Longevity CoachDefense-First

Coach Profile

Ron Dowhower

1979-1996 • Stanford, Vanderbilt

2 schools coached, anchored by Vanderbilt.

Ron Dowhower coached 3 seasons, won 28.8%, and posted an average SRS of -2.7. Best season: 1979 Stanford. The profile was defense-first with a swing-heavy profile. 2 stints shaped the career arc.

Compare this coach All coach records Ranked opponent record Jump to seasons

Career record: 9-23-1
Career win rate: 28.8%
Average SRS: -2.7
Peak SRS: 6.7

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: 3
Career span: 18 years
Best finish: —
Consistency: 49.5

Primary school anchor

Vanderbilt

Defense-First profile with 2 program stops and a peak score of 53.1.

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.

Ron Dowhower

EliteStrongAverageLean

Ron Dowhower: 1995 Vanderbilt

1979Actual season year • SRS range -8.5 to 6.71996

Active comparison point

Ron Dowhower • 1979

Selected

1979 Stanford

Best season

5-5-1 • SRS 6.7 • SP Overall 4.4

Win %

50.0%

YoY SRS

—

SP Off / Def

29.3 / 26.3

Finish

Unranked

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

AP Top 25Coaches Poll

Ranking timing

Time of gameSeason final

Top 25

0-10-1

Games: 11
Win rate: 4.5%

Top 10

0-5-1

Games: 6
Win rate: 8.3%

Top 5

0-3-1

Games: 4
Win rate: 12.5%

View ranked game results11


1996 Regular Week 15	Vanderbilt	Tennessee	#9	L7-14
1996 Regular Week 12	Vanderbilt	Florida	#1	L21-28
1996 Regular Week 7	Vanderbilt	LSU	#14	L0-35
1996 Regular Week 4	Vanderbilt	Alabama	#13	L26-36
1996 Regular Week 3	Vanderbilt	Notre Dame	#6	L7-14
1995 Regular Week 14	Vanderbilt	Tennessee	#5	L7-12
1995 Regular Week 13	Vanderbilt	Florida	#3	L7-38
1995 Regular Week 6	Vanderbilt	Arkansas	#23	L7-35
1995 Regular Week 4	Vanderbilt	Notre Dame	#24	L0-41
1995 Regular Week 2	Vanderbilt	Alabama	#11	L25-33
1979 Regular Week 7	Stanford	USC	#4	T21-21

Tenure map

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

Length = seasons coachedDeeper color = stronger stint

Vanderbilt

1995-1996 • 2 seasons

Avg SRS -7.5 • Win % 18.2%

Stanford

1979-1979 • 1 seasons

Avg SRS 6.7 • Win % 50.0%

Longest tenure: Vanderbilt • 2 seasons
Best tenure: Stanford • 6.7 SRS
Best tenure win rate: Stanford • 50.0%

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.

Ron Dowhower sets the reference point in overall strength.

Overall Strength

Decisive edge

Ron Dowhower sets the reference point in overall strength.

Normalized score; raw SP overall stays underneath for reference.

Ron Dowhower

Mixed

Raw avg SP Overall: -3.4
Percentile: 46th pct

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.

Vanderbilt

1995-1996 • 4-18

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

Avg SRS -7.5Win % 18.2%

Avg wins

Higher is better

2.0 during vs 3.8 baseline

-1.8

Avg SRS

Higher is better

-7.5 during vs -6.5 baseline

-1.0

Avg SP Overall

Higher is better

-7.3 during vs -7.3 baseline

-0.1

Ranked finish rate

Higher is better

0.0% during vs 0.0% baseline

+0.0%

Stanford

1979-1979 • 5-5-1

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

Avg SRS 6.7Win % 50.0%

Avg wins

Higher is better

5.0 during vs 6.8 baseline

-1.8

Avg SRS

Higher is better

6.7 during vs 8.8 baseline

-2.1

Avg SP Overall

Higher is better

4.4 during vs 10.2 baseline

-5.8

Ranked finish rate

Higher is better

0.0% during vs 40.0% baseline

-40.0%

Career highs and lows

High Points

Best Season

Stanford 1979

5-5-1 • SRS 6.7

Biggest Improvement

Vanderbilt 1996

2-9 • 2.1 SRS

Best Offensive Season

Stanford 1979

5-5-1 • SP Off 29.3

Best Defensive Season

Vanderbilt 1996

2-9 • SP Def 21.8

Setbacks

Worst Season

Vanderbilt 1995

2-9 • SRS -8.5

Biggest Drop

Vanderbilt 1995

2-9 • -15.2 SRS

Season-by-season results

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


Vanderbilt	1996	11	2	9	0	18.2%	—	—	-6.4	-6.2	16.0	21.8	+2.1	0.0%
Vanderbilt	1995	11	2	9	0	18.2%	—	—	-8.5	-8.5	17.9	25.8	-15.2	-31.8%
Stanford	1979	11	5	5	1	50.0%	#13	—	6.7	4.4	29.3	26.3	—	—

Best finish Unranked • Volatility 8.8

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