New York Jets hire Jay Whitmire as Manager of Football Analytics

The New York Jets have added a member to their front office personnel, hiring former Steelers’ football analyst Jay Whitmire.

With just over a week to go until the start of training camp, Joe Douglas and the New York Jets have made a new addition to their front office.

Per his LinkedIn account, former Pittsburgh Steelers football analyst Jay Whitmire has joined the Jets as their new manager of football analytics.

Steelers football analyst Jay Whitmire has been hired by the Jets as manager of football analytics, per his LinkedIn.

— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) July 20, 2021

An alum of the University of Virginia, Whitmire was an offensive lineman for the Cavaliers and received a Master’s degree in Business Analytics. After spending a brief rookie minicamp as an offensive lineman with the Chicago Bears in 2016, Whitmire subdued his dream of playing in the NFL for a different passion within the sport – analytics.

Whitmire first got into analytics as a data consultant for Datacamp.com before he was hired by the Pittsburgh Steelers to join their analytical department. Once Karim Kassam left the organization in 2019, Whitmire became the top analytical presence within the Steelers.

Though there has been no official update from the Jets on his hiring, the Steelers have acknowledged Whitmire’s departure. There has been speculation that perhaps Whitmire didn’t feel like he was valued in the Steelers organization.

This is a savvy hiring from the Jets. Despite rumors that he was anti-analytics in Philadelphia, Joe Douglas has said since joining the Jets that he believes in analytics and their ability to tell an entire story objectively. This move helps acknowledge that the team is stepping in that direction.

While with Pittsburgh, Whitmire’s profile laid out his job description as follows: “Use data science and analytics to inform football strategy and personnel decisions.”

Whitmire will be responsible for building a budding analytics department within the Jets, ensuring that the data the Jets process is accurate and reliable enough to aid in all aspects of the team’s functionality.