Texas AD clarifies use of AI on key play in loss to Florida

Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte on Friday sought to clarify a report that the Longhorns used an AI-driven data analytics platform when they decided to go for it on a key fourth-and-2 play that failed in last weekend’s 27-24 loss to Florida.

A story in the Austin American-Statesman published earlier Friday stirred Texas fans when it said Del Conte cited the play as an example of the football team’s use of the new platform. The Longhorns, who trailed 20-17 at the time, didn’t convert in the situation, with Arch Manning losing 3 yards, but the newspaper said Del Conte called it a pivotal embrace of Bevo Lab.

On Texas Football later posted on X that Del Conte clarified he cited it as an example of what the AI platform “could suggest, not what it actually did.”

The AI data analytics initiative, called Bevo Lab, was officially announced by Texas on Friday, with the Longhorns saying it will “serve as higher education’s premier sports intelligence platform and living laboratory.”

Texas said the school is leveraging its connections with Dell and Google Cloud, both of which are led by Longhorns alums, and that all 21 sports programs and their 500 athletes will participate in the hub for analytics and research.

“Bevo Lab will become the global benchmark for innovation in sports AI and data analytics, making Texas Athletics the most data-driven athletic program in the country,” Del Conte said. “What starts here changes the world, and this vision will transform collegiate athletics.”

The school said about 40 student researchers will manage modeling and data projects under the direction of Kirk Goldsberry, a data analyst, former ESPN basketball analyst and author who later served as the San Antonio Spurs’ vice president for strategic research. Goldsberry now runs the school’s Business of Sports Institute.

“Bevo Lab will reinforce Texas as a leader in sports analytics and AI, and will serve as the blueprint for the future of sports,” Goldsberry said.

A Texas news release said it has created a “unified data warehouse” called the Bevo Lakehouse that would consolidate game film and wearable technology instead of having them separated by sports, beginning with football. There is a “transfer AI” system designed to help coaches with roster evaluation, game strategy, scouting and player development.

Del Conte spoke Friday at the university’s Business of College Sports Summit and said that Bevo Lab, a partnership with the university’s McCombs School of Business and Longhorn Sports Properties, will be available to coaches, players, trainers, nutritionists and analysts for every Longhorns program, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Goldsberry told the Chronicle that former NBA star Chris Bosh, who is a Tower Fellow, part of a nine-month learning program, will be part of the lab’s staff and that Rockets star Kevin Durant, a Texas alum and member of the Business of Sports Institute’s advisory board, will be more involved when he retires.