Don Nehlen
Don Nehlen went 202–128–8 as a head coach, 1968–2000, at Bowling Green and West Virginia. Share
- Record
- 202–128–8 career
- Seasons
- 30
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 2 seasons
- Hall of Fame
- 2006 inducted
- Best season
- 1988 11–1, No. 5
Season by season
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
Brian JozwiakConsensus All‑American, 1985- Darryl TalleyConsensus All‑American, 1982
- Todd SauerbrunConsensus All‑American, 1994
- Aaron BeasleyConsensus All‑American, 1995
- Canute CurtisConsensus All‑American, 1996
- Mike ComptonConsensus All‑American, 1992
- Renaldo TurnbullNo. 14 pick, 1990
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 | 63 | 16–45–2 | 27% |
| Against top-10 teams | 24 | 3–20–1 | 15% |
| Against rivals | 121 | 60–58–3 | 51% |
| Conference games | 118 | 66–49–3 | 57% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 13 | 4–9 | 31% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 122 | 58–56–8 | 51% |
| At home | 175 | 118–52–5 | 69% |
| On the road | 145 | 77–65–3 | 54% |
| At neutral sites | 18 | 7–11 | 39% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 218 | 154–59–5 | 72% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 120 | 48–69–3 | 41% |
His own 338 games on file, 1968–2000, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frank Beamer 1987–2000 | 5–9 | Virginia Tech | 14 | |
| Joe Paterno 1980–1992 | 2–11 | Penn State | 13 | |
| Jack Bicknell 1981–1990 | 8–2 | Boston College | 10 | |
| Dick MacPherson 1981–1990 | 5–5 | Syracuse | 10 | |
| Paul Pasqualoni 1991–2000 | 3–7 | Syracuse | 10 | |
| Bill Hess 1968–1976 | 4–5 | Ohio | 9 | |
| Bill Doolittle 1968–1974 | 5–1–1 | Western Michigan | 7 | |
| Bill Dooley 1980–1986 | 5–2 | Virginia Tech | 7 | |
| Dick Anderson 1984–1989 | 5–1 | Rutgers | 6 | |
| Jack Murphy 1971–1976 | 4–2 | Toledo | 6 |
Don Nehlen’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Syracuseseries | 23 | 10–13 |
| Rutgersseries | 21 | 18–3 |
| Marylandseries | 21 | 12–9 |
| Pittsburghseries | 21 | 11–8–2 |
| Virginia Techseries | 21 | 10–11 |
| Boston Collegeseries | 20 | 15–4–1 |
| Templeseries | 15 | 14–1 |
| East Carolinaseries | 13 | 10–3 |
National coaching awards
The awards- 1988 West Virginia: Bobby Dodd Award and Walter Camp Coach
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Cincinnati | Assistant coach | |
| 1967 | Bowling Green | Assistant coach | |
| 1968–76 | Bowling Green | Head coach | |
| 1977–79 | Michigan | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 1980–2000 | West Virginia | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Charles StudleyCincinnati
- Bob GibsonBowling Green
- Bo SchembechlerMichigan
Assistants who became head coaches
- Elliot UzelacWestern Michigan, Navy
- Jack HarbaughWestern Michigan, Western Kentucky
- Dale StrahmWestern Carolina
- Ron ChismarWichita State
- Gary TranquillNavy
- Rey DempseySouthern Illinois, Memphis, Youngstown State
- Jim HeacockIllinois State
- Bob SimmonsOklahoma State
- Doc HollidayMarshall
- Lloyd CarrMichigan
- Dwight WallaceBall State
- Paul ChrystPittsburgh, Wisconsin
- and 6 more
Worked under (3)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Studley | Cincinnati | 1963 | Assistant coach | |
| Bob Gibson | Bowling Green | 1967 | Assistant coach | |
| Bo Schembechler | Michigan | 1977–79 | Quarterbacks coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (18)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elliot Uzelac | Bowling Green, 1968–69: offensive line coach; 1970: offensive coordinator | Western Michigan, Navy | |
| Jack Harbaugh | Bowling Green, 1968–70: assistant coach | Western Michigan, Western Kentucky | |
| Dale Strahm | Bowling Green, 1969: graduate assistant; 1971: freshman coach; 1972–76: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Western Carolina | |
| Ron Chismar | Bowling Green, 1970–73: assistant coach | Wichita State | |
| Gary Tranquill | Bowling Green, 1971–72: defensive coordinator; West Virginia, 1980–81: offensive coordinator | Navy | |
| Rey Dempsey | Bowling Green, 1971–72: offensive line coach | Southern Illinois, Memphis, Youngstown State | |
| Jim Heacock | Bowling Green, 1972: graduate assistant | Illinois State | |
| Bob Simmons | Bowling Green, 1976: wide receivers coach; West Virginia, 1980–87: outside linebackers coach | Oklahoma State | |
| Doc Holliday | West Virginia, 1980: graduate assistant; 1981–82: assistant coach; 1983–89, 1993–94: wide receivers coach; 1990–92: linebackers coach; 1995–99: assistant head coach and wide receivers coach | Marshall | |
| Lloyd Carr | West Virginia, 1980: defensive backs coach | Michigan | |
| Dwight Wallace | West Virginia, 1985–89: quarterbacks coach | Ball State | |
| Paul Chryst | West Virginia, 1989–90: graduate assistant | Pittsburgh, Wisconsin | |
| Rich Rodriguez | West Virginia, 1989: outside linebackers coach | West Virginia, Michigan, Arizona, Jacksonville State, Salem, Glenville State | |
| Todd Fitch | West Virginia, 1989: volunteer assistant | Vanderbilt | |
| Dan Simrell | West Virginia, 1991–94: assistant coach; 1995–99: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Toledo, Findlay | |
| Kevin Ramsey | West Virginia, 1993–94: defensive backs coach | Clark Atlanta | |
| Darrell Hazell | West Virginia, 1999–2000: running backs coach | Kent State, Purdue | |
| Bill Stewart | West Virginia, 2000: quarterbacks, tight ends and special teams coach | West Virginia, VMI |
Other assistants under him (5)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Larry Coyer | Bowling Green, 1973: defensive backs coach | |
| Dennis Brown | West Virginia, 1980–84, 1986: defensive coordinator | |
| Steve Dunlap | West Virginia, 1980–81: graduate assistant; 1984–86: linebackers coach; 1987–92: defensive backs coach; 1992–2000: defensive coordinator | |
| Russ Jacques | West Virginia, 1984: offensive coordinator | |
| Bill Legg | West Virginia, 2000: 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.
Books
Books: Open Library (CC0); most-reissued first, each linked to its page there.