Bob Pruett
Bob Pruett went 94–23 as a head coach, 1996–2004, at Marshall. Share
One season our game records don’t credit to him comes from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1996 at Marshall (on file under another coach). It’s marked in the table.
- Record
- 94–23 career
- Seasons
- 9
- Schools
- 1
- Final AP top 10
- 1 season
- Best season
- 1999 13–0, No. 10
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Marshall * | 15–0 | 1st | NCAA Division I-AA Championship W | ||
| 1997 | Marshall | 10–3 | 1st (East) | Mid-American Championship Game W; Motor City Bowl L | ||
| 1998 | Marshall | 12–1 | T–1st (East) | Mid-American Championship Game W; Motor City Bowl W | ||
| 1999 | Marshall | 13–0 | 1st (East) | Mid-American Championship Game W; Motor City Bowl W | 10 | |
| 2000 | Marshall | 8–5 | T–1st (East) | Mid-American Championship Game W; Motor City Bowl W | ||
| 2001 | Marshall | 11–2 | 1st (East) | GMAC Bowl W | 21 | |
| 2002 | Marshall | 11–2 | 1st (East) | GMAC Bowl W | 24 | |
| 2003 | Marshall | 8–4 | 2nd (East) | |||
| 2004 | Marshall | 6–6 | T–2nd (East) | Fort Worth Bowl L |
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 | 8 | 1–7 | 13% |
| Against top-10 teams | 4 | 1–3 | 25% |
| Against rivals | 11 | 9–2 | 82% |
| Conference games | 64 | 54–10 | 84% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 11 | 9–2 | 82% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 28 | 21–7 | 75% |
| At home | 44 | 41–3 | 93% |
| On the road | 45 | 28–17 | 62% |
| At neutral sites | 13 | 10–3 | 77% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 83 | 71–12 | 86% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 19 | 8–11 | 42% |
His own 102 games on file, 1997–2004, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dean Pees 1998–2003 | 6–0 | Kent State | 6 | |
| Lee Owens 1997–2003 | 5–1 | Akron | 6 | |
| Gary Darnell 1999–2004 | 5–1 | Western Michigan | 6 | |
| Terry Hoeppner 1999–2004 | 5–1 | Miami (OH) | 6 | |
| Brian Knorr 2001–2004 | 4–0 | Ohio | 4 | |
| Jim Hofher 2001–2004 | 4–0 | Buffalo | 4 | |
| Gary Blackney 1997–2000 | 3–1 | Bowling Green | 4 | |
| Gary Pinkel 1997–2000 | 3–1 | Toledo | 4 | |
| Jim Grobe 1997–2000 | 3–1 | Ohio | 4 | |
| Bill Lynch 1997–2002 | 3–0 | Ball State | 3 |
Bob Pruett’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kent Stateseries | 8 | 8–0 |
| Ohioseries | 8 | 7–1 |
| Miami (OH)series | 8 | 6–2 |
| Akronseries | 7 | 5–2 |
| Toledoseries | 7 | 4–3 |
| Buffaloseries | 6 | 6–0 |
| Western Michiganseries | 6 | 5–1 |
| Bowling Greenseries | 6 | 4–2 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965–67 | Falls Church HS (VA) high school | Assistant coach | |
| 1968–69 | Hayfield SS (VA) high school | Assistant coach | |
| 1970–72 | Groveton HS (VA) high school | Head coach | |
| 1973–78 | Gar-Field HS (VA) high school | Head coach | |
| 1979–80 | Marshall | Defensive line coach | |
| 1981–82 | Marshall | Defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| 1983–84 | Wake Forest | Defensive backs coach | |
| 1985–89 | Wake Forest | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1990–91 | Ole Miss | Defensive backs coach | |
| 1992–93 | Tulane | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1994–95 | Florida | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1996–2004 | Marshall | Head coach | |
| 2008 | Virginia | Defensive coordinator |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Sonny RandleMarshall
- Al GrohWake Forest, Virginia
- Bill DooleyWake Forest
- Billy BrewerOle Miss
- Buddy TeevensTulane
- Steve SpurrierFlorida
Assistants who became head coaches
- Gunter BrewerNortheast Mississippi
- Jay HopsonSouthern Miss, Alcorn State
- Kevin KellyGeorgetown, New England (NH)
- Tim BillingsSouthern Miss, Southeast Missouri State
- Ed ZaunbrecherUL Monroe
Worked under (6)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sonny Randle | Marshall | 1979–82 | 1979–80: defensive line coach; 1981–82: defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| Al Groh | Wake Forest | 1983–86 | 1983–84: defensive backs coach; 1985–86: defensive coordinator | |
| Bill Dooley | Wake Forest | 1987–89 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Billy Brewer | Ole Miss | 1990–91 | Defensive backs coach | |
| Buddy Teevens | Tulane | 1992–93 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Steve Spurrier | Florida | 1994–95 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Al Groh | Virginia | 2008 | Defensive coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (5)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gunter Brewer | Marshall, 1996–99: wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator | Northeast Mississippi | |
| Jay Hopson | Marshall, 1996–2000: defensive backs coach | Southern Miss, Alcorn State | |
| Kevin Kelly | Marshall, 1996–98: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach; 2000–01: defensive coordinator | Georgetown, New England (NH) | |
| Tim Billings | Marshall, 1996–98: defensive line and special teams coach; 1999: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Southern Miss, Southeast Missouri State | |
| Ed Zaunbrecher | Marshall, 1999: quarterbacks coach; 2000–01: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | UL Monroe |
Other assistants under him (7)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Tony Petersen | Marshall, 1996: tight ends coach; 1997: quarterbacks coach; 1998: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Tim Nunez | Marshall, 1997: co-offensive coordinator | |
| Marty Galbraith | Marshall, 1999: co-offensive coordinator | |
| Bill Wilt | Marshall, 2002–04: defensive coordinator | |
| Larry Kueck | Marshall, 2002–04: co-offensive coordinator | |
| Mark McHale | Marshall, 2002–04: offensive coordinator | |
| Phil Elmassian | Marshall, 2002: linebackers coach |
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.
How he coached
Pruett’s teams went for it on 23% of fourth downs and on 38% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 55% of plays and took 23.8 seconds a play, in 2004.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 3 g | 7 of 30 23% | 38% | 55% | 23.8 | −0.29 |
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.