Oregon Coach Dan Lanning Pushes Back On AI Sideline Technology: ‘I’m Not Using ChatGPT To Call Plays'

Oregon coach Dan Lanning is all for technology that helps college football teams prepare for upcoming games, and even work along the sidelines. But don't expect him to use AI or ChatGPT when the Ducks face a third down late in the game, needing a big play to convert a first down. 

Right now, there is currently an influx of AI technology along the sidelines of the NFL, after the league agreed to a deal with Microsoft last week. In the release put out recently, Microsoft pointed towards their new system that could filter plays, while also programming certain instances where a team might face a decision based on down and distance. 

"The NFL’s Sideline Viewing System for every club has been upgraded with more than 2,500 Microsoft SurfaceCopilot+ PCs to empower 32 clubs, roughly 1,800 players, and more than 1,000 coaches and club football staff with real-time game data and analysis tools," Microsoft announced. " Coaches and players have access to a new feature built with GitHub Copilot to filter plays based on criteria such as down and distance, scoring plays, and penalties to quickly analyze formations, decipher coverages, and make more data-driven and strategic decisions."

And while this might be something NFL coaches could use moving forward, there are plenty of college coaches still skeptical of using this technology for in-game coaching. 

You can add Oregon's Dan Lanning to that list. Right now, there is software available that will analyze data from players during a game. But, relying on a computer system to make a decision related to in-game play is not something Lanning is ready to encompass into his procedures on gameday, especially relying on ChatGPT to make a play-call in a critical situation. 

"I’m not using ChatGPT on my sideline to decide what we’re going to run," Dan Lanning said. "I’d be interested in what kind of information that provides, but I don’t know if that’s made it to us.

"I mean, AI is something that’s going to continue to grow. It’ll continue to be a part of the game; probably as much as anything, from a scouting standpoint. But, it’s probably still the early days for us at our level."

ChatGPT Making Third Down Calls In Key Moments? Not At Oregon

Can you imagine if the system decided to call some type of deep-pass because of recent analytics from the defense, only for that unit to shift their coverage on the play, and the computer-generated call leads to a turnover, or interception? 

No, we have seen this product become a key component in almost every area of the business sector, but I don't imagine many coaches are going to take the human-element out of their gameday formula. While this might be the answer in how to consolidate certain aspects of the in-game experience for assistant coaches along the sidelines, it's hard to get inside a coach's mind during a key moment in the game. 

But, as companies like ‘Teamworks’ continue to develop their systems for the 25 programs that are currently signed up for their services, if will be interesting to see how many more teams decide to jump into the AI fray. 

And, even though there might be behaviors and player traits that are now discernible, along with available metrics. I would find it very unlikely that coaches are ready to hand over play-caling duties to a computer system. 

Could you imagine Dan Lanning coaching on Saturdays like he was playing the new EA College Football game? 

Neither can I. Or, is it AI?