Defense-FirstDefense-FirstSteady Profile

Coach Profile

Jack Harbaugh

1982-1986 • Western Michigan

One defining program at Western Michigan.

Jack Harbaugh's coaching record is 25-27-3, highlighted by seasons at Western Michigan from 1982 to 1986.

Jack Harbaugh coached 5 seasons, won 48.2%, and posted an average SRS of -13.7. Best season: 1985 Western Michigan. The profile was defense-first with a very steady week-to-week shape. One primary stint defined the run.

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

Career record: 25-27-3
Career win rate: 48.2%
Average SRS: -13.7
Peak SRS: -10.5

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: 5
Career span: 5 years
Best finish: —
Consistency: 94.4

Primary school anchor

Western Michigan

Defense-First profile with 1 program stop and a peak score of 15.0.

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.

Compare Jack Harbaugh

Overall record: 25-27-3
Western Michigan record: 25-27-3
Full-season record: 25-27-3
Vs AP Top 25: 0-1
Vs AP Top 10: 0-0
Vs AP Top 5: 0-0
Vs Central Michigan: 0-4-1
Postseason / bowl record: 0-0
CFP record: 0-0
National titles: 0

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 15, 1986. 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.

Jack Harbaugh

EliteStrongAverageLean

1982Actual season year • SRS range -18.1 to -10.51986

Active comparison point

Jack Harbaugh • 1985

Selected

1985 Western Michigan

Best seasonBiggest improvement

4-6-1 • SRS -10.5 • SP Overall -3.1

Win %

40.9%

YoY SRS

+3.8

SP Off / Def

19.8 / 23.0

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

0-1

Games: 1
Win rate: 0.0%

Top 10

0-0

Games: 0
Win rate: —

Top 5

0-0

Games: 0
Win rate: —

View ranked game results1


1986 Regular Week 5	Western Michigan	Michigan State	#17	L10-45

Tenure map

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

Length = seasons coachedDeeper color = stronger stint

Western Michigan

1982-1986 • 5 seasons

Avg SRS -13.7 • Win % 48.2%

Longest tenure: Western Michigan • 5 seasons
Best tenure: Western Michigan • -13.7 SRS
Best tenure win rate: Western Michigan • 48.2%

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.

Jack Harbaugh sets the reference point in overall strength.

Overall Strength

Decisive edge

Jack Harbaugh sets the reference point in overall strength.

Normalized score; raw SP overall stays underneath for reference.

Jack Harbaugh

Mixed

Raw avg SP Overall: -4.4
Percentile: 44th 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.

Western Michigan

1982-1986 • 25-27-3

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

Avg SRS -13.7Win % 48.2%

Avg wins

Higher is better

5.0 during vs 6.0 baseline

-1.0

Avg SRS

Higher is better

-13.7 during vs -6.2 baseline

-7.6

Avg SP Overall

Higher is better

-4.4 during vs 0.9 baseline

-5.3

Ranked finish rate

Higher is better

0.0% during vs 0.0% baseline

+0.0%

Career highs and lows

High Points

Best Season

Western Michigan 1985

4-6-1 • SRS -10.5

Biggest Improvement

Western Michigan 1985

4-6-1 • 3.8 SRS

Best Offensive Season

Western Michigan 1984

5-6 • SP Off 20.8

Best Defensive Season

Western Michigan 1982

7-2-2 • SP Def 9.6

Setbacks

Lowest SRS Season

Western Michigan 1986

3-8 • SRS -18.1

Biggest Drop

Western Michigan 1986

3-8 • -7.6 SRS

Season-by-season results

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


Western Michigan	1986	11	3	8	0	27.3%	—	—	-18.1	-12.1	18.7	29.8	-7.6	-13.6%	Season summary
Western Michigan	1985	11	4	6	1	40.9%	—	—	-10.5	-3.1	19.8	23.0	+3.8	-4.5%	Season summary
Western Michigan	1984	11	5	6	0	45.5%	—	—	-14.3	-6.7	20.8	27.4	-0.6	-9.1%	Season summary
Western Michigan	1983	11	6	5	0	54.5%	—	—	-13.7	-6.3	17.9	24.0	-1.6	-18.2%	Season summary
Western Michigan	1982	11	7	2	2	72.7%	—	—	-12.1	6.1	14.5	9.6	—	—	Season summary

Similar coaches

Best finish Unranked • Volatility 3.5

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