Pete Carroll is rounding into another fresh tenure with a new organization. He has debuted as the head coach of a new NFL team roughly once a decade since the 1990s.
In the 2020s, he has emerged as a leader of the Las Vegas Raiders. Many have heralded the rise of technology in this decade, with many significant life-changing developments.
One trending new technological advancement has trickled down to the Raiders and none other than the team’s 73-year-old head coach. Unlike many old-school thinkers of his generation, he has chosen to embrace it with both hands.
Speaking to The Athletic in an article posted on Jun. 24, Pete Carroll announced that he would not “ignore” the possibilities of AI.
“It’s just such a wide-open domain to kind of figure things out and do things new, take advantage and utilize everything you can think of. That’s something I like, man. If you’re not curious, you’re not growing. The last thing I’m going to do is ignore AI,” Carroll said.
The article notes that AI in its current state can analyze hours of game film in minutes, creating game plans just as fast. The bright side of the addition might be fewer of the iconic “late nights” coaches are famous for across sports, which means greater energy levels and, by extension, better focus on game day. However, there are plenty of reasons for fans to ask questions.
The Questions Surrounding AI Might Sound Remarkably Familiar, Pete Carroll Is Ready
In the 2010s and early 2020s, the advent and implementation of analytics were the subject of two different takes. One school of thought believes that adding numbers to the gridiron and using the history of game situations to influence current ones allows coaches to make decisions without relying on emotional elements, such as stress. However, it comes with its own issues.
Every situation surrounding each data point that determines the ultimate chance of winning if xyz happens is different. The players, their health status, energy level, wind speed, length of the grass, grass type, helmet size, and other incalculable variables all played a factor.
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It is impossible, many have argued, to use a large sample size of previous (albeit similar) situations to choose the decision for the current game reliably, because no two situations are the same.
Plus, there is always the question of whether every single data point across hundreds or thousands of games had every data point vetted by analysts who would draw the same conclusion on every data point as a veteran head coach.
Put simply, there’s no guarantee coaches know where the numbers are coming from and if they really should agree.
The same can be said for AI, which adds another level of separation from coaches and analytics. In other words, it seems coaches could end up looking at AI decisions that were generated from analytics that were generated from analysts, if those analysts are used at all.
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It’s a lot of trust to place in something, but it does give coaches the ability to pass the buck, which is why many have argued these tools are being used in the first place.
Of course, Pete Carroll has no reason to go into detail about his specific processes, and he might have an application for AI that incorporates his own special sauce. However, either way, it appears that the AI revolution is coming and is set to change the analytics conversation entirely.