Carl Torbush
Carl Torbush went 31–48 as a head coach, 1987–2017, at Louisiana Tech, North Carolina and East Tennessee State. Share
Four seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1987 at Louisiana Tech; 2015–17 at East Tennessee State. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 31–48 career
- Seasons
- 8
- Schools
- 3
- Final AP top 10
- 1 season
- Best season
- 1997 11–1, No. 6
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Louisiana Tech * | 3–8 | ||||
| 1988–96: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1997 | North Carolina interim, bowl game | 1–0 | Gator Bowl W | 6 | ||
| 1998 | North Carolina | 7–5 | T–4th | Las Vegas Bowl W | ||
| 1999 | North Carolina | 3–8 | T–8th | |||
| 2000 | North Carolina | 6–5 | T–6th | |||
| 2001–14: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2015 | East Tennessee State * | 2–9 | ||||
| 2016 | East Tennessee State * | 5–6 | 7th | |||
| 2017 | East Tennessee State * | 4–7 | 8th | |||
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
Brian SimmonsConsensus All‑American, 1997- Ebenezer EkubanNo. 20 pick, 1999
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 | 7 | 0–7 | 0% |
| Against top-10 teams | 5 | 0–5 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 12 | 7–5 | 58% |
| Conference games | 24 | 10–14 | 42% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 2 | 2–0 | 100% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 13 | 8–5 | 62% |
| At home | 17 | 7–10 | 41% |
| On the road | 14 | 6–8 | 43% |
| At neutral sites | 4 | 4–0 | 100% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 22 | 13–9 | 59% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 13 | 4–9 | 31% |
His own 35 games on file, 1997–2000, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Caldwell 1998–2000 | 2–1 | Wake Forest | 3 | |
| Ron Vanderlinden 1998–2000 | 2–1 | Maryland | 3 | |
| Bobby Bowden 1998–2000 | 0–3 | Florida State | 3 | |
| George O’Leary 1998–2000 | 0–3 | Georgia Tech | 3 | |
| George Welsh 1998–2000 | 0–3 | Virginia | 3 |
Carl Torbush’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dukeseries | 3 | 3–0 |
| Marylandseries | 3 | 2–1 |
| NC Stateseries | 3 | 2–1 |
| Wake Forestseries | 3 | 2–1 |
| Clemsonseries | 3 | 1–2 |
| Florida Stateseries | 3 | 0–3 |
| Georgia Techseries | 3 | 0–3 |
| Virginiaseries | 3 | 0–3 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Baylor | Graduate assistant | |
| 1976–79 | Southeastern Louisiana | Linebackers and defensive ends coach | |
| 1980–82 | Louisiana Tech | Assistant head coach and linebackers coach | |
| 1983–86 | Ole Miss | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 1987 | Louisiana Tech | Head coach | |
| 1988–97 | North Carolina | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 1997–2000 | North Carolina | Head coach | |
| 2001–02 | Alabama | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 2003–05 | Texas A&M | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 2006–08 | Carson-Newman | Assistant head coach and linebackers coach | |
| 2009 | Mississippi State | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 2010–11 | Kansas | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2012 | Liberty | Linebackers coach | |
| 2015–17 | East Tennessee State | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Grant TeaffBaylor
- Billy BrewerSE Louisiana, Louisiana Tech, Ole Miss
- Mack BrownNorth Carolina
- Dennis FranchioneAlabama, Texas A&M
- Dan MullenMississippi State
- Turner GillKansas, Liberty
Assistants who became head coaches
- Jerry BaldwinLouisiana
- Jim MarshallRichmond, UT Martin
- Joe PeaceLouisiana Tech
- Norman JosephBelhaven, Louisiana Christian, Mississippi College
- Cleve BryantOhio
- Eddie WilliamsonVMI
- Greg DavisTulane
- Tim BrewsterMinnesota, Charlotte
- Jim HofherBuffalo, Cornell
- Gunter BrewerNortheast Mississippi
- Mike O’CainNC State
- Robbie CaldwellVanderbilt
- and 2 more
Worked under (6)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grant Teaff | Baylor | 1975 | Graduate assistant | |
| Billy Brewer | SE Louisiana | 1976–79 | Linebackers and defensive ends coach | |
| Billy Brewer | Louisiana Tech | 1980–82 | Assistant head coach and linebackers coach | |
| Billy Brewer | Ole Miss | 1983–86 | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Mack Brown | North Carolina | 1988–97 | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Dennis Franchione | Alabama | 2001–02 | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Dennis Franchione | Texas A&M | 2003–05 | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Dan Mullen | Mississippi State | 2009 | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Turner Gill | Kansas | 2010–11 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Turner Gill | Liberty | 2012 | Linebackers coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (14)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jerry Baldwin | Louisiana Tech, 1987: assistant coach | Louisiana | |
| Jim Marshall | Louisiana Tech, 1987: offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | Richmond, UT Martin | |
| Joe Peace | Louisiana Tech, 1987: assistant coach | Louisiana Tech | |
| Norman Joseph | Louisiana Tech, 1987: passing game coordinator and recruiting coordinator | Belhaven, Louisiana Christian, Mississippi College | |
| Cleve Bryant | North Carolina, 1997: wide receivers coach and recruiting | Ohio | |
| Eddie Williamson | North Carolina, 1997: assistant head coach and offensive line coach | VMI | |
| Greg Davis | North Carolina, 1997: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Tulane | |
| Tim Brewster | North Carolina, 1997: special teams and tight ends coach | Minnesota, Charlotte | |
| Jim Hofher | North Carolina, 1998–99: quarterbacks coach | Buffalo, Cornell | |
| Gunter Brewer | North Carolina, 2000: wide receivers coach | Northeast Mississippi | |
| Mike O’Cain | North Carolina, 2000: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; East Tennessee State, 2015–17: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | NC State | |
| Robbie Caldwell | North Carolina, 2000: offensive line coach | Vanderbilt | |
| Billy Taylor | East Tennessee State, 2015–17: assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | Tusculum | |
| Daryl Daye | East Tennessee State, 2017: defensive line coach | Nicholls, Missouri Southern |
Other assistants under him (3)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Darrell Moody | North Carolina, 1998–99: offensive coordinator | |
| Tommy Thigpen | North Carolina, 1998–99: graduate assistant | |
| Ken Browning | North Carolina, 2000: defensive 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.