Top 25
0-2
- Games
- 2
- Win rate
- 0.0%
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Defense-FirstDefense-FirstSteady Profile
Coach Profile
Dennis Fitzgerald
1975-1977 • Kent State
One defining program at Kent State.
Dennis Fitzgerald's coaching record is 18-16, highlighted by seasons at Kent State from 1975 to 1977.
Dennis Fitzgerald coached 3 seasons, won 52.9%, and posted an average SRS of -7.9. Best season: 1976 Kent State. The profile was defense-first with a very steady week-to-week shape. One primary stint defined the run.
- Career record
- 18-16
- Career win rate
- 52.9%
- Average SRS
- -7.9
- Peak SRS
- -3.5
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
- 3 years
- Best finish
- —
- Consistency
- 91.5
Primary school anchor
Kent State
Defense-First profile with 1 program stop and a peak score of 27.0.
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.
- Overall record
- 18-16
- Kent State record
- 18-16
- Full-season record
- 18-16
- Vs AP Top 10
- 0-1
- Vs AP Top 5
- 0-0
- Vs Bowling Green
- 0-3
- Postseason / bowl record
- 0-0
- CFP record
- 0-0
- National titles
- 0
34 countable games, 52.9% win rate.
3 countable seasons at Kent State.
3 full season rows; partial and backfilled current rows are separated.
1 games using AP ranking at game time.
0 games using AP ranking at game time.
Bowling Green-Kent State games in this dataset.
0 scored postseason games in this dataset.
0 College Football Playoff-labeled games since 2014.
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: Nov 19, 1977. 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.
Dennis Fitzgerald
EliteStrongAverageLean
1975Actual season year • SRS range -10.1 to -3.51977
Active comparison point
Dennis Fitzgerald • 1976
1976 Kent State
Best seasonBiggest improvement8-4 • SRS -3.5 • SP Overall 3.2
Win %
66.7%
YoY SRS
+6.5
SP Off / Def
25.7 / 23.4
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.
Top 10
0-1
- Games
- 1
- Win rate
- 0.0%
Top 5
0-0
- Games
- 0
- Win rate
- —
View ranked game results2
| 1977 Regular Week 3 | Kent State | Colorado | #8 | L0-42 |
| 1975 Regular Week 11 | Kent State | Miami (OH) | #16 | L8-27 |
Tenure map
Each stint expands by seasons coached. Deeper color signals a stronger average SRS over that stretch.
Length = seasons coachedDeeper color = stronger stint
Kent State
1975-1977 • 3 seasons
Avg SRS -7.9 • Win % 52.9%
- Longest tenure
- Kent State • 3 seasons
- Best tenure
- Kent State • -7.9 SRS
- Best tenure win rate
- Kent State • 52.9%
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.
Dennis Fitzgerald sets the reference point in overall strength.
Overall Strength
Decisive edgeDennis Fitzgerald sets the reference point in overall strength.
Normalized score; raw SP overall stays underneath for reference.
Dennis Fitzgerald
Mixed
- Raw avg SP Overall
- -1.4
- Percentile
- 52th pct
Mixed
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.
Kent State
1975-1977 • 18-16
Compared with this school's baseline outside that stint over the prior 5 seasons (5 baseline seasons found).
Avg SRS -7.9Win % 52.9%
Avg wins
Higher is better
6.0 during vs 5.6 baseline
+0.4
Avg SRS
Higher is better
-7.9 during vs -5.1 baseline
-2.8
Avg SP Overall
Higher is better
-1.4 during vs 3.0 baseline
-4.4
Ranked finish rate
Higher is better
0.0% during vs 0.0% baseline
+0.0%
Career highs and lows
High Points
Best Season
Kent State 1976
8-4 • SRS -3.5
Biggest Improvement
Kent State 1976
8-4 • 6.5 SRS
Best Offensive Season
Kent State 1976
8-4 • SP Off 25.7
Best Defensive Season
Kent State 1976
8-4 • SP Def 23.4
Setbacks
Lowest SRS Season
Kent State 1977
6-5 • SRS -10.1
Biggest Drop
Kent State 1977
6-5 • -6.6 SRS
Season-by-season results
Full transparency into every season in the coaching record. Positive YoY values indicate improvement from the prior season.
| Kent State | 1977 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 54.5% | — | — | -10.1 | -1.7 | 23.6 | 25.4 | -6.6 | -12.1% | Season summary |
| Kent State | 1976 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 66.7% | — | — | -3.5 | 3.2 | 25.7 | 23.4 | +6.5 | +30.3% | Season summary |
| Kent State | 1975 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 36.4% | — | — | -10.0 | -5.6 | 24.7 | 30.1 | — | — | 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
KC Keeler
same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 1.0
Avg SRS -8.8 • Peak SRS -6.2 • 3 seasons
Best finish Unranked • Volatility 3.2
Open profile →Claude Gibson
same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 0.6
Avg SRS -7.2 • Peak SRS -4.1 • 3 seasons
Best finish Unranked • Volatility 2.6
Open profile →Don Lawrence
same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 0.0
Avg SRS -7.9 • Peak SRS -6.1 • 3 seasons
Best finish Unranked • Volatility 1.3
Open profile →Ed Cavanaugh
same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 2.0
Avg SRS -9.8 • Peak SRS -5.8 • 3 seasons
Best finish Unranked • Volatility 3.0
Open profile →Greg Robinson
same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 0.9
Avg SRS -8.8 • Peak SRS -2.6 • 4 seasons
Best finish Unranked • Volatility 3.8
Open profile →Bill Oliver
same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 0.5
Avg SRS -7.4 • Peak SRS -3.2 • 2 seasons
Best finish Unranked • Volatility 4.2
Open profile →