Bobby Ross
Bobby Ross went 103–101–2 as a head coach, 1973–2006, at The Citadel, Maryland, Georgia Tech and Army. His 1990 Georgia Tech team claims the national title. Share
- Record
- 103–101–2 career
- Seasons
- 18
- Schools
- 4
- National titles
- 1 claimed: 1990
- Best season
- 1990 11–0–1, No. 2
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | The Citadel | 3–8 | T–6th | |||
| 1974 | The Citadel | 4–7 | T–6th | |||
| 1975 | The Citadel | 6–5 | 3rd | |||
| 1976 | The Citadel | 6–5 | T–6th | |||
| 1977 | The Citadel | 5–6 | 2nd | |||
| 1978–81: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1982 | Maryland | 8–4 | 2nd | Aloha Bowl L | 20 | |
| 1983 | Maryland | 8–4 | 1st | Citrus Bowl L | ||
| 1984 | Maryland | 9–3 | 1st | Sun Bowl W | 12 | |
| 1985 | Maryland | 9–3 | 1st | Cherry Bowl W | 18 | |
| 1986 | Maryland | 5–5–1 | 5th | |||
| 1987 | Georgia Tech | 2–9 | 8th | |||
| 1988 | Georgia Tech | 3–8 | 8th | |||
| 1989 | Georgia Tech | 7–4 | T–4th | |||
| 1990 | Georgia Tech | 11–0–1 | 1st | Citrus Bowl W | 2 | |
| 1991 | Georgia Tech | 8–5 | 2nd | Aloha Bowl W | ||
| 1992–03: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2004 | Army | 2–9 | T–10th | |||
| 2005 | Army | 4–7 | ||||
| 2006 | Army | 3–9 | ||||
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.
Players he coached
Ken SwillingConsensus All‑American, 1990
J.D. MaarleveldConsensus All‑American, 1985- Marco ColemanNo. 12 pick, 1992
- Ron SoltNo. 19 pick, 1984
- Pete KochNo. 16 pick, 1984
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 42 | 13–28–1 | 32% |
| Against top-10 teams | 15 | 5–10 | 33% |
| Against rivals | 51 | 24–27 | 47% |
| Conference games | 104 | 54–48–2 | 53% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 6 | 4–2 | 67% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 80 | 39–39–2 | 50% |
| At home | 104 | 64–40 | 62% |
| On the road | 91 | 35–54–2 | 40% |
| At neutral sites | 11 | 4–7 | 36% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 106 | 77–28–1 | 73% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 100 | 26–73–1 | 27% |
His own 206 games on file, 1973–2006, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Welsh 1974–1991 | 7–5 | Navy, Virginia | 12 | |
| Danny Ford 1982–1989 | 3–4–1 | Clemson | 8 | |
| Dick Crum 1982–1987 | 4–2 | North Carolina | 6 | |
| Dick Sheridan 1986–1991 | 1–5 | NC State | 6 | |
| Pat Dye 1974–1987 | 0–6 | East Carolina, Auburn | 6 | |
| Art Baker 1973–1977 | 5–0 | Furman | 5 | |
| Al Groh 1982–1986 | 4–1 | Wake Forest | 5 | |
| Joe Morrison 1973–1988 | 3–2 | Chattanooga, South Carolina | 5 | |
| Don Nehlen 1982–1986 | 3–2 | West Virginia | 5 | |
| Bill Dooley 1987–1991 | 3–2 | Wake Forest | 5 |
Bobby Ross’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Clemsonseries | 12 | 4–7–1 |
| Dukeseries | 10 | 7–3 |
| Wake Forestseries | 10 | 7–3 |
| Virginiaseries | 10 | 7–3 |
| North Carolinaseries | 10 | 6–3–1 |
| NC Stateseries | 10 | 5–5 |
| VMIseries | 7 | 3–4 |
| Furmanseries | 6 | 6–0 |
National coaching awards
The awards- 1990 Georgia Tech: Bear Bryant Award, Bobby Dodd Award, Eddie Robinson and Walter Camp Coach
National title staffs
Every title staff- Won a national title on Georgia Tech’s 1990 staff (head coach) · the staff · source
The champions’ staffs from 1990 on, as the schools listed them that season: Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages. Roles as the source words them.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965–66 | VMI | Freshman coach and ADB | |
| 1967–68 | William & Mary | Quarterbacks and running backs coach | |
| 1969–70 | William & Mary | Defensive backs coach, defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator | |
| 1971 | Rice | Linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| 1972 | Maryland | Linebackers coach | |
| 1973–77 | The Citadel | Head coach | |
| 1978–79 | Kansas City Chiefs NFL | Special teams coach | |
| 1980–81 | Kansas City Chiefs NFL | Quarterbacks and running backs coach | |
| 1982–86 | Maryland | Head coach | |
| 1987–91 | Georgia Tech | Head coach | |
| 1992–96 | San Diego Chargers NFL | Head coach | |
| 1997–2000 | Detroit Lions NFL | Head coach | |
| 2004–06 | Army | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- John McKennaVMI
- Vito RagazzoVMI
- Marv LevyWilliam & Mary
- Lou HoltzWilliam & Mary
- Bill PetersonRice
- Jerry ClaiborneMaryland
Assistants who became head coaches
- Cal McCombsVMI
- Frank BeamerVirginia Tech, Murray State
- Jimmye LaycockWilliam & Mary
- Ralph FriedgenMaryland
- Ellis JohnsonSouthern Miss, Gardner-Webb, The Citadel
- Joe KrivakMaryland
- Jon TenutaGeorgia Tech
- George O’LearyGeorgia Tech, UCF
- Mark HendricksonWestern Illinois
- Joe ReichWingate
- Bill ArnspargerLSU, New York Giants
- Dale LindseySan Diego
- and 9 more
Worked under (6)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John McKenna | VMI | 1965 | Freshman coach and ADB | |
| Vito Ragazzo | VMI | 1966 | Freshman coach and ADB | |
| Marv Levy | William & Mary | 1967–68 | Quarterbacks and running backs coach | |
| Lou Holtz | William & Mary | 1969–70 | Defensive backs coach, defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator | |
| Bill Peterson | Rice | 1971 | Linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| Jerry Claiborne | Maryland | 1972 | Linebackers coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (21)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cal McCombs | The Citadel, 1973–75: wide receivers coach; 1976: quarterbacks coach; 1977: running backs coach | VMI | |
| Frank Beamer | The Citadel, 1973–76: defensive line coach; 1977: defensive coordinator | Virginia Tech, Murray State | |
| Jimmye Laycock | The Citadel, 1973–74: offensive backfield | William & Mary | |
| Ralph Friedgen | The Citadel, 1973–76: defensive line coach; 1977: offensive coordinator; Maryland, 1982–86: offensive coordinator and offensive line coach; Georgia Tech, 1987–91: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; San Diego Chargers, 1992–93: running game coordinator and tight ends coach; 1994–96: offensive coordinator | Maryland | |
| Ellis Johnson | The Citadel, 1975: defensive ends coach | Southern Miss, Gardner-Webb, The Citadel | |
| Joe Krivak | Maryland, 1982–86: quarterbacks and wide receivers coach | Maryland | |
| Jon Tenuta | Maryland, 1983: graduate assistant | Georgia Tech | |
| George O’Leary | Georgia Tech, 1987–91: defensive coordinator and defensive line coach; San Diego Chargers, 1992–93: defensive line coach | Georgia Tech, UCF | |
| Mark Hendrickson | Georgia Tech, 1987–89: LC and special teams coach; 1990–91: tight ends coach | Western Illinois | |
| Joe Reich | Georgia Tech, 1988: graduate assistant | Wingate | |
| Bill Arnsparger | San Diego Chargers, 1992–94: defensive coordinator | LSU, New York Giants | |
| Dale Lindsey | San Diego Chargers, 1992–96: linebackers coach | San Diego | |
| Jack Reilly | San Diego Chargers, 1992–93: quarterbacks coach | El Camino | |
| John Fox | San Diego Chargers, 1992–93: defensive backs coach | Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears | |
| Sylvester Croom | San Diego Chargers, 1992–96: running backs coach; Detroit Lions, 1997–2000: offensive coordinator | Mississippi State | |
| Dwain Painter | San Diego Chargers, 1994–96: quarterbacks coach | Northern Arizona | |
| Dick Selcer | Detroit Lions, 1997–2000: linebackers coach | Xavier | |
| Gary Moeller | Detroit Lions, 1997–2000: linebackers coach | Illinois, Michigan, Detroit Lions | |
| Marc Trestman | Detroit Lions, 1997: quarterbacks coach | Montreal Alouettes, Chicago Bears, Toronto Argonauts, Tampa Bay Vipers | |
| Jim Zorn | Detroit Lions, 1998–2000: quarterbacks coach | Washington Redskins, Seattle Dragons | |
| John Mumford | Army, 2004–06: defensive coordinator | Army, UL Monroe, Southeast Missouri State |
Other assistants under him (7)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Gib Romaine | Maryland, 1982–85: defensive coordinator | |
| Brian Baker | Maryland, 1984: student assistant; 1985: graduate assistant; Georgia Tech, 1987–91: linebackers coach; San Diego Chargers, 1996: defensive line coach; Detroit Lions, 1997–2000: defensive line coach | |
| Chuck Bresnahan | Georgia Tech, 1988–89: tight ends coach; 1989–91: inside linebackers coach | |
| Willie Shaw | San Diego Chargers, 1994: defensive backs coach | |
| Greg Brown | San Diego Chargers, 1995–96: defensive backs coach | |
| Pat Ruel | Detroit Lions, 2000: offensive line coach | |
| Kevin Ross | Army, 2004–06: offensive coordinator |
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
Ross’s teams went for it on 22% of fourth downs and on 36% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 45% of plays and took 26.3 seconds a play, 2004–2006.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 1 g | 1 of 9 11% | 0% | 45% | 20.3 | −0.18 | |
| 2005 9 g | 21 of 85 25% | 40% | 45% | 24.9 | −0.17 | |
| 2006 10 g | 13 of 63 21% | 34% | 45% | 28.1 | −0.19 | |
| All 20 g | 35 of 157 22% | 36% | 45% | 26.3 | −0.18 |
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.