Some NFL teams have embraced advanced analytics in recent years. The New England Patriots haven’t been one of them.
But that might be changing under new head coach Mike Vrabel.
The Patriots on Wednesday hired Ekene Olekanma to be their director of coaching analytics, per ESPN’s Seth Walder. Olekanma spent the last three seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, serving as the organization’s football research and development coordinator for the previous two years. Okleanma also spent a year with the Baltimore Ravens in 2021 as a coaching research and development analyst fellow.
Walder polled analytics staffers around the league in 2024 and the Patriots were viewed as one of the least analytically advanced teams in the NFL.