Top 25
7-20
- Games
- 27
- Win rate
- 25.9%
Back to Coaches
Longevity CoachDefense-First
Coach Profile
Gerry Faust
1981-1994 • Akron, Notre Dame
2 schools coached, anchored by Akron.
Gerry Faust coached 13 seasons, won 46.9%, and posted an average SRS of -5.0. Best season: 1981 Notre Dame. The profile was defense-first with a highly volatile profile. 2 stints shaped the career arc.
- Career record
- 66-75-4
- Career win rate
- 46.9%
- Average SRS
- -5.0
- Peak SRS
- 13.6
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
- 13
- Career span
- 14 years
- Best finish
- —
- Consistency
- 1.3
Primary school anchor
Akron
Defense-First profile with 2 program stops and a peak score of 70.2.
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.
- Overall record
- 66-75-4
- Akron record
- 36-49-3
- Full-season record
- 66-75-4
- Vs AP Top 10
- 2-8
- Vs AP Top 5
- 1-4
- Vs Kent State
- 3-4
- Postseason / bowl record
- 1-1
- CFP record
- 0-0
- National titles
- 0
145 countable games, 46.9% win rate.
8 countable seasons at Akron.
13 full season rows; partial and backfilled current rows are separated.
10 games using AP ranking at game time.
5 games using AP ranking at game time.
Akron-Kent State games in this dataset.
2 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, 1994. 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.
Gerry Faust
EliteStrongAverageLean
Gerry Faust: 1987 Akron
1981Actual season year • SRS range -33.2 to 13.61994
Active comparison point
Gerry Faust • 1981
1981 Notre Dame
Best season5-6 • SRS 13.6 • SP Overall 14.2
Win %
45.5%
YoY SRS
—
SP Off / Def
28.1 / 14.2
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
2-8
- Games
- 10
- Win rate
- 20.0%
Top 5
1-4
- Games
- 5
- Win rate
- 20.0%
View ranked game results27
| 1990 Regular Week 9 | Akron | Florida | #14 | L0-59 |
| 1989 Regular Week 11 | Akron | Tennessee | #11 | L9-52 |
| 1988 Regular Week 8 | Akron | Auburn | #12 | L0-42 |
| 1985 Regular Week 14 | Notre Dame | Miami | #4 | L7-58 |
| 1985 Regular Week 13 | Notre Dame | LSU | #17 | L7-10 |
| 1985 Regular Week 12 | Notre Dame | Penn State | #1 | L6-36 |
| 1985 Regular Week 8 | Notre Dame | Army | #19 | W24-10 |
| 1985 Regular Week 6 | Notre Dame | Air Force | #17 | L15-21 |
| 1984 Regular Week 14 | Notre Dame | USC | #20 | W19-7 |
| 1984 Regular Week 10 | Notre Dame | LSU | #15 | W30-22 |
| 1984 Regular Week 9 | Notre Dame | South Carolina | #9 | L32-36 |
| 1984 Regular Week 7 | Notre Dame | Miami | #10 | L13-31 |
| 1984 Postseason Week 1 | Notre Dame | SMU | #8 | L20-27 |
| 1983 Regular Week 13 | Notre Dame | Air Force | #18 | L22-23 |
| 1983 Regular Week 11 | Notre Dame | Pittsburgh | #20 | L16-21 |
| 1983 Regular Week 5 | Notre Dame | Miami | #15 | L0-20 |
| 1983 Postseason Week 1 | Notre Dame | Boston College | #19 | W19-18 |
| 1982 Regular Week 13 | Notre Dame | USC | #17 | L13-17 |
| 1982 Regular Week 11 | Notre Dame | Penn State | #5 | L14-24 |
| 1982 Regular Week 10 | Notre Dame | Pittsburgh | #1 | W31-16 |
| 1982 Regular Week 6 | Notre Dame | Miami | #17 | W16-14 |
| 1982 Regular Week 3 | Notre Dame | Michigan | #10 | W23-17 |
| 1981 Regular Week 13 | Notre Dame | Miami | #9 | L15-37 |
| 1981 Regular Week 12 | Notre Dame | Penn State | #13 | L21-24 |
| 1981 Regular Week 8 | Notre Dame | USC | #5 | L7-14 |
| 1981 Regular Week 6 | Notre Dame | Florida State | #20 | L13-19 |
| 1981 Regular Week 3 | Notre Dame | Michigan | #11 | L7-25 |
Tenure map
Each stint expands by seasons coached. Deeper color signals a stronger average SRS over that stretch.
Length = seasons coachedDeeper color = stronger stint
Akron
1987-1994 • 8 seasons
Avg SRS -15.8 • Win % 42.6%
Notre Dame
1981-1985 • 5 seasons
Avg SRS 12.2 • Win % 53.5%
- Longest tenure
- Akron • 8 seasons
- Best tenure
- Notre Dame • 12.2 SRS
- Best tenure win rate
- Notre Dame • 53.5%
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.
Gerry Faust sets the reference point in overall strength.
Overall Strength
Decisive edgeGerry Faust sets the reference point in overall strength.
Normalized score; raw SP overall stays underneath for reference.
Gerry Faust
Mixed
- Raw avg SP Overall
- -2.6
- Percentile
- 48th 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.
Akron
1987-1994 • 36-49-3
Baseline comparison is omitted when there are not enough outside-stint seasons for this program.
Avg SRS -15.8Win % 42.6%
No school baseline data available for this tenure.
Notre Dame
1981-1985 • 30-26-1
Compared with this school's baseline outside that stint over the prior 5 seasons (5 baseline seasons found).
Avg SRS 12.2Win % 53.5%
Avg wins
Higher is better
6.0 during vs 9.0 baseline
-3.0
Avg SRS
Higher is better
12.2 during vs 19.9 baseline
-7.7
Avg SP Overall
Higher is better
14.8 during vs 24.9 baseline
-10.1
Ranked finish rate
Higher is better
0.0% during vs 80.0% baseline
-80.0%
Career highs and lows
High Points
Best Season
Notre Dame 1981
5-6 • SRS 13.6
Biggest Improvement
Akron 1992
7-3-1 • 8.9 SRS
Best Offensive Season
Notre Dame 1985
5-6 • SP Off 33.8
Best Defensive Season
Notre Dame 1982
6-4-1 • SP Def 12.1
Setbacks
Lowest SRS Season
Akron 1994
1-10 • SRS -33.2
Biggest Drop
Akron 1987
4-7 • -29.6 SRS
Season-by-season results
Full transparency into every season in the coaching record. Positive YoY values indicate improvement from the prior season.
| Akron | 1994 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 9.1% | — | — | -33.2 | -28.5 | 17.0 | 41.6 | -13.6 | -36.4% | Season summary |
| Akron | 1993 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 45.5% | — | — | -19.6 | -14.1 | 17.3 | 30.1 | -10.1 | -22.7% | Season summary |
| Akron | 1992 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 68.2% | — | — | -9.5 | -4.2 | 21.0 | 25.2 | +8.9 | +22.7% | Season summary |
| Akron | 1991 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 45.5% | — | — | -18.4 | -21.7 | 21.8 | 39.8 | -8.6 | +13.6% | Season summary |
| Akron | 1990 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 31.8% | — | — | -9.8 | -9.4 | 24.7 | 32.8 | -4.6 | -27.3% | Season summary |
| Akron | 1989 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 59.1% | — | — | -5.2 | 0.8 | 30.1 | 29.8 | +8.5 | +13.6% | Season summary |
| Akron | 1988 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 45.5% | — | — | -13.7 | -14.1 | 19.5 | 32.1 | +3.7 | +9.1% | Season summary |
| Akron | 1987 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 36.4% | — | — | -17.4 | -17.3 | 18.5 | 34.7 | -29.6 | -9.1% | Season summary |
| Notre Dame | 1985 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 45.5% | #14 | — | 12.2 | 18.6 | 33.8 | 17.0 | +2.0 | -12.9% | Season summary |
| Notre Dame | 1984 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 58.3% | #8 | — | 10.2 | 12.2 | 32.6 | 21.6 | -1.9 | 0.0% | Season summary |
| Notre Dame | 1983 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 58.3% | #6 | — | 12.1 | 12.2 | 30.3 | 19.1 | -1.0 | -0.8% | Season summary |
| Notre Dame | 1982 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 59.1% | #18 | — | 13.1 | 16.8 | 28.6 | 12.1 | -0.5 | +13.6% | Season summary |
| Notre Dame | 1981 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 45.5% | #3 | — | 13.6 | 14.2 | 28.1 | 14.2 | — | — | 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
Joe Moorhead
same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 1.3
Avg SRS -6.4 • Peak SRS 19.8 • 6 seasons
Best finish Unranked • Volatility 14.3
Open profile →Rod Rust
same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 0.5
Avg SRS -5.6 • Peak SRS 11.9 • 6 seasons
Best finish Unranked • Volatility 13.4
Open profile →Frank Lauterbur
same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 0.4
Avg SRS -4.6 • Peak SRS 11.5 • 11 seasons
Best finish #12 • Volatility 10.3
Open profile →Bill Hess
same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 0.3
Avg SRS -5.3 • Peak SRS 7.8 • 16 seasons
Best finish #20 • Volatility 8.8
Open profile →Jim McElwain
same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 1.2
Avg SRS -3.8 • Peak SRS 12.4 • 12 seasons
Best finish #14 • Volatility 9.0
Open profile →Doc Holliday
same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 1.3
Avg SRS -3.7 • Peak SRS 14.6 • 11 seasons
Best finish #23 • Volatility 9.2
Open profile →