How Matt Eberflus Measures HITS
Since the start of the Chicago Bears’ new regime, Erik Lambert, at Sports Mockery, has been one of the saner voices, and this recent article is no exception. But, Mr Lambert is leading me to believe there are bits of this that even he doesn’t get.
In the article, Lambert writes,
“Eberflus said from the start he was going to hold them to a high standard. Whenever he senses they might not be giving 100%, be it in practice or games, he will call them out on it.”
While I share the sentiment completely, the phrase “Whenever he senses…” screeches at me like fingernails on a chalkboard.
Maybe I was reading too much into “We’ve got metrics to measure this stuff,” when ‘Flus was describing his HITS system, but I really doubt it! I think Matt Eberflus won’t EVEN trust what he “senses” to get the job done, nor “calling them out” on the fly, in real time. He may say what he sees, at the time, or not, but I’m very sure he will always have more to say on the HITS metrics, during and after film review. Matt Eberflus measures HITS and he uses the grades
Again, I *could* be wrong, but I believe ‘Flus and his staff will grade film after every practice and every game. Every player will know his HITS score for the day; and have his loafs, etc, pointed out when they review the film. And those loafs will result in losing snaps to the next man up, assuming his HITS score was better.
Considering how most of the NFL operates, and especially considering how the Bears have operated for the last 30-some years, it is quite understandable how most writers and fans might miss this distinction, if only because such leading edge thinking seems impossible in one of the least flexible organizations in the history of …football? …sports? …civilization?
That may be heavy handed, but the point stands. This is not how football used to be. DE Al-Quadin Muhammad, who was in Indy a full season longer than ‘Flus, made two things perfectly clear in his intro presser when he joined the Bears. One: The HITS System will probably feel like a culture shock to the players, and Two: It works! Every player who buys in and embraces it, will become a believer, and maximize his own success!
To me, one of the most brilliant things about it is that it results in simple, easy to understand, expectations. This might be a fairly new concept in the NFL, but it is crazy new for the Bears! Do you think Nagy’s players had it? How exactly do you measure “Be You!” and how do you coach it? No, I think many teams measure the same way fans measure, statistics and the good old “eye test”. But not ‘Flus, he’s got metrics to measure this stuff.
Does his system guarantee success in terms of wins and losses? Certainly not in terms of a direct numerical value, no, but it is as close as you can get to a guarantee that the team will play up to its potential. Nobody quits, nobody loafs, everybody is obsessed with the ball, and everybody keeps their head in the current game situation.
It guarantees your going to get the best your team can give on most any given Sunday…it is football, so nothing is ever cast in stone…but you guarantee that you are far more likely to lose because your starter couldn’t beat their superstar than to ever lose due to a lack of effort or awareness. Matt Eberflus Measures HITS, and he’s building his foundation on those measurements.
