In a groundbreaking revelation for NWSL tactics, Seattle Reign FC head coach Laura Harvey has openly credited ChatGPT with transforming her team’s defensive strategy, propelling them from league basement dwellers to playoff contenders in 2025.
During the offseason, Harvey turned to the A.I. tool for innovative insights. She input queries like “What is Seattle Reign’s identity?” and “What formation should you play to beat NWSL teams?”
ChatGPT’s responses suggested a back-five formation against specific opponents — a setup Harvey had observed in men’s soccer but rarely applied in the women’s game.
“And then I put in, ‘What formation should you play to beat NWSL teams?’ And it spurted out every team in the league and what formation you should play. And for two teams, it went, ‘You should play a back five.’ So I did. No joke, that’s why I did it,” she said during an appearance on the Soccerish Podcast.
The results speak volumes: After scraping 13th place with 23 points last season, the Reign now sit fourth with 38 points, securing a postseason berth with one regular-season match remaining.
This AI-assisted turnaround underscores the growing role of artificial intelligence in sports strategy, blending data-driven suggestions with human intuition to outmaneuver rivals.
As Harvey eyes a deep playoff run, one can’t help but wonder: She might have won by an even larger margin if she’d swapped ChatGPT for a different OpenAI.
