College Football: Team Performance Analysis

Since the inception of College Football, there has always been this notion that when a team is performing poorly that a change in coaching has been deemed necessary. However, the underlying question remains; is this really the best long term plan? Authors Adler, Berry, and Doherty decided to take an in-depth look to see if this truly does help the program or does the program remain where it started. The purpose of this paper is to analyze their work on several different aspects. First the reader will have a better understanding of the author’s research and what they found. Following that, the reader will see the author’s strengths and weaknesses of their paper. Finally, the author of this paper will elaborate on Adler, Berry, and Doherty’s
The main purpose of their work is to truly see if, in the long term, a head coaching change truly helps troubled programs turn their program around. Adler, Berry, and Doherty (2013), wanted to see if a coaching replacement really does assist with team’s on-field performance. In order to compile their data, they looked at two different situations. In order to do this, the authors compiled their data from the years 1997 to 2010. According to Adler, Berry, and Doherty (2013) “[they] use matching techniques to compare the performance of football programs that replaced their head coach to those where the coach remained” (pg. 1). Essentially, by doing this, they were able to see the long-term success of programs that fired their coach compared to programs that retained a coach despite poor on-field performance. The authors concluded that although it seems that a coaching change is the only logical conclusion it is not the best conclusion. As the authors state (2013) “Despite the fanfare that often accompanies the hiring of a new coach, our research demonstrates that at least with respect to on-field performance, coach replacement can be expected to be, at best, a break-even antidote” (pg.21). Their data provided proof that within the first two years there is an immediate success. However, in their third year the team’s on-field performance returns to their initial
As their article does an in-depth look in relations to college football it can be applied to the high school level as well. The question stated is will a college team benefit from a new coach; however, one can ask the same for a small private high school on Long Island. As St. Dominic’s in Oyster Bay completed their third year in their league there were several murmurs if their coaching staff should be replaced. The coaching staff at St. Dominic’s has completed their third season and despite a post-season berth, the on-field performance was still below the expectations of parents, players, and some of the administration at the high school. However, entering the fourth season the athletic director has decided to continue with the same staff as he believes finding a new coach in the team’s fourth season would be detrimental to his program. The current article provided support for the athletic director’s decision as Adler, Berry, and Doherty provided proof through their college