No Sean McVay in PFF’s Top-10 coach rankings is just wrong

Pencils down. Turn in your papers

The problem with the article? LA Rams Sean McVay has been coaching in the NFL for just five seasons.  And yet, he is among the winningest coaches in the NFL? His process, despite no first-round picks, little free salary cap space, a COVID-19 outbreak, and several patterns of significant numbers of injuries, has propelled the LA Rans to not have a single losing season over the past five years.

He has led the team to the Super Bowl twice in his five years as head coach of the LA Rams. He has done so without a quarterback who is a consensus Hall of Famer. He has done so despite leading a coaching staff that is routinely poached each year by other NFL teams hoping to clip and graft the LA Rams’ success into their own NFL organization.

Breaking down broken analytics

Let’s break this down.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, the PFF article concludes that McVay is not even among the Top 10 coaches in the NFL today? Arizona Cardinals Kliff Kingsbury is the fourth-best coach in the NFL today? At this point, the data is proven to be flawed.

Whenever working with data, there is a process of vetting the data with controls, ensuring that the process of manipulating numbers does not lead someone astray.  Hey, it’s easy to do. Connecting the wrong dots forms the wrong picture. But let’s be clear. If your data calculations lead to the conclusion that LA Rams DT Aaron Donald is just an average defender, or that LA Rams HC Sean McVay is not among the Top-10 NFL head coaches? Do yourself a favor.

Put your pencils down. Turn in your work. Start over. Data should help elaborate the factors of historical events, not redefine history.