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Manager impacts on worker performance in American football: Do offensive coordinators impact quarterback performance in the National Football League?

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  • Joshua D. Pitts
  • Brent Evans

Abstract

Ample research in nonsports labor markets suggests that managerial quality significantly impacts worker productivity; however, studies using sports data have been less likely to find such evidence supporting the importance of managers/coaches. We examine the impact of offensive coordinators on quarterback performance in football. While we find that various offensive coordinator characteristics have little impact on quarterback performance, we show that individual offensive coordinators do seem to play a role in quarterback development. Consistent with research on manager effects outside of sports, this suggests that elite and poor offensive coordinators do significantly impact the productivity of the quarterbacks they manage.

Suggested Citation

  • Joshua D. Pitts & Brent Evans, 2019. "Manager impacts on worker performance in American football: Do offensive coordinators impact quarterback performance in the National Football League?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(1), pages 105-118, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:mgtdec:v:40:y:2019:i:1:p:105-118
    DOI: 10.1002/mde.2985
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    2. W. David Allen, 2021. "Work Environment and Worker Performance: A View from the Goal Crease," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 418-448, December.
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    5. Naveed Ahmad Khan & Andrija Mihoci & Silke Michalk & Kirill Sarachuk & Hafiz Ali Javed, 2022. "Employee Performance Measures Appraised by Training and Labor Market: Evidence from the Banking Sector of Germany," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-13, October.
    6. Joshua D. Pitts & Brent A. Evans, 2020. "Defensive Coordinator and Head Coach Effects on Team Defensive Performance in the National Football League," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 21(5), pages 493-524, June.

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