Fisher DeBerry
Fisher DeBerry went 169–109–1 as a head coach, 1984–2006, at Air Force. Share
- Record
- 169–109–1 career
- Seasons
- 23
- Schools
- 1
- Final AP top 10
- 1 season
- Hall of Fame
- 2011 inducted
- Best season
- 1985 12–1, No. 8
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Air Force | 8–4 | 3rd | Independence Bowl W | ||
| 1985 | Air Force | 12–1 | T–1st | Bluebonnet Bowl W | 8 | |
| 1986 | Air Force | 6–5 | 3rd | |||
| 1987 | Air Force | 9–4 | 3rd | Freedom Bowl L | ||
| 1988 | Air Force | 5–7 | T–6th | |||
| 1989 | Air Force | 8–4–1 | 2nd | Liberty Bowl L | ||
| 1990 | Air Force | 7–5 | 6th | Liberty Bowl W | ||
| 1991 | Air Force | 10–3 | 3rd | Liberty Bowl W | 25 | |
| 1992 | Air Force | 7–5 | T–5th | Liberty Bowl L | ||
| 1993 | Air Force | 4–8 | 9th | |||
| 1994 | Air Force | 8–4 | T–2nd | |||
| 1995 | Air Force | 8–5 | T–1st | Copper Bowl L | ||
| 1996 | Air Force | 6–5 | 4th (Pacific) | |||
| 1997 | Air Force | 10–3 | 2nd (Pacific) | Las Vegas Bowl L | 25 | |
| 1998 | Air Force | 12–1 | 1st (Mountain) | Western Athletic Championship Game W; Oahu Bowl W | 13 | |
| 1999 | Air Force | 6–5 | 7th | |||
| 2000 | Air Force | 9–3 | 2nd | Silicon Valley Football Classic W | ||
| 2001 | Air Force | 6–6 | T–5th | |||
| 2002 | Air Force | 8–5 | T–3rd | San Francisco Bowl L | ||
| 2003 | Air Force | 7–5 | T–4th | |||
| 2004 | Air Force | 5–6 | T–4th | |||
| 2005 | Air Force | 4–7 | 7th | |||
| 2006 | Air Force | 4–8 | T–6th |
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
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Carlton McDonaldConsensus All‑American, 1992- Scott ThomasConsensus All‑American, 1985
- Chris Howard1990 William V. Campbell Trophy
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 | 29 | 6–22–1 | 22% |
| Against top-10 teams | 11 | 1–10 | 9% |
| Against rivals | 83 | 56–26–1 | 68% |
| Conference games | 174 | 100–73–1 | 58% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 13 | 7–6 | 54% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 107 | 54–52–1 | 51% |
| At home | 135 | 91–44 | 67% |
| On the road | 126 | 67–58–1 | 54% |
| At neutral sites | 18 | 11–7 | 61% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 203 | 147–56 | 72% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 76 | 22–53–1 | 30% |
His own 279 games on file, 1984–2006, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LaVell Edwards 1984–2000 | 3–12 | BYU | 15 | |
| Sonny Lubick 1993–2006 | 5–9 | Colorado State | 14 | |
| Ron McBride 1990–2002 | 6–4 | Utah | 10 | |
| Bob Sutton 1991–1999 | 8–1 | Army | 9 | |
| Bob Wagner 1987–1995 | 5–3–1 | Hawai’i | 9 | |
| Rocky Long 1998–2006 | 5–4 | New Mexico | 9 | |
| Lou Holtz 1986–1996 | 1–8 | Notre Dame | 9 | |
| Charlie Weatherbie 1995–2001 | 6–1 | Navy | 7 | |
| Jim Young 1984–1990 | 4–3 | Army | 7 | |
| Ted Tollner 1994–2001 | 5–1 | San Diego State | 6 |
Fisher DeBerry’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Armyseries | 23 | 18–5 |
| Navyseries | 23 | 17–6 |
| Colorado Stateseries | 23 | 12–11 |
| Wyomingseries | 23 | 12–11 |
| San Diego Stateseries | 21 | 13–8 |
| BYUseries | 21 | 5–16 |
| Utahseries | 20 | 11–9 |
| New Mexicoseries | 16 | 11–5 |
National coaching awards
The awards- 1985 Air Force: Bobby Dodd Award, Eddie Robinson and Walter Camp Coach
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | Bennettsville HS (SC) high school | Assistant coach | |
| 1963–68 | McClenaghan HS (SC) high school | Assistant coach | |
| 1969–70 | Wofford | Assistant coach | |
| 1971–79 | Appalachian State | Assistant coach | |
| 1980 | Air Force | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 1981–83 | Air Force | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 1984–2006 | Air Force | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Jim BrakefieldApp State
- Ken HatfieldAir Force
Assistants who became head coaches
- Cal McCombsVMI
- Charlie WeatherbieUtah State, Navy, UL Monroe
- Jim GrobeOhio, Wake Forest, Baylor
- Scott WachenheimVMI
- Tim DeRuyterTexas A&M, Fresno State
- Troy CalhounAir Force
- Bill StewartWest Virginia, VMI
- Paul HamiltonEast Tennessee State, Elon, Brevard
- Brian KnorrOhio
- Richard BellSouth Carolina
- Larry FedoraSouthern Miss, North Carolina, New Orleans Breakers
- Vic ShealyAzusa Pacific, Houston Christian
- and 2 more
Worked under (2)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Brakefield | App State | 1972–79 | Assistant coach | |
| Ken Hatfield | Air Force | 1980–83 | 1980: quarterbacks coach; 1981–83: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (14)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cal McCombs | Air Force, 1984–89: defensive backs coach; 1990–98: defensive coordinator | VMI | |
| Charlie Weatherbie | Air Force, 1984–89: assistant coach | Utah State, Navy, UL Monroe | |
| Jim Grobe | Air Force, 1984–94: linebackers coach | Ohio, Wake Forest, Baylor | |
| Scott Wachenheim | Air Force, 1984–85: graduate assistant | VMI | |
| Tim DeRuyter | Air Force, 1985: graduate assistant; 1989–92: defensive assistant | Texas A&M, Fresno State | |
| Troy Calhoun | Air Force, 1989–90: graduate assistant; 1993–94: recruiting coordinator and junior varsity offensive coordinator | Air Force | |
| Bill Stewart | Air Force, 1990–93: defensive line coach | West Virginia, VMI | |
| Paul Hamilton | Air Force, 1990–96: offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | East Tennessee State, Elon, Brevard | |
| Brian Knorr | Air Force, 1992–94: assistant offensive line and junior varsity coach; 2005–06: outside linebackers and safeties coach | Ohio | |
| Richard Bell | Air Force, 1995–2006: defensive coordinator | South Carolina | |
| Larry Fedora | Air Force, 1997–98: passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach | Southern Miss, North Carolina, New Orleans Breakers | |
| Vic Shealy | Air Force, 1999–2004: defensive backs coach | Azusa Pacific, Houston Christian | |
| Ed Warinner | Air Force, 2000–02: offensive line coach | Avila | |
| Blane Morgan | Air Force, 2003–04: assistant coach; 2005–06: wide receivers coach | Lamar |
Other assistants under him (2)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Charlton Warren | Air Force, 2005–06: graduate assistant | |
| John Rudzinski | Air Force, 2005–06: graduate assistant |
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.
How he coached
DeBerry’s teams went for it on 24% of fourth downs and on 36% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 23% of plays and took 26.6 seconds a play, 2004–2006.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 2 g | 1 of 13 8% | 25% | 22% | 28.8 | +0.05 | |
| 2005 9 g | 14 of 61 23% | 34% | 27% | 25.0 | +0.07 | |
| 2006 12 g | 21 of 76 28% | 39% | 21% | 27.4 | +0.04 | |
| All 23 g | 36 of 150 24% | 36% | 23% | 26.6 | +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.
Books
Books: Open Library (CC0); most-reissued first, each linked to its page there.