USC researchers and students are developing a searchable football analytics database for the Trojans, designed to help coaches evaluate strategy, identify trends and prepare for games, university officials announced Wednesday.
The project is being led by Bruce Wilcox, an associate professor of industrial and systems engineering practice at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, in collaboration with students and recent graduates in the school’s analytics master’s program, according to USC.
Every football game generates thousands of data points, including information on formations, tackles, touchdowns, penalties and other in-game events. The platform is intended to organize that information into a database analysts can use to evaluate trends and inform coaching decisions, university officials said.
“I’m just astounded at the amount of data that’s collected,” Wilcox said. “We hope, by the end of the summer, to have that first data warehouse operating.”
The project was commissioned by Conor McQuiston, USC’s director of football analytics, who said the database will allow analysts to compare trends across seasons and opponents, test strategic ideas and eventually evaluate individual player performance alongside play-by-play results.
“So many different teams have tried so many different things that just having access to all this data lets us run natural experiments,” McQuiston said. “What has and hasn’t worked, and what can we learn from that?”
University officials said the collaboration gives students an opportunity to apply data analytics skills in a real-world sports setting while providing the football program with a valuable tool for game preparation.