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2nd Annual MAC Coaching Decathlon

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By Tim Riordan
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Last year I ranked all the MAC coaches based on as objective a standard as I could. I have decided that thos should be an annual event.

unfortunately getting numbers on how coaches run along the side line as a player makes a big play (and timing), measuring just how loud they can yell at an official, or watching a round of clipboard Discus is impossible. So I had to make up my own measurements.

Some factors are objective and some will be ranked objectively on someone else subjective ranking (examplee: recruiting rankings via scout). To level the playing field, whenever possible, I will normalize the score to make sure that some of the Longer serving coaches (like Doug Martin) do not have too much of an advantage over newer coaches like (Jerry Kill).



On to the games!

Al Golden, Temple: Golden has been coaching Temple for four and a half years, he took over one of the worst programs in Division one football and has been steadily rebuilding it into a respectable member of the conference.

Bill Cubit, Western Michigan: One of the longest serving coaches in the MAC cubit began coaching the Bronco's in 2005. He has never won a conference or division title but has kept WMU as one of the more competitive teams in the strong west division.

Dan Enos, Central Michigan: One of the MAC's new faces Enos inherited a team that lost two of the most explosive players in the conference at an institution that expects success. So for it's not been a great run.

Dave Clawson, Bowling green: Dave Clawson took over a Bowling Green squad that seemed to be in disarray and, after a slow start, took them to a bowl last season. This season they are off to an even slower start and repeating that run seems unlikely.

Frank Solich, Ohio: One of two in the conference with a Nebraska pedigree Solich made an early impression with an Ohio Divisional Title several years ago. Several ESPN staff had him on their 'Warm Seat', but leading the MAC east at 5-2 with close losses to UConn and Tennessee he is as secure as any coach in the MAC right now.

Rob Ianello, Akron: The second new coach in the conference Ianello is charged with rebuilding an Akron football program that has struggled on and off the field.


Jerry Kill, Northern Illinois: An Illinois fixture he made the jump from FCS to FBS in 2008, taking NIU from worst in the west to bowl eligible in a single year, and then a bowl in year two, and now the favorite in the west.

Doug Martin, Kent State: He had some early successes (relative for Kent Football) but has been mired in mediocrity for the past half decade. He is one of thecoaches in serious jeopardybut his defense might be able to make some noise this season.

Mike Haywood, Miami: When the Redhawks went looking for a new coach they went right for a Notre Dame coordinator. Haywood really struggled last season but so far the Hawks have been a plesent suprise this year.

Ron English, Eastern Michigan: English's Michigan roots and a defensive mindset is 0-16 at EMU.Anyone coaching EMU starts behind the ball, so far coaching staff chaos and the occasional gaffe have been overshadowed by the second longest losing streak in football.

Stan Parrish, BSU: Now that Parrish has been given his rebuilding year the seat might be warming up a bit. BSU has had flashes of solid play but it has not been the dominate view of BSU football.

Tim Beckman, Toledo: Started fast out of the gate last season before Injury and bad play scuttled the Rockets season. They are in a decent position to make a run at a bowl this year.

Jeff Quinn, Buffalo: Jeff Quinn's Bulls have really struggled this season, even when they win (Bowling Green) they look ugly doing it. Breaking in a new offense has not went so well, breaking in a new defense has went great.
The Events..

Conference Record (Objective): When everything is said and done its all about winning Conference games:


Coach Conf Wins Conf Loss conf pct conf point
Quinn 1 0 1.000 6
Kill 12 6 0.667 5
Golden 17 10 0.630 4
Cubit 25 16 0.610 3
Solich 26 17 0.605 2
Clawson 6 4 0.600 1

 

Championships (Objective): Winning the conference is worth 3, Winning a division outright is worth 2, and winning or losing a division by tie breaker is worth 1.

Coach

Conference

Champs

Division

Champs

Division

Ties

Title

Points

 Normalized Points
Solich 0 2 0 4 0.73 6
Golden 0 0 1 1 0.29 5

 

BCS Wins (Objective): Wins against BCS programs are always a nice feather in the cap of a mid major program and it would be wrong not to have a category recognizing that.

Coach BCS Wins Normal BCS Pts
Beckman 2 1.33 6
Kill 2 0.80 5
Cubit 3 0.55 4
Solich 2 0.36 3
Golden 1 0.29 2
Martin 1 0.15 1

 

Bowl Appearances (Objective): Nothing says success like going Bowling.

Coach Bowls Normal Score
Kill 2 0.80 6
Clawson 1 0.67 5
Cubit 2 0.36 4
Solich 2 0.36 4
Golden 1 0.29 2

 

Drafted Players (Objective): The score for a 1st or second round pick is 3 points, a third of fourth round pick is 2 points, and a fifth through seventh round pick is 1 point. New coaches this season are ineligible for this event. (Normalized)

Coach Round 1-3 Round 4-5 Round 6-7 Score Normal Points
Kill 3 0 1 10 4.00 6
Cubit 3 0 1 10 1.82 5
Solich 1 1 1 6 1.09 4
Martin 0 2 2 6 0.92 3
Golden 0 1 0 2 0.57 2

 

Academics (Objective): These players are also student Athlete's and coaches that are making sure that kids are leaving with an education should be rewarded.

Coach APR Scr APR Pts
Kill 975 6
Haywood 970 5
Cubit 956 4
Solich 953 3
Enos 941 2
Parrish 935 1

 

Recruiting (Subjectively Objective): I am going to use Scouts ranking of recruiting classes averaged out to per year ranking.


Coach Average Rank Points
Golden 2.00 6
Enos 2.00 5
Parrish 2.50 4
Clawson 4.00 3
Beckman 4.50 2
Quinn 5.00 1

 

Improvement (Subjectively Objective): To arrive at this number take the coaches recorded over the number of years coaching and compare it to the same number of years before their hire.

Coach Pre Coach With Coach Swing Points
Golden 0.15 0.39 0.24 6
Solich 0.29 0.50 0.21 5
Quinn 0.20 0.40 0.20 4
Beckman 0.25 0.42 0.17 3
Cubit 0.39 0.56 0.16 2
Kill 0.36 0.50 0.14 1

 

What have you done for me lately (Objective): Nobody cares if you won the division 5 years ago if your team is getting worse every year. The 'What Have you done for me lately event' measures just this season against the 2009 season. For new coaches It measures their first six/seven or seven games against the last six/seven from last year.

Coach 2010 2009 Year Over Points
Haywood 0.50 0.09 0.41 6
Martin 0.67 0.42 0.25 5
Kill 0.67 0.54 0.13 4
Parrish 0.33 0.20 0.13 4
Beckman 0.50 0.42 0.08 3
English 0.00 0.00 0.00 2

 

Is there anybody out there? Because I need a 10th event, and because attendance is an area that the MAC really needs to improve in:

Coach Att Att Pts
Beckman 23,375 6
Golden 22,016 5
Solich 20,755 4
Martin 20,378 3
Enos 18,732 2
Clawson 17,530 1

Final Score

Coach Total
Kill 33
Golden 32
Solich 31
Cubit 22
Beckman 20
Martin 12
Haywood 11
Quinn 11
Clawson 10
Enos 9
Parrish 9
English 2
Ianello 0

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