What initially drew you to football analytics?
I’ve always been interested in understanding why things happen and finding patterns in complicated problems. Growing up in Florida, I played a lot of sports, so football was already something I cared about. In high school, I also worked on research involving cancer fatigue and public health epidemics, which gave me an early interest in using evidence to better understand questions.
When I got to Dartmouth, I found a way to combine that interest in research and quantitative thinking with my passion for football. Analytics gave me an opportunity to look at the game from a different perspective and think about how information can support better decisions.
How have your different football experiences shaped your perspective?
I’ve had the opportunity to see several different sides of football. I’ve done analytics work with Dartmouth and Navy, handled recruiting for Georgia, and worked in training camp operations for the Los Angeles Rams.
Each experience has taught me something different. Analytics gave me a way to study the game through data, recruiting showed me another side of evaluation, and working in training camp operations gave me an understanding of everything that has to happen behind the scenes. Seeing those different areas has helped me appreciate how many people and processes contribute to a football program.
What do you think people misunderstand about football analytics?
I think people sometimes assume football analytics is just about numbers. The numbers are important, but they are only useful when you understand the game and the situation surrounding them.
You have to know what question you are trying to answer and understand how the information applies to football. There is also a communication component. Good analysis has to be understandable to the people who are actually going to use it.
How do you approach a football decision when the data does not tell the entire story?
I think context is extremely important. Data can give you a strong foundation for understanding a situation, but football involves people, strategy, and circumstances that are not always captured perfectly by a model.
That is why I do not think analytics should be viewed as a replacement for football knowledge or experience. The goal is to bring another source of information into the conversation and use it appropriately.
What did working with Navy teach you about the importance of context?
Navy gave me a good example of why you cannot approach every football team in exactly the same way. Their offensive system is different from what you see at many other programs, so the questions you ask and the way you evaluate certain situations have to reflect how the team actually plays.
That experience reinforced the importance of understanding the system before trying to draw conclusions from the data. You have to make sure the analysis fits the environment you are studying.
What did recruiting for Georgia teach you that analytics could not?
Recruiting gave me a different perspective on evaluation. Analytics often involves looking for patterns in data, while recruiting requires you to consider people and how they might fit into a particular program.
It also showed me how important communication and relationships are in football. There are many parts of building a program that cannot be reduced to a spreadsheet. Having experience in recruiting helped me understand that side of the sport more clearly.
What did working in training camp operations with the Los Angeles Rams teach you?
It showed me how much preparation and coordination happen away from the field. Training camp involves a huge number of details, and everyone has to understand their responsibilities for everything to work properly.
It was valuable to see football from an operational perspective. It gave me a better appreciation for the work that goes into creating an environment where coaches and players can focus on preparing to compete.
What has working across different areas of football taught you about career development?
I’ve learned that there is value in being willing to take on different kinds of opportunities. My experiences have not all been the same. I’ve worked in analytics, recruiting, and operations, and each one has given me a different perspective.
I think that is especially important early in a career. You do not always know which experience is going to teach you the most, so being open to learning from different parts of the industry can be extremely valuable.
What assumptions about football analytics do you challenge?
I would challenge the idea that analytics and football experience have to compete with each other. I think they can complement one another.
Someone can have a strong quantitative background and still need to understand the game. At the same time, someone with years of football experience can benefit from having additional information available when making a decision. I think the most useful approach is one where different types of knowledge can work together.
How important is leadership to a football program?
Leadership qualities are consistently among the most important traits for a coach to have. It’s the starting point for the job.
A coach has to be able to communicate, bring people together, and give a team a clear sense of direction. Football involves a lot of different personalities and responsibilities, so leadership affects how all of those pieces come together.
What has your experience taught you about communicating information?
I’ve learned that knowing something and communicating it effectively are two different skills. You can have a strong analysis, but if you cannot explain the reasoning clearly, it becomes much less useful.
That is something I’ve become more conscious of through my different football experiences. You have to think about who you are communicating with, what information they actually need, and how to make the point clearly without overcomplicating it.
How has your Quantitative Social Science major influenced the way you approach football?
Quantitative Social Science has given me a way to think about data while also considering the people and behavior behind it. That combination fits well with my interests.
Football is full of measurable information, but the sport is ultimately about people making decisions and responding to different situations. I like being able to approach those questions from both a quantitative and human perspective.
What has experience taught you that you could not have learned from a classroom?
Working in football has shown me how different real-world decision-making can be from simply having the right answer on paper. There are competing priorities, limited information, different personalities, and situations that do not always fit neatly into a model.
Those experiences have taught me to think about how information is actually used rather than only whether the analysis itself is correct.
What advice would you give someone trying to break into football analytics?
Learn the game. Technical skills are important, but you need to understand football if you want your analysis to be useful.
I would also encourage people to look for opportunities to get experience. Reach out to programs, be willing to learn, and take opportunities in different areas of football when they come up. My own experiences in analytics, recruiting, and operations have all contributed to how I understand the sport today.
What keeps you interested in football?
There is always something new to learn. I am passionate about football, but I also enjoy the analytical side of the sport and the questions that come with it.
Every experience has given me another way to look at the game. That constant opportunity to learn, whether through analytics, operations, recruiting, or simply watching football, is a big part of what keeps me interested.
What do you enjoy outside of football?
I’m really into 35mm film photography, and I’m a big film buff. I also enjoy hiking, especially around the Appalachian Trail near Dartmouth’s campus.
I like having interests that are different from the analytical and football-focused parts of my life. Photography and hiking give me a chance to slow down, pay attention to my surroundings, and do something completely different.
What did volunteering with NY Common Pantry mean to you?
I volunteered 50 hours with NY Common Pantry in East Harlem during the spring of 2026. It was a good opportunity to contribute my time to an organization that provides food assistance to people in the community.
I think experiences like that are valuable because they give you an opportunity to contribute outside of your normal academic or professional environment. It’s something I appreciated being able to do, and I hope to continue making time for that kind of involvement.