Pete Carroll credits Minnesota man for how NFL quantifies explosive plays

Carroll was an assistant coach with the Vikings when he met Mike Eayrs.

How does the NFL quantify explosive plays? That question was presented to Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and he credited a Minnesota man for coming up with the data and analysis that teams in the NFL live by to this day. 

Mike Eayrs came up with the definition of an explosive play when Carroll was the defensive backs coach with the Minnesota Vikings from 1985-89.

"There was a gentleman, years ago, when I was at the Vikings. His name was Michael Eayrs. And we interviewed him, he was from Mankato, he was the offensive coordinator at Mankato State," Carroll said Oct. 3 on 710 AM radio in Seattle. 

"And he came to us, somebody had recommended him. And I remember, Jerry Burns said, told Mark Trestman and I, to interview the guy, and talk to him about whatever he had. He had some scientific stuff for us, you know? Research and all that. Analytics that we didn't understand at the time," Carroll continued. 

"And anyway, so we fell for this guy. He had so much information, we hired him. And he was the guy that established somehow, statistically, that a 16-yard pass on a drive, and a 12-yard run on a drive, affected the drive in a way that it bettered their chances of scoring.

"So the league pretty much has adopted 16-yard passes and 12-yard runs because Mike Eayrs. Well his son Brian Eayrs works with us right now and does an incredible job for us in analytics and all the stuff he does. And everything that he does. But that's where that comes from and it's a statistical reference, is what it is. And you have a significantly better chance to score."

Mike Eayrs worked as the Vikings' director of research and development from 1985 to 2001 before joining the Packers, where he held the same role until retiring in 2015. 

"You don’t replace Mike Eayrs,” then-Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said when Eayrs retired. 

Before landing jobs in the NFL Eayrs coached college football for 11 years, making stops at the University of South Dkota, UW-La Crosse, Minnesota State-Mankato and Luther College. 

After leaving the NFL in 2015, he spent just shy of two years as an analyst at Pro Football Focus. He was inducted into the Augsburg University Hall of Fame in 2014.

His son, Brian Eayrs, is nearing 10 years with the Seahawks as a research analyst in the football operations department. He got his start under his father at Green Bay as an intern in 2003, then spent two years in research and development with the Vikings from 2006-08. He also was an assistant coach for the Eden Prairie High School football team from 2003-05.