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.
11
Coaches in view
1786 indexed coaches available
167
Coach-seasons
12392 total coach-season rows
1/1
Page position
11 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?
Joe Paterno
Volatility: 7.93 • Average SRS: 15.59
74.9% win rate • 30.6 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.
Joe Paterno coached 46 seasons, won 74.9%, and posted an average SRS of 15.6. Best season: 1994 Penn State. The profile was balanced with a highly volatile profile. One primary stint defined the run.
These callouts update with the active discovery mode and filtered coach set.
Highest peak
Joe Paterno
Single-season ceiling leader in the current filtered set.
Steadiest floor
Bill OBrien
Lowest volatility in the view. Lower is more stable.
Elite but volatile
Hugo Bezdek
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. Joe Paterno
1994
2. Hugo Bezdek
1919
3. James Franklin
2017
4. Bill Hollenback
1912
5. Dick Harlow
1915
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. Joe Paterno
1994 Penn State (12-0)
2. Hugo Bezdek
1919 Penn State (7-1)
3. James Franklin
2017 Penn State (11-2)
4. Bill Hollenback
1912 Penn State (8-0)
5. Dick Harlow
1915 Penn State (7-2)
Who won the most across a meaningful sample.
1. Joe Paterno
1994 Penn State (12-0)
2. Bill Hollenback
1912 Penn State (8-0)
3. Hugo Bezdek
1919 Penn State (7-1)
4. James Franklin
2017 Penn State (11-2)
5. Tom Fennell
1908 Penn State (5-5)
Coaches who stacked elite endings.
1. Joe Paterno
1994 Penn State (12-0)
2. James Franklin
2017 Penn State (11-2)
3. Rip Engle
1960 Penn State (7-3)
4. Bob Higgins
1948 Penn State (7-1-1)
5. Bill Hollenback
1912 Penn State (8-0)
Stability
Who stays in control year after year.
Low SRS volatility among winning coaches with a real sample.
1. James Franklin
2017 Penn State (11-2)
2. Tom Fennell
1908 Penn State (5-5)
3. Joe Paterno
1994 Penn State (12-0)
4. Rip Engle
1960 Penn State (7-3)
5. Dick Harlow
1915 Penn State (7-2)
Longevity
Long arcs, big samples, and durable careers.
Big careers and long arcs.
1. Joe Paterno
1994 Penn State (12-0)
2. Dick Harlow
1915 Penn State (7-2)
3. Bob Higgins
1948 Penn State (7-1-1)
4. Rip Engle
1960 Penn State (7-3)
5. Hugo Bezdek
1919 Penn State (7-1)
Results Table
11 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 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Joe Paterno 409-136-3 • 1966-2011 | Penn State | 46 | 548 | 409 | 136 | 74.9% | 15.6 | 30.6 1994 peak | 7.9 | 35.2 | 16.9 | #1 | 22 | Balanced Peak Dominator | |
James Franklin 132-63 • 2011-2025 | Penn State, Vanderbilt | 15 | 195 | 132 | 63 | 67.7% | 13.6 | 25.6 2017 peak | 7.0 | 32.5 | 16.4 | #5 | 5 | Defense-First Peak Dominator | |
Rip Engle 132-68-8 • 1944-1965 | Brown, Penn State | 22 | 208 | 132 | 68 | 65.4% | 6.2 | 17.7 1960 peak | 8.2 | — | — | #9 | 1 | Balanced Volatile Builder | |
Bill Hollenback 32-11-6 • 1909-1914 | Missouri, Penn State | 6 | 49 | 32 | 11 | 71.4% | 14.3 | 23.9 1912 peak | 8.0 | — | — | — | 0 | Balanced — | |
Hugo Bezdek 105-46-13 • 1908-1929 | Arkansas, Oregon +1 | 19 | 164 | 105 | 46 | 68.0% | 7.9 | 28.3 1919 peak | 12.3 | — | — | — | 0 | Balanced Longevity Coach | |
Tom Fennell 33-17-1 • 1904-1908 | Penn State | 5 | 51 | 33 | 17 | 65.7% | 11.4 | 18.3 1908 peak | 7.5 | — | — | — | 0 | Balanced — | |
Dick Harlow 71-36-7 • 1915-1947 | Colgate, Harvard +1 | 13 | 114 | 71 | 36 | 65.3% | 9.1 | 21.9 1915 peak | 10.2 | — | — | — | 0 | Balanced Longevity Coach | |
Bob Higgins 99-71-14 • 1925-1948 | Penn State, Washington University (St. Louis) | 22 | 184 | 99 | 71 | 57.6% | -0.2 | 14.3 1948 peak | 7.9 | — | — | #4 | 1 | Balanced Volatile Builder | |
Samuel Newton 76-50-2 • 1896-1911 | Lafayette, Lehigh +1 | 12 | 128 | 76 | 50 | 60.2% | 1.9 | 14.2 1899 peak | 12.2 | — | — | — | 0 | Balanced Volatile Builder | |
Pop Golden 16-12-1 • 1900-1902 | Penn State | 3 | 29 | 16 | 12 | 56.9% | 1.2 | 13.5 1902 peak | 9.6 | — | — | — | 0 | Balanced Volatile Builder | |
Bill OBrien 24-25 • 2012-2025 | Boston College, Penn State | 4 | 49 | 24 | 25 | 49.0% | 3.0 | 8.3 2012 peak | 5.2 | 28.9 | 24.1 | — | 0 | Balanced Program Stabilizer |
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