The Cleveland Browns front office was praised as the best analytics group in the NFL. In an episode of the Establish the Run podcast, hosts Adam Levitan and Mike Leone talked to ESPN’s Seth Walder and Sports Info Solutions’ Matt Manocherian about the future of analytics and how it will change football. The episode covers an array of topics from practical applications to speculative fields. The group briefly discussed which organizations had the best analytics departments before unanimously agreeing on the Browns.
The Browns have heavily invested in their analytics department over the decade. Jimmy Haslam hired Paul DePodesta as the chief strategy officer in 2016. Under DePodesta’s vision, the Browns hired head coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry. The organization has completely embraced data analysis as a tool of the trade.
Berry and Stefanski have turned the Browns from one of the worst organizations into a perennial playoff contender. Andrew Berry has helped usher in the age of analytics. It’s not just the media and insiders who believe in the analytics department. NFL teams have shown a strong interest in Browns’ front office members over the past few years. Assistant general managers Catherine Raiche, and Glenn Cook interviewed for the general manager role with multiple organizations this offseason. The Minnesota Vikings hired, former Browns’ vice president of football operations, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as their general manager.
The organization has built something special in its front office. The Browns will continue advancing the state of analytics in football, and the league will follow.
