This week, the Patriots added another member to their growing analytics staff. New England hired Max Mulitz to serve as Mike Vrabel's personnel analytics coordinator, according to ESPN's Seth Walder.
This is the second recent hire to the Patriots' new and growing analytics team, as New England had fallen behind the curve in that area in the last few years.
Analytics are ever-growing in the NFL right now, and it seem like there's always new ways to utilize them. However, the Patriots were a team that had not implemented much analytics in recent years.
New England hired Ekene Olekanma earlier this offseason to serve as the director of coaching analytics, and this second hire offers optimism that the new coaching staff is heading in a new direction regarding analytics' usage.
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel speaks to the media during a press conference at Gillette Stadium.
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel speaks to the media during a press conference at Gillette Stadium.
Eric Canha-Imagn Images
"We want to use technology to the best of our ability and what we can do to help us be more efficient, to help us make better decisions, informed decisions. I don't think you can rely and base every decision off the numbers, but I also think that those are important to ask questions and then be able to follow up and come to a sound decision on everything that we do," Vrabel said.
"Personnel, coaching, decisions, player health and safety, strength and conditioning - every aspect of our program."
Vrabel noted that he doesn't believe you can rely entirely on analytics, but you can use them as a resource to find the best solutions.
"Hopefully, we'll have some analytical background and data that we can rely on that they can ask questions," Vrabel said. "When you look at coaching, self-scouting and opponent breakdown, how we become more efficient with that system."
Mulitz comes from the Dolphins, where he served in the role Olekanma will have with the Patriots, director of coaching analytics. The analytics advisor had been with the Dolphins since 2019 and was nationally recognized for his game management skills.
It's obvious Vrabel sees the potential in dipping into the analytics department, and these recent hires are two steps in the right direction to catching up with the rest of the league.