Elmer Layden
Elmer Layden went 79–27–9 as a head coach, 1925–1940, at Columbia, Duquesne and Notre Dame. Wikipedia’s season articles record four seasons differently (1929, 9–0–1, 1930, 7–3, 1931, 3–5–3 and 1932, 7–2–1); by them his record is 103–34–11. Share
Four seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1925–26 at Columbia; 1927–28 at Duquesne (on file under another coach). They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 79–27–9 career
- Seasons
- 16
- Schools
- 3
- Final AP top 10
- 3 seasons
- Best season
- 1938 8–1, No. 5
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1925 | Columbia * | 4–3–1 | ||||
| 1926 | Columbia * | 4–2–1 | ||||
| 1927 | Duquesne * | 4–4–1 | T–2nd | |||
| 1928 | Duquesne * | 8–1 | T–1st | |||
| 1929 | Duquesne | 0–0–1 (Wikipedia: 9–0–1) | 1st | |||
| 1930 | Duquesne | 0–1 (Wikipedia: 7–3) | ||||
| 1931 | Duquesne | 0–1–2 (Wikipedia: 3–5–3) | ||||
| 1932 | Duquesne | 2–1 (Wikipedia: 7–2–1) | ||||
| 1933 | Duquesne | 10–1 | Festival of Palms W | |||
| 1934 | Notre Dame | 6–3 | ||||
| 1935 | Notre Dame | 7–1–1 | ||||
| 1936 | Notre Dame | 6–2–1 | 8 | |||
| 1937 | Notre Dame | 6–2–1 | 9 | |||
| 1938 | Notre Dame | 8–1 | 5 | |||
| 1939 | Notre Dame | 7–2 | 13 | |||
| 1940 | Notre Dame | 7–2 |
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
William ShakespeareThird in the 1935 Heisman vote- Jack RobinsonConsensus All‑American, 1934
- Chuck SweeneyConsensus All‑American, 1937
- Wayne MillnerConsensus All‑American, 1935
- Ed BeinorConsensus All‑American, 1938
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 10 | 5–5 | 50% |
| Against top-10 teams | 7 | 2–5 | 29% |
| Against rivals | 34 | 23–9–2 | 71% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 44 | 27–11–6 | 68% |
| At home | 44 | 35–6–3 | 83% |
| On the road | 32 | 18–11–3 | 61% |
| At neutral sites | 6 | 6–0 | 100% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 62 | 51–8–3 | 85% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 20 | 8–9–3 | 48% |
His own 82 games on file, 1929–1940, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howard Jones 1934–1940 | 4–2–1 | USC | 7 | |
| Pappy Waldorf 1935–1940 | 4–2 | Northwestern | 6 | |
| Jock Sutherland 1932–1937 | 1–5 | Pittsburgh | 6 | |
| Gar Davidson 1934–1937 | 3–0–1 | Army | 4 | |
| William Alexander 1938–1940 | 3–0 | Georgia Tech | 3 | |
| William Wood 1938–1940 | 3–0 | Army | 3 | |
| Greasy Neale 1931–1933 | 2–1 | West Virginia | 3 | |
| Robert Zuppke 1937–1940 | 2–0–1 | Illinois | 3 | |
| Thomas Hamilton 1934–1936 | 1–2 | Navy | 3 |
Elmer Layden’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Carnegie Mellonseries | 8 | 6–1–1 |
| Armyseries | 7 | 6–0–1 |
| Northwesternseries | 7 | 5–2 |
| Navyseries | 7 | 5–2 |
| USCseries | 7 | 4–2–1 |
| Pittsburghseries | 6 | 1–5 |
| West Virginiaseries | 5 | 2–2–1 |
| Georgia Techseries | 3 | 3–0 |
Also a player: Elmer Layden’s playing career.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–26 | Columbia (IA) | Head coach | |
| 1927–33 | Duquesne | Head coach | |
| 1934–40 | Notre Dame | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Assistants who became head coaches
- Aldo DonelliDuquesne, Boston University, Columbia, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Rams
Coached under him, later head coaches (1)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aldo Donelli | Duquesne, 1930–33: freshman coach | Duquesne, Boston University, Columbia, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Rams |
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.