Dennis Franchione
Dennis Franchione went 213–135–2 as a head coach, 1981–2015, at Southwestern, Pittsburg State, Southwest Texas State, New Mexico, TCU, Alabama, Texas A&M and Texas State. Share
10 seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1981–82 at Southwestern; 1985–89 at Pittsburg State; 1990–91 at Southwest Texas State (on file under another coach); 2011 at Texas State (on file under another coach). They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 213–135–2 career
- Seasons
- 30
- Schools
- 8
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 2002 10–3, No. 11
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Southwestern * | 5–2–2 | 2nd | |||
| 1982 | Southwestern * | 9–2 | T–1st | Sunflower W | ||
| 1983–84: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1985 | Pittsburg State * | 8–2 | 1st | NAIA Quarterfinal L | ||
| 1986 | Pittsburg State * | 11–1 | 1st | NAIA Semifinal L | ||
| 1987 | Pittsburg State * | 11–1 | 1st | NAIA Semifinal L | ||
| 1988 | Pittsburg State * | 11–1 | 1st | NAIA Semifinal L | ||
| 1989 | Pittsburg State * | 12–1 | 1st | NCAA Division II Quarterfinal L | ||
| 1990 | Southwest Texas State * | 6–5 | 3rd | |||
| 1991 | Southwest Texas State * | 7–4 | 4th | |||
| 1992 | New Mexico | 3–8 | 9th | |||
| 1993 | New Mexico | 6–5 | T–6th | |||
| 1994 | New Mexico | 5–7 | T–5th | |||
| 1995 | New Mexico | 4–7 | T–7th | |||
| 1996 | New Mexico | 6–5 | T–5th (Mountain) | |||
| 1997 | New Mexico | 9–4 | 1st (Mountain) | Western Athletic Championship Game L; Insight.com Bowl L | ||
| 1998 | TCU | 7–5 | T–5th (Mountain) | Sun Bowl W | ||
| 1999 | TCU | 8–4 | T–1st | Mobile Alabama Bowl W | ||
| 2000 | TCU | 10–1 | T–1st | Mobile Alabama (not coached) | ||
| 2001 | Alabama | 7–5 | T–3rd (Western) | Independence Bowl W | ||
| 2002 | Alabama | 10–3 | 1st (Western) | Ineligible | 11 | |
| 2003 | Texas A&M | 4–8 | 5th (South) | |||
| 2004 | Texas A&M | 7–5 | T–3rd (South) | Cotton Bowl L | ||
| 2005 | Texas A&M | 5–6 | 4th (South) | |||
| 2006 | Texas A&M | 9–4 | 3rd (South) | Holiday Bowl L | ||
| 2007 | Texas A&M | 7–5 | T–4th (South) | Alamo (not coached) | ||
| 2008–10: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2011 | Texas State * | 6–6 | ||||
| 2012 | Texas State | 4–8 | 5th | |||
| 2013 | Texas State | 6–6 | 7th | |||
| 2014 | Texas State | 7–5 | T–4th | |||
| 2015 | Texas State | 3–9 | 10th | |||
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 | 40 | 12–28 | 30% |
| Against top-10 teams | 12 | 1–11 | 8% |
| Against rivals | 46 | 26–20 | 57% |
| Conference games | 156 | 77–79 | 49% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 7 | 3–4 | 43% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 85 | 37–48 | 44% |
| At home | 124 | 79–45 | 64% |
| On the road | 104 | 43–61 | 41% |
| At neutral sites | 9 | 5–4 | 56% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 119 | 88–31 | 74% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 118 | 39–79 | 33% |
His own 237 games on file, 1992–2015, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlie Bailey 1993–1999 | 5–1 | UTEP | 6 | |
| Ron McBride 1992–1997 | 3–3 | Utah | 6 | |
| LaVell Edwards 1992–1997 | 1–5 | BYU | 6 | |
| Bob Stoops 2002–2007 | 0–6 | Oklahoma | 6 | |
| Jim Hess 1992–1996 | 4–1 | New Mexico State | 5 | |
| Guy Morriss 2003–2007 | 4–1 | Baylor | 5 | |
| Pat Sullivan 1992–1997 | 3–2 | TCU | 5 | |
| Mack Brown 2003–2007 | 2–3 | Texas | 5 | |
| Sonny Lubick 1993–1998 | 1–4 | Colorado State | 5 | |
| Ken Hatfield 1996–2000 | 1–4 | Rice | 5 |
Dennis Franchione’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 |
|---|---|---|
| UTEPseries | 9 | 8–1 |
| New Mexico Stateseries | 9 | 7–2 |
| Texas Techseries | 9 | 1–8 |
| Utahseries | 8 | 4–4 |
| Fresno Stateseries | 8 | 4–4 |
| SMUseries | 8 | 4–4 |
| Oklahomaseries | 7 | 0–7 |
| Hawai’iseries | 6 | 6–0 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973–74 | Miller HS (MO) high school | Head coach | |
| 1975 | Mulvane HS (KS) high school | Assistant coach | |
| 1976–77 | Peabody-Burns HS (KS) high school | Head coach | |
| 1978–80 | Kansas State | Wide receivers coach | |
| 1981–82 | Southwestern (KS) | Head coach | |
| 1983–84 | Tennessee Tech | Offensive coordinator | |
| 1985–89 | Pittsburg State | Head coach | |
| 1990–91 | Southwest Texas State | Head coach | |
| 1992–97 | New Mexico | Head coach | |
| 1998–2000 | TCU | Head coach | |
| 2001–02 | Alabama | Head coach | |
| 2003–07 | Texas A&M | Head coach | |
| 2011–15 | Texas State | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Jim DickeyKansas State
- Gary DarnellTennessee Tech
Assistants who became head coaches
- Jerry KillNorthern Illinois, Minnesota, TCU, New Mexico State, Saginaw Valley State, Emporia State, Southern Illinois
- Sam PittmanArkansas, Hutchinson
- Tim BeckPittsburg State
- Gary PattersonTCU
- David BailiffRice, Texas State, East Texas A&M
- Mike SchultzLamar
- Fred BleilNew Mexico Highlands
- Matt SimonNorth Texas
- Chris ThurmondHouston
- Carl TorbushNorth Carolina, Louisiana Tech, East Tennessee State
- Mike BloomgrenRice
- Bob DeBesseTexas State
- and 5 more
Worked under (2)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Dickey | Kansas State | 1978–80 | Wide receivers coach | |
| Gary Darnell | Tennessee Tech | 1983–84 | Offensive coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (17)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jerry Kill | Pittsburg State, 1985–87: defensive coordinator | Northern Illinois, Minnesota, TCU, New Mexico State, Saginaw Valley State, Emporia State, Southern Illinois | |
| Sam Pittman | Pittsburg State, 1985: graduate assistant | Arkansas, Hutchinson | |
| Tim Beck | Pittsburg State, 1987: student assistant; 1988: graduate assistant; 1989: assistant coach | Pittsburg State | |
| Gary Patterson | Pittsburg State, 1988: linebackers coach; New Mexico, 1996–97: defensive coordinator and safeties coach; TCU, 1998–2000: defensive coordinator and safeties coach | TCU | |
| David Bailiff | Texas State, 1990–91: defensive line coach; New Mexico, 1992–96: defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator | Rice, Texas State, East Texas A&M | |
| Mike Schultz | Texas State, 1990–91: running backs and defensive backs coach; New Mexico, 1992–97: running backs and defensive backs coach; TCU, 1998–2000: running game coordinator; Texas State, 2011–15: offensive coordinator | Lamar | |
| Fred Bleil | New Mexico, 1992–95: defensive coordinator | New Mexico Highlands | |
| Matt Simon | New Mexico, 1992–93: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | North Texas | |
| Chris Thurmond | TCU, 1998–2000: defensive backs coach; Alabama, 2001–02: cornerbacks coach; Texas A&M, 2003–05: cornerbacks coach | Houston | |
| Carl Torbush | Alabama, 2001–02: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach; Texas A&M, 2003–05: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | North Carolina, Louisiana Tech, East Tennessee State | |
| Mike Bloomgren | Alabama, 2001: graduate assistant | Rice | |
| Bob DeBesse | Texas A&M, 2006–07: wide receivers coach | Texas State | |
| Brad Davis | Texas A&M, 2006–07: graduate assistant | LSU | |
| Gary Darnell | Texas A&M, 2006–07: defensive coordinator | Florida, Western Michigan, Texas A&M, Tennessee Tech | |
| Van Malone | Texas A&M, 2006–07: defensive backs coach | Hampton | |
| Darrell Dickey | Texas State, 2011: co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach | North Texas, Memphis | |
| John Thompson | Texas State, 2014–15: defensive coordinator | East Carolina, Arkansas State |
Other assistants under him (8)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Dennis Darnell | New Mexico, 1994–97: offensive coordinator | |
| Chad Glasgow | New Mexico, 1996: graduate assistant | |
| Kasey Dunn | New Mexico, 1996–97: cornerbacks coach | |
| Dan Dodd | TCU, 1998–99: co-offensive coordinator | |
| Les Koenning | TCU, 2000: passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Alabama, 2001–02: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Texas A&M, 2003–07: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Jason Washington | Texas State, 2011–13: cornerbacks coach; 2014: secondary coach | |
| Craig Naivar | Texas State, 2012–13: defensive coordinator | |
| Jeff Conway | Texas State, 2012–15: co-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.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Texas State | head coachbonuses up to $232,500; $7,500 in bonuses paid | $427,000 USA Today | |
| 2014 | Texas State | head coachbonuses up to $232,500 | $401,200 USA Today | |
| 2007 | Texas A&M | head coachbonuses up to $350,000 | $2,074,216 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2006 | Texas A&M | head coachbonuses up to $350,000 | $2,019,700 USA Today via Leeds |
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.
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
Franchione’s teams went for it on 22% of fourth downs and on 34% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 45% of plays and took 24.1 seconds a play, 2004–2015.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 11 g | Texas A&M | 16 of 88 18% | 39% | 46% | 23.7 | +0.07 | |
| 2005 10 g | Texas A&M | 15 of 76 20% | 33% | 44% | 24.2 | +0.10 | |
| 2006 13 g | Texas A&M | 17 of 89 19% | 28% | 40% | 29.0 | +0.06 | |
| 2007 12 g | Texas A&M | 20 of 97 21% | 30% | 41% | 25.6 | +0.04 | |
| 2012 11 g | Texas State | 20 of 81 25% | 41% | 53% | 22.7 | 0.00 | |
| 2013 12 g | Texas State | 32 of 114 28% | 40% | 40% | 22.8 | −0.04 | |
| 2014 12 g | Texas State | 21 of 105 20% | 30% | 45% | 21.7 | +0.10 | |
| 2015 11 g | Texas State | 23 of 100 23% | 31% | 50% | 22.5 | +0.03 | |
| All 92 g | 164 of 750 22% | 34% | 45% | 24.1 | +0.05 |
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.