1. Synthesizing the Stats: Matt Dodson ’20

This article first appeared in the Summer 2024 issue of W&L: The Washington and Lee Magazine.

On a typical day during the National Football League (NFL) draft season, Matt Dodson '20 works long hours as a scouting research coordinator for the New York Giants, creating statistical models on every college player entering the process. These profiles are analytical deep dives that give a full picture of who they are as a player (such as their performances with their respective teams, during pro days and from the four-day NFL Combine) and - more importantly - how they would fit as part of the Giants. His job isn't just compiling stats; he leverages all the available data and synthesizes the information to create an analytical opinion on each player to share with the decision-makers in the front office.

"The thing that attracted me to this job from day one was the ability to combine two passions: numbers and coding, and football," he says.

Mathematics and statistical modeling aren't exactly what people think of first when it comes to the sports industry, but Dodson set his sights on a dream job working in sports analytics while he was a student at Washington and Lee University. He'd always been good at math - it just "made sense" to him - and he grew up playing football. He loved the sense of camaraderie a team instills in its players, and he continued playing football at the varsity level at W&L.

He majored in mathematics with a minor in computer science and researched two summers alongside faculty members - with one as an incoming first-year student with Carrie Finch-Smith, professor of mathematics, who later became his adviser and academic mentor.

"Professor Finch-Smith helped me make decisions throughout my time in college - some that ultimately landed me where I am now," Dodson says. "It was big to have someone who was always available to talk to about different things."

Football vitally contributed to Dodson's life at W&L. He loved the structure and working together with a group of people to achieve a common goal. It also gave him opportunities he wouldn't have had otherwise, such as visiting California for the first time during the team's face-off with Claremont McKenna College.

In January of his senior year, Dodson got a call from head football coach Garrett LeRose '07. The Giants contacted LeRose about an internship in their growing data analytics department, and he knew the perfect guy for the job. He shared the opportunity with Dodson, who started his internship with the Giants in June 2020, just a few days after graduating. His internship led to a full-time position as a scouting research analyst, which requires a statistical-driven weekly temperature check on how well each of the league's rookies and free agents are performing.

In December, his team starts building out free agency profiles, followed by meetings with their team's professional scouts. They'll look at approximately 250 free agents, and Dodson shares his opinion on their strengths and weaknesses and how they would slot into the team's ecosystem. March is focused on preparing for the college draft in late April, and May flips the calendar on prepping for the next season.

"One of the coolest aspects of my job is there is a nuanced way to look at both the qualitative and quantitative perspective on player statistics," Dodson says. "The biggest thing in the analytics industry is context, and that's huge, because anybody can make a stat look a certain way. I like to be able to look at things from different angles and inspire different ideas."

Dodson, who was recently promoted to scouting research coordinator, works with several different groups of people in the Giants management office. He says his time at W&L prepared him to "wear a lot of different hats."

"By taking all the different types of classes at W&L, you learn different ways of problem-solving and how to think critically on your feet," Dodson says. "Talking through a scheme or project that's outside of your department and being able to be a valuable member of those interactions is a testament to how W&L prepared me for my career."

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