Belichick/Saban GOAT survey; McCarthy/Sirianni firings; Dallas/Philly playoffs next year
Last week, two of the greatest coaches in the history of football moved on from their respective positions.
Bill Belichick parted ways with the Patriots organization he was a part of for nearly 25 years, and Nick Saban hung up his whistle for good in Tuscaloosa.
Those two major changes got the masses wondering...which of these guys is football’s "GOAT Coach?"
Luckily, the marketing team at BetOnline.ag was all over this and now has an answer after nearly a week of rigorous research and analysis.
BetOnline conducted a study using geotagged Twitter (X) data during the last week, tracking tweets, hashtags and direct keyword phrases about whether Bill Belichick or Nick Saban is the GOAT football coach
For example, tweets such as "Bill Belichick is the GOAT" or "Nick Saban is the GOAT" or any tweet mentioning Saban or Belichick that included the keyword "GOAT" or #GOAT. More than 150,000 tweets were tracked in total.
Tweets were categorized by where they came from in the U.S., and the coach with the highest count from each state then "won" that state.
Here is the raw, state-by-state data: https://docs.google.com/
And here is a map that displays the findings: https://drive.google.com/file/
As you can see from the map, football fans are pretty much split, but Belichick edges out Saban in the end.
By large, the Midwest and Southern states opt for Saban as the GOAT while the northern states, West Coast and Northeast states side with Belichick.
State totals:
Bill Belichick - 26 states
Nick Saban - 24 states
In other football news, we're still talking about the embarrassment of the NFC East playoff showings between the Cowboys and Eagles.
There are now yes/no odds for Mike McCarthy and Nick Sirianni getting fired (one is favored and one is not), as well as odds for who will get fired first.
And, interestingly, neither team is favored to win a playoff game next season, should they reach the tournament.
Cowboys/Eagles playoffs odds are subject to change and will be updated in real-time on this page: https://www.betonline.ag/
Coach odds are on this page: https://www.betonline.ag/
Will Mike McCarthy be head coach of the Cowboys in Week 1 of 2024 season?
Yes +200
No -300
(Note: Above odds imply a 75% chance McCarthy WILL NOT be with team)
Will Nick Sirianni be head coach of the Cowboys in Week 1 of 2024 season?
Yes -150
No +110
(Note: Above odds imply a 60% chance Sirianni WILL be with team)
Which coach will be fired first?
Nick Sirianni +225
Mike McCarthy -350
Will the Cowboys win a playoff game next season?
Yes +100
No -140
(Note: Above odds imply a 58% chance Eagles WILL NOT win playoff game)
Will the Eagles win a playoff game next season?
Yes +110
No -150
(Note: Above odds imply a 60% chance Eagles WILL NOT win playoff game)
What will happen to Cowboys/Eagles next season?
Cowboys only make playoffs +200
Both teams make playoffs +200
Neither team makes playoffs +225
Eagles only make playoffs +250