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Coach Profile

Jim Carlen

1966-1981 • South Carolina, Texas Tech, West Virginia

3 schools coached, anchored by South Carolina.

Jim Carlen's coaching record is 107-69-6, highlighted by seasons at South Carolina from 1966 to 1981.

Jim Carlen coached 16 seasons, won 60.4%, and posted an average SRS of 8.1. Best season: 1973 Texas Tech. The profile was defense-first with a mostly steady profile. 3 stints shaped the career arc.

Compare this coachAll coach recordsRanked opponent recordJump to seasons
Career record
107-69-6
Career win rate
60.4%
Average SRS
8.1
Peak SRS
20.0

Career Dossier

One glance at the full arc.

The profile below keeps the headline numbers visible, then moves into tenure shape, school impact, and full season detail.

Seasons coached
16
Career span
16 years
Best finish
#11
Consistency
56.1

Primary school anchor

South Carolina

Defense-First profile with 3 program stops and a peak score of 84.2.

Quick Answers

Records fans search first

Headline records use countable season rows after completed-game fallback. Partial seasons and provisional placeholders are called out separately.

Compare Jim Carlen
Overall record
107-69-6

182 countable games, 60.4% win rate.

South Carolina record
45-36-1

7 countable seasons at South Carolina.

Full-season record
107-69-6

16 full season rows; partial and backfilled current rows are separated.

Vs AP Top 25
7-24

31 games using AP ranking at game time.

Vs AP Top 10
3-13

16 games using AP ranking at game time.

Vs AP Top 5
1-11

12 games using AP ranking at game time.

Vs Clemson
2-5

Palmetto Bowl games in this dataset.

Postseason / bowl record
2-5-1

8 scored postseason games in this dataset.

CFP record
0-0

0 College Football Playoff-labeled games since 2014.

National titles
0

Matched by coach team-season against the national championship dataset.

Record definition and data status

Career records use countable coach-season rows. Zero-game placeholders are excluded from aggregates until a completed-game fallback can verify the record.

Completed-game fallback uses scored games joined by coach, team, and season; advanced ratings are left blank when the season summary has not supplied them.

Latest completed coached game in this dataset: Dec 5, 1981. Current and future zero-game placeholders are kept visible but excluded from headline records.

Career Arc

Track how the coach's season-to-season performance changed over time, where the peak landed, and where each school stint appears.

Focus on where peaks separate, where floors hold, and how the shape of each career changed over time.

Jim Carlen
EliteStrongAverageLean
Jim Carlen: 1970 Texas TechJim Carlen: 1975 South Carolina
1966Actual season year • SRS range -8.3 to 20.01981

Active comparison point

Jim Carlen • 1973

Selected

1973 Texas Tech

Best season

11-1 • SRS 20.0 • SP Overall 20.5

Win %

91.7%

YoY SRS

+7.6

SP Off / Def

36.1 / 17.0

Finish

#11

Comparison context

Focus a point to inspect how it stacks up against the rest of the field.

Ranked opponent record

Track career record against ranked opponents with switchable poll source and ranking timing.

Using AP Top 25 rankings at the time of each game; week-one games use the week-one ranking release when available.

Poll source
Ranking timing

Top 25

7-24

Games
31
Win rate
22.6%

Top 10

3-13

Games
16
Win rate
18.8%

Top 5

1-11

Games
12
Win rate
8.3%
View ranked game results31
1981 Regular Week 12South CarolinaClemson#2L13-29
1981 Regular Week 8South CarolinaNorth Carolina#3W31-13
1981 Regular Week 5South CarolinaPittsburgh#4L28-42
1981 Regular Week 4South CarolinaGeorgia#17L0-24
1980 Regular Week 10South CarolinaGeorgia#2L10-13
1980 Regular Week 4South CarolinaUSC#5L13-23
1980 Postseason Week 1South CarolinaPittsburgh#2L9-37
1979 Regular Week 13South CarolinaClemson#18W13-9
1979 Regular Week 11South CarolinaFlorida State#5L7-27
1979 Regular Week 9South CarolinaNotre Dame#13L17-18
1978 Regular Week 13South CarolinaClemson#7L23-41
1977 Regular Week 12South CarolinaClemson#13L27-31
1976 Regular Week 8South CarolinaNotre Dame#11L6-13
1976 Regular Week 4South CarolinaGeorgia#6L12-20
1975 Regular Week 5South CarolinaBaylor#18W24-13
1975 Postseason Week 1South CarolinaMiami (OH)#12L7-20
1974 Regular Week 7Texas TechArizona#9W17-8
1974 Regular Week 6Texas TechTexas A&M#16L7-28
1974 Regular Week 4Texas TechTexas#6W26-3
1973 Regular Week 5Texas TechTexas#13L12-28
1973 Postseason Week 1Texas TechTennessee#19W28-19
1972 Regular Week 8Texas TechSMU#18W17-3
1972 Regular Week 4Texas TechTexas#12L20-25
1972 Postseason Week 1Texas TechNorth Carolina#12L28-32
1971 Regular Week 11Texas TechArkansas#17L0-15
1971 Regular Week 3Texas TechTexas#3L0-28
1970 Regular Week 13Texas TechArkansas#4L10-24
1970 Regular Week 5Texas TechTexas#2L13-35
1970 Postseason Week 1Texas TechGeorgia Tech#13L9-17
1969 Regular Week 5West VirginiaPenn State#5L0-20
1968 Regular Week 4West VirginiaPenn State#3L20-31

Tenure map

Each stint expands by seasons coached. Deeper color signals a stronger average SRS over that stretch.

Length = seasons coachedDeeper color = stronger stint

South Carolina

1975-1981 • 7 seasons

Avg SRS 9.1 • Win % 55.5%

Texas Tech

1970-1974 • 5 seasons

Avg SRS 11.6 • Win % 64.4%

West Virginia

1966-1969 • 4 seasons

Avg SRS 1.9 • Win % 64.6%

Longest tenure
South Carolina • 7 seasons
Best tenure
Texas Tech • 11.6 SRS
Best tenure win rate
West Virginia • 64.6%

Style and Strength Profile

Compare strength, identity, steadiness, and ceiling through normalized bars with raw SP and SRS context underneath.

These bars are normalized against the full coach dataset. Raw SP and SRS values stay visible so the profile reads as evidence, not decoration.

Overall Strength

Start with total quality before splitting style and variance.

Jim Carlen sets the reference point in overall strength.

Overall Strength

Decisive edge

Jim Carlen sets the reference point in overall strength.

Normalized score; raw SP overall stays underneath for reference.

Jim Carlen

Elite

Raw avg SP Overall
10.4
Percentile
86th pct

Elite

Normalized against the full tracked coach pool.

Impact by school

See how each stint compared with what that program usually looked like outside that same span.

South Carolina

1975-1981 • 45-36-1

Compared with this school's baseline outside that stint over the prior 5 seasons (5 baseline seasons found).

Avg SRS 9.1Win % 55.5%

Avg wins

Higher is better

6.4 during vs 5.0 baseline

+1.4

Avg SRS

Higher is better

9.1 during vs 2.2 baseline

+6.9

Avg SP Overall

Higher is better

10.5 during vs 2.0 baseline

+8.5

Ranked finish rate

Higher is better

0.0% during vs 0.0% baseline

+0.0%

Texas Tech

1970-1974 • 37-20-2

Compared with this school's baseline outside that stint over the prior 5 seasons (5 baseline seasons found).

Avg SRS 11.6Win % 64.4%

Avg wins

Higher is better

7.4 during vs 5.6 baseline

+1.8

Avg SRS

Higher is better

11.6 during vs 6.5 baseline

+5.1

Avg SP Overall

Higher is better

10.4 during vs — baseline

—

Ranked finish rate

Higher is better

20.0% during vs 0.0% baseline

+20.0%

West Virginia

1966-1969 • 25-13-3

Compared with this school's baseline outside that stint over the prior 5 seasons (5 baseline seasons found).

Avg SRS 1.9Win % 64.6%

Avg wins

Higher is better

6.3 during vs 5.8 baseline

+0.5

Avg SRS

Higher is better

1.9 during vs -0.6 baseline

+2.6

Avg SP Overall

Higher is better

— during vs — baseline

—

Ranked finish rate

Higher is better

25.0% during vs 0.0% baseline

+25.0%

Career highs and lows

High Points

Best Season

Texas Tech 1973

11-1 • SRS 20.0

Biggest Improvement

West Virginia 1967

5-4-1 • 11.3 SRS

Best Offensive Season

South Carolina 1980

8-4 • SP Off 36.2

Best Defensive Season

Texas Tech 1974

6-4-2 • SP Def 11.6

Setbacks

Lowest SRS Season

West Virginia 1966

3-5-2 • SRS -8.3

Biggest Drop

Texas Tech 1971

4-7 • -11.0 SRS

Season-by-season results

Full transparency into every season in the coaching record. Positive YoY values indicate improvement from the prior season.

South Carolina19811266050.0%——8.59.226.618.1-6.8-16.7%Season summary
South Carolina19801284066.7%——15.319.536.218.7+4.00.0%Season summary
South Carolina19791284066.7%——11.316.029.915.0+4.1+16.7%Season summary
South Carolina19781155150.0%——7.27.726.319.4+1.8+8.3%Season summary
South Carolina19771257041.7%——5.46.823.617.7-5.1-12.9%Season summary
South Carolina19761165054.5%——10.58.922.013.9+5.0-3.8%Season summary
South Carolina19751275058.3%——5.55.132.629.0-4.70.0%Season summary
Texas Tech19741264258.3%——10.211.122.011.6-9.8-33.3%Season summary
Texas Tech197312111091.7%#20#1120.020.536.117.0+7.6+25.0%Season summary
Texas Tech19721284066.7%——12.412.829.617.4+10.2+30.3%Season summary
Texas Tech19711147036.4%——2.2-0.713.114.0-11.0-30.3%Season summary
Texas Tech19701284066.7%——13.28.522.715.0+4.0-24.2%Season summary
West Virginia196911101090.9%—#179.2———+5.4+20.9%Season summary
West Virginia19681073070.0%——3.8———+0.8+15.0%Season summary
West Virginia19671054155.0%——3.0———+11.3+15.0%Season summary
West Virginia19661035240.0%——-8.3—————Season summary

Similar coaches

Popular comparisons are fan-facing matchups. Statistical comps are matched by style, strength band, volatility band, peak range, and career length.

Statistical comps

Mark Dantonio

same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 0.9

Defense-First

Avg SRS 7.2 • Peak SRS 20.0 • 16 seasons

Best finish #3 • Volatility 6.8

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Bobby Collins

same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 0.8

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Avg SRS 7.3 • Peak SRS 16.6 • 12 seasons

Best finish #2 • Volatility 6.1

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Bill Peterson

same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 0.4

Defense-First

Avg SRS 8.5 • Peak SRS 17.9 • 12 seasons

Best finish Unranked • Volatility 6.7

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Fran Curci

same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 0.1

Defense-First

Avg SRS 8.2 • Peak SRS 21.8 • 11 seasons

Best finish #6 • Volatility 6.7

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Billy Murphy

same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 0.5

Defense-First

Avg SRS 7.6 • Peak SRS 17.0 • 12 seasons

Best finish Unranked • Volatility 5.1

Open profile →

Emory Bellard

same defense-first identity • volatility within 0.3

Defense-First

Avg SRS 10.4 • Peak SRS 21.5 • 14 seasons

Best finish #7 • Volatility 6.0

Open profile →