Earl Abell
Earl Abell went 36–34–6 as a head coach, 1917–1930, at VMI, Sewanee, Mississippi A&M, Colgate and Virginia. Share
Four seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1919–20 at Sewanee; 1923–24 at Mississippi A&M. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 36–34–6 career
- Seasons
- 9
- Schools
- 5
- AP poll
- Began in 1936, after this career
- Best season
- 1928 6–3
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1917 | VMI | 4–4–1 | ||||
| 1918 | VMI | 1–3 | ||||
| 1919 | Sewanee * | 3–6 | ||||
| 1920 | Sewanee * | 4–3–1 | ||||
| 1921–22: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1923 | Mississippi A&M * | 5–2–2 | T–9th | |||
| 1924 | Mississippi A&M * | 5–4 | T–6th | |||
| 1925–27: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1928 | Colgate | 6–3 | ||||
| 1929 | Virginia | 4–3–2 | 16th | |||
| 1930 | Virginia | 4–6 | 17th | |||
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 rivals | 11 | 2–8–1 | 23% |
| Conference games | 15 | 3–10–2 | 27% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 13 | 4–6–3 | 42% |
| At home | 22 | 15–6–1 | 70% |
| On the road | 19 | 4–13–2 | 26% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 22 | 16–5–1 | 75% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 19 | 3–14–2 | 21% |
His own 41 games on file, 1917–1930, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Curley Byrd 1917–1930 | 0–2–2 | Maryland | 4 |
Earl Abell’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Virginia Techseries | 5 | 1–4 |
| Marylandseries | 4 | 0–2–2 |
| Gallaudetseries | 2 | 2–0 |
| Randolph Maconseries | 2 | 2–0 |
| Roanokeseries | 2 | 2–0 |
| VMIseries | 2 | 1–1 |
| Washington and Leeseries | 2 | 1–0–1 |
| North Carolinaseries | 2 | 0–2 |
Other roles
- Team captain, Colgate 1915 (his playing career)
From each season’s Wikipedia article.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1917–18 | VMI | Head coach | |
| 1919–20 | Sewanee | Head coach | |
| 1922 | Virginia | Line coach | |
| 1923–24 | Mississippi A&M | Head coach | |
| 1925–27 | Colgate | Assistant coach | |
| 1928 | Colgate | Head coach | |
| 1929–30 | Virginia | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Thomas CampbellVirginia
- Dick HarlowColgate
- George HauserColgate
Assistants who became head coaches
- Gus TebellNC State, Virginia
Worked under (3)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Campbell | Virginia | 1922 | Line coach | |
| Dick Harlow | Colgate | 1925 | Assistant coach | |
| George Hauser | Colgate | 1926–27 | Assistant coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (1)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gus Tebell | Virginia, 1930: assistant coach | NC State, Virginia |
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.