Notre Dame hires former PFF analyst Anthony Treash as director of analytics
Since Marcus Freeman took over as head coach in December 2021, Notre Dame has made several hires designed to usher the program into the future of college football. The latest is a director of analytics.
Blue & Gold can confirm that the Irish have hired former Pro Football Focus college football analyst Anthony Treash for the role. FootballScoop’s John Brice was first to report the move.
“In joining Marcus Freeman’s preseason top-10 Notre Dame program, Treash is further bolstering the Irish’s NFL-modeled approach,” Brice wrote. “Treash, who’s been a key figure for nationally acclaimed Pro Football Focus (PFF), will work closely with [general manager Chad] Bowden and Matt Jansen, Notre Dame’s director of scouting who also owns significant NFL experience.”
Treash started at PFF in June 2019, last publishing a story April 25. In that story — his final top-100 NFL Draft prospect big board — he ranked Irish OT Joe Alt No. 5 overall, OT Blake Fisher No. 34, CB Cam Hart No. 41 and RB Audric Estimé No. 89.
Since graduating Indiana University Indianapolis with a Bachelor of Science in Sports Management, he worked on countless projects that used advanced statistics and tracking data to evaluate college and NFL players and teams.
Freeman has always been open to analytics, particularly as they pertain to in-game decision-making. He cited probabilities as a reason he went for it on fourth-and-1 twice against Ohio State.
Even though the Irish did not convert either try, he stood by his decision. Based on the odds of converting and the benefit of a touchdown over a field goal, they gave his team a better chance to win.
“I use it,” Freeman said. “I try to teach our team some of the ways that we can learn from the analytics, but I’m just not 100% dependent on it. There’s a part of feeling the game, right, feeling your team. What do you need?”
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Notre Dame’s “NFL-modeled approach,” as Brice wrote, has taken numerous forms. Bowden leads a large and modernized recruiting office that now features Zaire Turner as director of player personnel, Caleb Davis as director of recruiting and Carter Auman as assistant to the general manager.
The Irish are also heavily invested in sports science, led by senior athletics director for sports performance John Wagle. Working with Freeman and new strength coach Loren Landow, Wagle uses GPS tracking data to manage players’ individual workloads.
Jansen, hired from West Virginia in the summer of 2023, operates Notre Dame’s college scouting arm like an NFL pro scouting department. Under his leadership, the Irish evaluate potential transfer additions long before they reach the portal.
“When I first got in college football [in 2019], it wasn’t that way,” Jansen said. “We were, at West Virginia, completely missing an area that a lot of college teams were, which was the pro personnel department.
“What free agency prep was is now portal prep. You don’t know if that guy’s gonna re-sign or not; you have to be ready in case he doesn’t.”
Treash is the latest addition that puts Notre Dame on the cutting edge of modern college football.
