Bill Lynch
Bill Lynch went 145–122–3 as a head coach, 1985–2019, at Butler, Ball State, DePauw and Indiana. Share
13 seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1985–89 at Butler; 2004, 2013–19 at DePauw. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 145–122–3 career
- Seasons
- 25
- Schools
- 4
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 1996 8–4
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Butler * | 8–2 | T–1st | |||
| 1986 | Butler * | 5–5 | T–3rd | |||
| 1987 | Butler * | 8–1–1 | 1st | 8 | ||
| 1988 | Butler * | 8–2–1 | 1st | NCAA Division II First Round L | 8 | |
| 1989 | Butler * | 7–2–1 | 1st | 20 | ||
| 1990–94: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1995 | Ball State | 7–4 | T–3rd | |||
| 1996 | Ball State | 8–4 | 1st | Las Vegas Bowl L | ||
| 1997 | Ball State | 5–6 | 3rd (West) | |||
| 1998 | Ball State | 1–10 | 6th (West) | |||
| 1999 | Ball State | 0–11 | 6th (West) | |||
| 2000 | Ball State | 5–6 | T–3rd (West) | |||
| 2001 | Ball State | 5–6 | T–1st (West) | |||
| 2002 | Ball State | 6–6 | 4th (West) | |||
| 2003: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2004 | DePauw * | 8–2 | 2nd | |||
| 2005–06: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2007 | Indiana | 7–6 | T–6th | Insight Bowl L | ||
| 2008 | Indiana | 3–9 | 11th | |||
| 2009 | Indiana | 4–8 | T–10th | |||
| 2010 | Indiana | 5–7 | 11th | |||
| 2011–12: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2013 | DePauw * | 4–6 | T–5th | |||
| 2014 | DePauw * | 7–3 | 3rd | |||
| 2015 | DePauw * | 8–2 | 2nd | |||
| 2016 | DePauw * | 8–2 | T–2nd | |||
| 2017 | DePauw * | 8–2 | T–2nd | |||
| 2018 | DePauw * | 4–6 | T–5th | |||
| 2019 | DePauw * | 6–4 | T–2nd | |||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
Players he coached
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 16 | 1–15 | 6% |
| Against top-10 teams | 8 | 0–8 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 23 | 8–15 | 35% |
| Conference games | 94 | 36–58 | 38% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 45 | 23–22 | 51% |
| At home | 65 | 35–30 | 54% |
| On the road | 71 | 21–50 | 30% |
| At neutral sites | 3 | 0–3 | 0% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 49 | 37–12 | 76% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 90 | 19–71 | 21% |
His own 139 games on file, 1995–2010, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gary Pinkel 1995–2002 | 2–5 | Toledo, Missouri | 7 | |
| Gary Darnell 1997–2002 | 2–4 | Western Michigan | 6 | |
| Joe Novak 1997–2002 | 2–4 | Northern Illinois | 6 | |
| Dick Flynn 1995–1999 | 3–2 | Central Michigan | 5 | |
| Rick Rasnick 1995–1999 | 1–4 | Eastern Michigan | 5 | |
| Randy Walker 1995–1998 | 1–3 | Miami (OH) | 4 | |
| Kirk Ferentz 2007–2010 | 1–3 | Iowa | 4 | |
| Pat Fitzgerald 2007–2010 | 1–3 | Northwestern | 4 | |
| Ron Zook 2007–2010 | 1–3 | Illinois | 4 | |
| Bret Bielema 2007–2010 | 0–4 | Wisconsin | 4 |
Bill Lynch’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Western Michiganseries | 10 | 6–4 |
| Central Michiganseries | 9 | 6–3 |
| Eastern Michiganseries | 8 | 4–4 |
| Toledoseries | 8 | 3–5 |
| Akronseries | 6 | 4–2 |
| Miami (OH)series | 6 | 2–4 |
| Northern Illinoisseries | 6 | 2–4 |
| Purdueseries | 6 | 2–4 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Butler | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 1978 | Butler | Wide receivers coach | |
| 1979–83 | Butler | Offensive coordinator | |
| 1984 | Northern Illinois | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 1985 | Orlando Renegades USFL | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 1985–89 | Butler | Head coach | |
| 1990–92 | Ball State | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 1993–94 | Indiana | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 1995–2002 | Ball State | Head coach | |
| 2004 | DePauw | Head coach | |
| 2005–07 | Indiana | Offensive coordinator and tight ends coach | |
| 2007–10 | Indiana | Head coach | |
| 2013–19 | DePauw | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Lee CorsoNorthern Illinois, Orlando Renegades
- Paul SchudelBall State
- Bill MalloryIndiana
- Terry HoeppnerIndiana
Assistants who became head coaches
- Bob BartolomeoButler, Indianapolis
- Curt MalloryIndiana State
- Billy RiebockMillikin
- Matt CanadaMaryland
- Mike YeagerCarthage
- Colin JohnsonBall State
- Kit CartwrightButler
- David ElsonWestern Kentucky
Worked under (4)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lee Corso | Northern Illinois | 1984 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Lee Corso | Orlando Renegades pro | 1985 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Paul Schudel | Ball State | 1990–92 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Bill Mallory | Indiana | 1993–94 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Terry Hoeppner | Indiana | 2005–06 | Offensive coordinator and tight ends coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (8)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Bartolomeo | Butler, 1985–89: assistant coach and defensive coordinator; Ball State, 1995–2002: assistant coach and defensive coordinator | Butler, Indianapolis | |
| Curt Mallory | Ball State, 1995–99: linebackers coach; 2000: defensive backs coach | Indiana State | |
| Billy Riebock | Indiana, 2007: offensive quality control coach | Millikin | |
| Matt Canada | Indiana, 2007–10: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Maryland | |
| Mike Yeager | Indiana, 2007–08: safeties coach; 2009–10: linebackers coach | Carthage | |
| Colin Johnson | Indiana, 2008–10: graduate assistant and offensive quality control coach; DePauw, 2013–17: offensive line coach | Ball State | |
| Kit Cartwright | Indiana, 2009: quality control coach; 2010: director of football operations | Butler | |
| David Elson | Indiana, 2010: assistant coach | Western Kentucky |
Other assistants under him (6)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Dan Roushar | Butler, 1986–88: offensive backfield coach; 1989: offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| George McDonald | Ball State, 2000: graduate assistant | |
| Kurt Mattix | Ball State, 2002: graduate assistant | |
| Brian George | Indiana, 2007–10: co-defensive coordinator | |
| Joe Palcic | Indiana, 2007–10: co-defensive coordinator | |
| Justin Frye | Indiana, 2007–08: graduate assistant |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Indiana | head coachbonuses up to $450,000 | $650,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2009 | Indiana | head coachbonuses up to $450,000 | $658,750 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2008 | Indiana | head coach | $625,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2007 | Indiana | head coachbonuses up to $200,000 | $293,297 USA Today via Leeds |
The same USA Today database for 2006–16, from Michael Leeds’ replication data on Harvard Dataverse (CC0): the season’s contract pay.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Lynch’s teams went for it on 17% of fourth downs and on 29% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 55% of plays and took 23.5 seconds a play, 2007–2010.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 12 g | 15 of 91 16% | 29% | 53% | 22.7 | −0.03 | |
| 2008 11 g | 21 of 98 21% | 35% | 48% | 22.1 | −0.14 | |
| 2009 12 g | 16 of 99 16% | 30% | 56% | 26.7 | −0.03 | |
| 2010 12 g | 13 of 86 15% | 22% | 61% | 22.5 | +0.02 | |
| All 47 g | 65 of 374 17% | 29% | 55% | 23.5 | −0.04 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.