Coaches Research Hub
Search any coach, jump to the record answer, then verify it with year-by-year rows, ranked-game splits, school impact, and comparisons.
Answer Pages
Fast answers, deeper profiles.
Current Research Window
Search coach records, career wins, win percentage, and rankings from the same filtered universe as the discovery visuals below. Start from the recommended sample, then tighten the field around identity, school, time span, or quality.
17
Coaches in view
1786 indexed coaches available
222
Coach-seasons
12392 total coach-season rows
1/1
Page position
17 coaches in the current filtered result set
Summary and Filtering
Coach search stays primary, then school, archetype, time span, and quality sharpen the rankings. The recommended starting point is 3+ seasons.
Primary Discovery
Start with career shape or flip to identity. Either way, the chart, the coach summary, the outlier list, and the table context all stay synchronized.
Start with the simplest question: who paired real strength with a repeatable week-to-week shape?
Paul Bixler
Volatility: 10.39 • Average SRS: -4.72
38.5% win rate • 17.1 peak SRS
Hover or focus a point to isolate it. Click a coach to carry that selection into the results table.
Average SRS reads overall strength. Volatility is the spread of season-to-season SRS, so lower values mean a steadier profile.
Career shape lens
This is the clearest first-pass view for peak versus stability. It is the best place to start browsing.
Paul Bixler coached 6 seasons, won 38.5%, and posted an average SRS of -4.7. Best season: 1946 Ohio State. The profile was balanced with a highly volatile profile. 2 stints shaped the career arc.
These callouts update with the active discovery mode and filtered coach set.
Highest peak
Woody Hayes
Single-season ceiling leader in the current filtered set.
Most consistent elite coach
Ryan Day
High average strength without the season-to-season swing.
Elite but volatile
Howard Jones
Big ceiling, but the weekly shape moved around more than the steady tier.
Keep the ceiling board in view, but as a support module for the active lens, not the main destination.
1. Woody Hayes
1973
2. Howard Jones
1931
3. Urban Meyer
2008
4. John Wilce
1917
5. Ryan Day
2019
Supporting Insights
These are shortcuts into the same table below. Performance leads the stack, while stability and longevity stay visible without competing with the main chart.
Performance
The fastest path into peak and results leaders.
Single-season ceiling leaders.
1. Woody Hayes
1973 Ohio State (10-0-1)
2. Howard Jones
1931 USC (10-1)
3. Urban Meyer
2008 Florida (13-1)
4. John Wilce
1917 Ohio State (8-0-1)
5. Ryan Day
2019 Ohio State (13-1)
Who won the most across a meaningful sample.
1. Ryan Day
2019 Ohio State (13-1)
2. Urban Meyer
2008 Florida (13-1)
3. Jim Tressel
2005 Ohio State (10-2)
4. Woody Hayes
1973 Ohio State (10-0-1)
5. AE Herrnstein
4 seasons
Coaches who stacked elite endings.
1. Woody Hayes
1973 Ohio State (10-0-1)
2. Urban Meyer
2008 Florida (13-1)
3. Jim Tressel
2005 Ohio State (10-2)
4. Ryan Day
2019 Ohio State (13-1)
5. Sam Willaman
1930 Ohio State (5-2-1)
Stability
Who stays in control year after year.
Low SRS volatility among winning coaches with a real sample.
1. Ryan Day
2019 Ohio State (13-1)
2. Jim Tressel
2005 Ohio State (10-2)
3. Sam Willaman
1930 Ohio State (5-2-1)
4. Luke Fickell
2021 Cincinnati (13-1)
5. Paul Brown
1944 Great Lakes Navy (9-2-1)
Longevity
Long arcs, big samples, and durable careers.
Big careers and long arcs.
1. Howard Jones
1931 USC (10-1)
2. Woody Hayes
1973 Ohio State (10-0-1)
3. John Cooper
1995 Ohio State (11-2)
4. Francis Schmidt
1929 TCU (9-0-1)
5. Earle Bruce
1979 Ohio State (11-1)
Results Table
17 filtered coaches in view. Lower rank numbers are better. Lower volatility means more stable. Lower SP Def numbers are better on the identity chart.
| Compare | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paul Bixler 18-30-4 • 1946-1951 | Colgate, Ohio State | 6 | 52 | 18 | 30 | 38.5% | -4.7 | 17.1 1946 peak | 10.4 | — | — | #0 | 1 | Balanced — | |
Jack Ryder 19-17-2 • 1892-1895 | Ohio State | 4 | 38 | 19 | 17 | 52.6% | — | — — peak | — | — | — | #0 | 4 | Balanced — | |
AE Herrnstein 28-10-1 • 1906-1909 | Ohio State | 4 | 38 | 28 | 10 | 75.0% | — | — — peak | — | — | — | #0 | 4 | Balanced — | |
John Eckstrom 22-4-3 • 1899-1901 | Ohio State | 3 | 29 | 22 | 4 | 81.0% | — | — — peak | — | — | — | #0 | 3 | Balanced — | |
Francis Schmidt 135-53-9 • 1922-1942 | Arkansas, Idaho +2 | 21 | 197 | 135 | 53 | 70.8% | 8.2 | 25.1 1929 peak | 11.5 | — | — | #13 | 0 | Balanced Longevity Coach | |
Luke Fickell 80-46 • 2011-2025 | Cincinnati, Ohio State +1 | 11 | 126 | 80 | 46 | 63.5% | 4.7 | 16.9 2021 peak | 6.9 | 26.3 | 19.3 | #4 | 2 | Defense-First Longevity Coach | |
John Wilce 78-33-9 • 1913-1928 | Ohio State | 16 | 120 | 78 | 33 | 68.8% | 13.8 | 33.6 1917 peak | 10.4 | — | — | — | 0 | Balanced Volatile Builder | |
Wesley Fesler 34-28-8 • 1946-1953 | Minnesota, Ohio State +1 | 8 | 73 | 34 | 28 | 52.0% | 10.5 | 20.8 1949 peak | 8.0 | — | — | #0 | 3 | Balanced Peak Dominator | |
Sam Willaman 40-25-8 • 1922-1933 | Iowa State, Ohio State | 9 | 73 | 40 | 25 | 60.3% | 9.0 | 15.8 1930 peak | 5.6 | — | — | #0 | 5 | Balanced Program Stabilizer | |
Earle Bruce 139-82-2 • 1973-1992 | Colorado State, Iowa State +1 | 19 | 223 | 139 | 82 | 62.8% | 10.1 | 24.9 1979 peak | 8.6 | 32.9 | 22.6 | #4 | 3 | Balanced Peak Dominator | |
John Cooper 192-84-6 • 1977-2000 | Arizona State, Ohio State +1 | 24 | 282 | 192 | 84 | 69.2% | 9.8 | 28.2 1995 peak | 10.9 | 33.3 | 21.3 | #2 | 4 | Balanced Peak Dominator | |
Paul Brown 33-14-3 • 1941-1945 | Great Lakes Navy, Ohio State | 5 | 50 | 33 | 14 | 69.0% | 18.8 | 26.0 1944 peak | 7.1 | — | — | #0 | 2 | Balanced Peak Dominator | |
Howard Jones 194-64-21 • 1908-1940 | Duke, Iowa +4 | 29 | 279 | 194 | 64 | 73.3% | 16.1 | 35.3 1931 peak | 11.8 | — | — | #0 | 3 | Balanced Peak Dominator | |
Jim Tressel 106-22 • 2001-2010 | Ohio State | 10 | 128 | 106 | 22 | 82.8% | 17.4 | 27.2 2005 peak | 5.0 | 35.9 | 13.5 | #1 | 8 | Balanced Peak Dominator | |
Woody Hayes 205-61-10 • 1951-1978 | Ohio State | 28 | 276 | 205 | 61 | 76.1% | 18.9 | 36.3 1973 peak | 8.2 | 35.1 | 14.0 | #1 | 15 | Balanced Peak Dominator | |
Urban Meyer 187-32 • 2001-2018 | Bowling Green, Florida +2 | 17 | 219 | 187 | 32 | 85.4% | 18.5 | 33.9 2008 peak | 7.9 | 40.2 | 19.3 | #1 | 9 | Balanced Peak Dominator | |
Ryan Day 82-12 • 2018-2025 | Ohio State | 8 | 94 | 82 | 12 | 87.2% | 23.8 | 32.8 2019 peak | 4.1 | 41.9 | 13.7 | #1 | 6 | Balanced Peak Dominator |
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