Michigan Head Coaches, a Brief History
If you're like me, you're getting pretty much desperate for something, anything to read about college football until September 1 (or really August 30th, I suppose). I was Wikipediaing (is that even a verb?) some football and stumbled upon Tressel's success from his first season at OSU, where he went 7-5, to his 2nd season where he went 14-0 and won the national championship.
This prompted me to take a look back at our coaching staff and their performance from year one to year two, which I have handily organized into this table*:
Coach | First Year | Second Year | First Year Win % | Second Year Win % | Change |
Frank Barbour | 7-5 | 7-3 | 58.33% | 70.00% | 11.67% |
William McCauley | 9-1-1 | 8-1 | 81.82% | 88.89% | 7.07% |
Gustave Ferbert | 6-1-1 | 10-0 | 75.00% | 100.00% | 25.00% |
Fielding H. Yost | 11-0 | 11-0 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 0.00% |
Elton Wieman | 6-2 | 3-4-1 | 75.00% | 37.50% | -37.50% |
Harry Kipke | 5-3-1 | 8-0-1 | 55.56% | 88.89% | 33.33% |
Fritz Crisler | 6-1-1 | 6-2 | 75.00% | 75.00% | 0.00% |
Bennie Oosterbaan | 9-0 | 6-2-1 | 100.00% | 66.67% | -33.33% |
Bump Elliot | 4-5 | 5-4 | 44.44% | 55.56% | 11.11% |
Bo Schembechler | 8-3 | 9-1 | 72.73% | 90.00% | 17.27% |
Gary Moeller | 9-3 | 10-2 | 75.00% | 83.33% | 8.33% |
Lloyd Car | 9-4 | 8-4 | 69.23% | 66.67% | -2.56% |
Rich Rodriguez | 3-9 | 5-7 | 25.00% | 41.67% | 16.67% |
Brady Hoke | 11-2 | 14-0** | 84.61% | 100%* | 15.38%* |
*Win% only counts wins, ties count as a game played (so a 6-1-1 record means the win percentage is 6/8 * 100, not sure if that's standard practice, but that's how I did it)
**Of course, this is merely speculation, maybe.
What should I get from this?
Really, I don't know. This is mostly just FYI and a product of my curiosity (and boredom at work, 'tis a slow day).
- 10 of 13 head coaches either maintained the previous year's success, or improved upon it
- Year 1 to Year 2 expects to see a 5.16% increase in the number of wins from the previous year (grand mean)
- In improved years, the average increase in the number of wins was 16.20%
- Yost is the only other coach beside Hoke that managed 11 wins in his first season at Michigan, Yost went on to win 11 the next.
- I'm sure there's some more
- Statistics
Well, an interesting just for your information table, at the very least.
Small sample size? Small sample size.
August 14th, 2012 at 4:31 PM ^
can pull some Gustave Ferbert magic this season.
August 14th, 2012 at 4:36 PM ^
I love Hoke, but nobody can be compared to "Dutch" Ferbert. Nobody.
August 14th, 2012 at 5:09 PM ^
Just so long as Hoke doesn't leave to go prospecting after the season is over ...
August 14th, 2012 at 4:39 PM ^
We have something here named after every great coach (except Carr). Yost Ice Arena. Crisler Center. Schembechler Hall. Oosterbaan Fieldhouse. Kipke Dr.
Seriously, why isn't there anything on the athletic campus named after Ol' Dutch, Gustave Ferbert? He coached the team to their first conference championship, then left to go mining for gold in Alaska. He hit it big and became a millionare.
August 14th, 2012 at 4:50 PM ^
Yost, Crisler, Canham, Schembechler. (A portion of the West Concourse at the Stadium, per his own handsome donation, for Bill Martin.) Oosterbaan was a quasi-director (Alumni Relations) after he retired from coaching.
There are of course exceptions. (Ray L. Fisher, Oosterbaan Fieldhouse -- see above.) But not many. And not all of our athletic directors warranted monuments in their honor. Ferry Field; named for a donor, right?
There is a pediatric cancer center at Mott Children's Hospital named after Lloyd Carr. And that is absolutely the most appropriate thing I can think of.
August 14th, 2012 at 4:53 PM ^
The only thing more appropriate might be a "Carr Classic Literature Library" or something.
August 14th, 2012 at 5:40 PM ^
But let's name our classic literature library after one of our many great alumni or professors that actually worked on classic literature. Not a sports coach.
/ThisIsMichiganFergodsakes
August 14th, 2012 at 11:33 PM ^
How about "The Lloyd Carr Official Coach's Dictionary" outside the Head Coach's office?
August 14th, 2012 at 4:57 PM ^
Ties should count as half a win and half a loss. So a 6-1-1 record win percentage should be 6.5/8 This is standard practice.
August 14th, 2012 at 8:48 PM ^
I'm looking into doing this for the entire Big Ten because, well, I was bored and it entertained me. If I do take this endeavor, I will correct these. Of course, they will probably only affect the percentages by a small amount, so I am assuming (whether correctly or incorrectly) that it is essentially negligible.
August 14th, 2012 at 5:58 PM ^
August 14th, 2012 at 8:25 PM ^
What the hell were they thinking?
August 14th, 2012 at 5:46 PM ^
Bo's 8-3 in 1969, was sooooo much more satisfying than the 9-1 the following year.
1969: 8-3 with a monumental win over Woody's unbeatable team, (and a Rose Bowl loss the day after Bo's heart attack).
1970: Undefeated until the trip to Columbus, controversial loss, and home for the bowl season (Even had they won, UM was not eligible, as they'd been to Pasadena the season before; that rule would be abolished in 1972)
August 14th, 2012 at 8:11 PM ^
So, if Hoke beats Alabama, when do we break ground on the statue? Also, seriously, and changing subjects spontaneously, does anyone else find it a bit odd that Saban already has a statue? What happens if he bolts Alabama for Georgia or something (I know this won't happen)?
August 14th, 2012 at 8:34 PM ^
August 14th, 2012 at 8:51 PM ^
Not really if in four years coach Hoke has 2 national championships I wouldn't mind him having a statue.
August 14th, 2012 at 11:57 PM ^
If Yost, who won 6 National Championships, 4 in a row from 1901-1904 doesn't have one, then no Michigan man will ever have one. No matter the accomplishment.
The only one who will have one will be Bo at the entrance of Schembechler Hall when the new rennovations that were announced are complete.