPN.
A.I. -- artificial intelligence -- it seems is everywhere from social media (X formerly Twitter has the Grok option under every profile) to sidelines.
Well, not exactly Dan Lanning's Oregon Ducks sideline.
“I’m not using ChatGPT on my sideline to decide what we’re gonna run," Lanning told reporters in advance of his team's opener Saturday, when the No. 7 Ducks host perennial FCS powerhouse Montana State. "But, I mean, I’d be interested in what kind of information that provides, but I don’t know if that’s made it (down) to us.
"I mean, AI is something that’s going to continue to grow. It’ll continue to be a part of the game; probably as much as anything, from a scouting standpoint. But, it’s probably still the early days for us at our level.”
Maybe. Maybe not. As Teamworks displayed in its "Future of Football" presentation earlier this month at the college personnel and recruiting directors symposium in Nashville, where some two dozen NFL franchises had personnel staff on hand and more than 1,000 college personnel staffers attended, the company believes "predictive" behaviors and player traits are now discernible, available metrics. In-games.
A former top-level executive with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Karim Kassam closed Teamwork's Nashville keynote presentation by first revealing the methodology the program utilizes to calculate “game speed.”
It’s a formula, says Kassam, that “considers all available data, ignores low effort plays, care most about a player’s potential here and identify top speed and acceleration moments to infer maximum potential speed.”
Now, Teamworks announced a first-of-its-kind deal last Friday with ESPN. It will be available to be interspersed in all ESPN and its affiliate networks' collegiate broadcasts and programming. Think ESPN College GameDay.
Not that far away.
But Lanning is right to trust his own instincts in a game that hinges on execution through and in spite of emotions.
A former top defensive coordinator who honed his chops under Nick Saban and Kirby Smart, Lanning has displayed strong in-game coaching instincts in guiding the Ducks to the 2024 Big Ten Conference title and the top overall seed in the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff.
He's won 35 of his 41 games as head of Duck Dynasty. He's still pumped up.
"Excitement, I have a lot of excitement. Your favorite part of the year is getting to coach football," he said. "I enjoy practice just as much as the games at times just because you see growth and the opportunity to improve. I'm really excited to get out there."
Lanning also touched on the personnel addition of former Ducks All-America defensive back Verone McKinley III, as first reported by Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports.
"We really care about the guys that have given so much to this program, and Verone's a great example," Lanning told reporters. "Had a great career here, went on to have an opportunity in the National Football League to keep playing. I think he realized, 'Hey, I still want to be around football.' And when you can add guys that had great experiences here at Oregon, that love this place like we love it, that want to come back here, I'm excited to see what he's going to be able to do for us. All of that will come with hard work and just finding a way to make our team better."