It seems football over the years has developed into a more statistic-focused sport. Have coaches always been cognizant of these various stats or is the stat craze a product of satisfying fan desires?
Coaches keep a close watch on the stats, but coaches are very good at identifying the meaningful stats. They don’t bother with the garbage stats. Every so often, Coach Noll would say, “I’ve got one for you.” He’d give me the stat, I’d study it and I’d quickly understand why he was the way he was. His favorite stat almost always involved running the ball and how it related to winning, and that’s why it was so impressive when, in 1978, he was the first coach to understand what the rules changes meant and opened up his offense.