Brian Polian
Brian Polian went 26–27 as a head coach, 2013–2026, at Nevada and John Carroll. Share
One season our game records don’t credit to him comes from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 2026 at John Carroll. It’s marked in the table.
- Record
- 26–27 career
- Seasons
- 5
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Dec 22, 1974
- Alma mater
- John Carroll 1997
- Best season
- 2014 7–6
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Nevada | 4–8 | 5th | |||
| 2014 | Nevada | 7–6 | 3rd | New Orleans Bowl L | ||
| 2015 | Nevada | 7–6 | T–2nd | Arizona Bowl W | ||
| 2016 | Nevada | 5–7 | T–3rd | |||
| 2017–25: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2026 | John Carroll * | 3–0 | ||||
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.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 6 | 0–6 | 0% |
| Against top-10 teams | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 16 | 9–7 | 56% |
| Conference games | 32 | 14–18 | 44% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 2 | 1–1 | 50% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 21 | 9–12 | 43% |
| At home | 24 | 15–9 | 63% |
| On the road | 24 | 7–17 | 29% |
| At neutral sites | 2 | 1–1 | 50% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 27 | 17–10 | 63% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 23 | 6–17 | 26% |
His own 50 games on file, 2013–2016, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ron Caragher 2013–2016 | 3–1 | San José State | 4 | |
| Tim DeRuyter 2013–2016 | 2–2 | Fresno State | 4 | |
| Rocky Long 2013–2016 | 1–3 | San Diego State | 4 | |
| Norm Chow 2013–2015 | 3–0 | Hawai’i | 3 |
Brian Polian’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 |
|---|---|---|
| San José Stateseries | 4 | 3–1 |
| Hawai’iseries | 4 | 3–1 |
| Fresno Stateseries | 4 | 2–2 |
| UNLVseries | 4 | 2–2 |
| San Diego Stateseries | 4 | 1–3 |
| Colorado Stateseries | 3 | 1–2 |
| UC Davisseries | 2 | 2–0 |
| Buffaloseries | 2 | 2–0 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Michigan State | Graduate assistant | |
| 1998 | Buffalo | Tight ends and assistant offensive line coach | |
| 1999–2000 | Baylor | Graduate assistant | |
| 2001–03 | Buffalo | Running backs and special teams coach | |
| 2004 | UCF | Running backs coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| 2005 | Notre Dame | Special teams coach and ADB | |
| 2006 | Notre Dame | Special teams coach and LBA | |
| 2007 | Notre Dame | Special teams and inside linebackers coach | |
| 2008–09 | Notre Dame | Special teams coach | |
| 2010 | Stanford | Special teams and safeties coach | |
| 2011 | Stanford | Special teams and safeties coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| 2012 | Texas A&M | Special teams and tight ends coach | |
| 2013–16 | Nevada | Head coach | |
| 2017–20 | Notre Dame | Special teams coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| 2021 | Notre Dame | Special teams coach and assistant head coach | |
| 2022 | LSU | Special teams coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| 2026–present | John Carroll | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Nick SabanMichigan State
- Craig CirbusBuffalo
- Kevin SteeleBaylor
- Jim HofherBuffalo
- George O’LearyUCF
- Charlie WeisNotre Dame
- Jim HarbaughStanford
- David ShawStanford
- Kevin SumlinTexas A&M
- Brian KellyNotre Dame, LSU
- Marcus FreemanNotre Dame
Assistants who became head coaches
- Jeff GenykEastern Michigan
- Jim HofherBuffalo, Cornell
- Nick RolovichHawai’i, Washington State, California
- Scott BooneRandolph Macon
- Alex WoodBuffalo, James Madison, Florida A&M
Worked under (11)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Saban | Michigan State | 1997 | Graduate assistant | |
| Craig Cirbus | Buffalo | 1998 | Tight ends and assistant offensive line coach | |
| Kevin Steele | Baylor | 1999–2000 | Graduate assistant | |
| Jim Hofher | Buffalo | 2001–03 | Running backs and special teams coach | |
| George O’Leary | UCF | 2004 | Running backs coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| Charlie Weis | Notre Dame | 2005–09 | 2005: special teams coach and ADB; 2006: special teams coach and LBA; 2007: special teams and inside linebackers coach; 2008–09: special teams coach | |
| Jim Harbaugh | Stanford | 2010 | Special teams and safeties coach | |
| David Shaw | Stanford | 2011 | Special teams and safeties coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| Kevin Sumlin | Texas A&M | 2012 | Special teams and tight ends coach | |
| Brian Kelly | Notre Dame | 2017–21 | 2017–20: special teams coach and recruiting coordinator; 2021: special teams coach and assistant head coach | |
| Marcus Freeman | Notre Dame | 2021 | Special teams coach and assistant head coach | |
| Brian Kelly | LSU | 2022 | Special teams coach and recruiting coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (5)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Genyk | Nevada, 2013: special teams and running backs coach | Eastern Michigan | |
| Jim Hofher | Nevada, 2013–15: assistant head coach and wide receivers coach | Buffalo, Cornell | |
| Nick Rolovich | Nevada, 2013–15: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Hawai’i, Washington State, California | |
| Scott Boone | Nevada, 2014–16: co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Randolph Macon | |
| Alex Wood | John Carroll, 2026: tight ends coach | Buffalo, James Madison, Florida A&M |
Other assistants under him (3)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Bill Teerlinck | Nevada, 2013–16: co-defensive coordinator | |
| Scottie Hazelton | Nevada, 2013: defensive coordinator | |
| Tim Cramsey | Nevada, 2016: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks 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.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Nevada | head coachbonuses up to $250,000; $85,000 in bonuses paid | $578,000 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Nevada | head coachbonuses up to $250,000; $55,000 in bonuses paid | $578,000 USA Today | |
| 2014 | Nevada | head coachbonuses up to $250,000 | $575,000 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
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
Polian’s teams went for it on 22% of fourth downs and on 39% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 43% of plays and took 24.3 seconds a play, 2013–2016.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 12 g | 28 of 105 27% | 42% | 44% | 21.2 | +0.10 | |
| 2014 12 g | 24 of 99 24% | 39% | 46% | 24.7 | +0.05 | |
| 2015 13 g | 20 of 105 19% | 37% | 40% | 25.9 | +0.03 | |
| 2016 11 g | 13 of 72 18% | 40% | 44% | 25.4 | +0.07 | |
| All 48 g | 85 of 381 22% | 39% | 43% | 24.3 | +0.06 |
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.