That feeling never escaped me about ol’ Ernie Adams. I always believed he played a much bigger role in the success of the the NFL dynasty in New England during the Brady/Belichick era than most fans ever realized. Ernie could easily be considered one of the fathers of football analytics. He was Bill Belichick’s secret sauce, grinding out statistics and finding crazy ways to win, leaving other teams in the dust. For years no one really knew what Adams role was with the team.
Today NFL teams have entire football analytics departments, thanks to good ol’ Ernie.
However, this next generation of ‘super-nerds’ (stated with unabashed affection) have taken data analysis to the next level, cranking out enlightening correlation after enlightening correlation. In fact, the Buffalo Bills were so enamored with a study done by a group including super-nerd Cole Jacobson that they offered him a job. Jacobson is now Buffalo’s “Ernie Adams 2.0”.
So why would this hire be so thrilling for my self-proclaimed status as ‘Queen of the Intangibles’?
Despite my fascination about all of the immeasurable variables that contribute to the success or failure of any given sports team, if you came to know me you would also find I’m truly a research methodology freak. For all the criticism I level about how stats are misused in sports, it’s really because I truly cherish the process of developing a viable research question and setting about the business of finding valid inferences that may be extracted from them.
Yes it’s true I derive great pleasure in being the skeptical one, looking under every crevice for a methodological flaw to reveal itself like a crack in a fault line. All studies have them, but far too many researchers lack appreciation for how much even flawed data can contribute to our body of knowledge in any given area of study. This is what is so incredibly fascinating about conducting research… you never know what pearls of wisdom you may encounter along the way.
The Bills hiring Cole Jacobson may prove to be one of the best decisions of the McBeane era. Being able to take raw data and sift through it to find a gem might just give you that one slight edge over other teams. Thankfully there is no salary cap for staff because like with offensive line coach Aaron Kromer, this is a hire Mr. Pegula should hand over the check book and let Mr. Jacobson fill in the blank.
Sean McDermott receives a lot of criticism about many different aspects of his job. But one overlooked trait of McDermott’s that should receive more recognition than it does is his never ending desire for improvement at all levels. In addition to all his other responsibilities, he keeps himself educated about any trend in football analytics or behavioral science that might give his team an edge.
Buffalo has made the two of the best hires of the McBeane era by hiring team psychologist Dr. Desaree Festa (“Dr. Dez”) and now Cole Jacobson. We’ve got the intangibles and tangibles covered.
Now let’s go win a Super Bowl.
Editor’s babble: I love, love, love this hire by the Bills. Just wish I could be a bug on the wall and check out what kind of data they are looking at on any given day :) Find me on X.com @RobynMundyWYO or Bluesky @RobynMundyWYO.bsky.social.
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LOVE THE ARTICLE.SHE REALLY GETS COLE
Thanks for reading, Larry! I can hardly wait to see what Mr. Jacobson will bring forth with his analysis. I loved his team’s Safety Entropy model. Just stellar stuff!