Frank “Buck” O’Neill
Frank “Buck” O’Neill went 65–39–6 as a head coach in the games on file: 1902 at Colgate, 1904 at Colgate, 1905 at Colgate, 1906 at Syracuse, 1907 at Syracuse, 1913 at Syracuse, 1914 at Syracuse, 1915 at Syracuse, 1917 at Syracuse, 1918 at Syracuse, 1919 at Syracuse, 1920 at Columbia, 1921 at Columbia and 1922 at Columbia. His full head-coaching career isn’t in our records. Wikipedia’s season articles record three seasons differently (1902, 5–3–1, 1904, 8–1–1 and 1920, 4–4); by them his record is 81–41–8. Share
- Record
- 65–39–6 games on file
- Seasons
- 14
- Schools
- 3
- AP poll
- Began in 1936, after this career
- Hall of Fame
- 1951 inducted
- Best season
- 1917 8–1–1
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1902 | Colgate | 0–3 (Wikipedia: 5–3–1) | ||
| 1903: not a college head coach | ||||
| 1904 | Colgate | 1–1 (Wikipedia: 8–1–1) | ||
| 1905 | Colgate | 5–4 | ||
| 1906 | Syracuse | 6–3 | ||
| 1907 | Syracuse | 5–3–1 | ||
| 1908–12: not a college head coach | ||||
| 1913 | Syracuse | 6–4 | ||
| 1914 | Syracuse | 5–3–2 | ||
| 1915 | Syracuse | 9–1–2 | ||
| 1916: not a college head coach | ||||
| 1917 | Syracuse | 8–1–1 | ||
| 1918 | Syracuse | 5–1 | ||
| 1919 | Syracuse | 8–3 | ||
| 1920 | Columbia | 0–2 (Wikipedia: 4–4) | ||
| 1921 | Columbia | 2–6 | ||
| 1922 | Columbia | 5–4 | ||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game.
Players he coached
Doc AlexanderConsensus All‑American, 1918 and 1919- Lou UsherConsensus All‑American, 1918
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 rivals | 20 | 7–11–2 | 40% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 38 | 16–16–6 | 50% |
| At home | 71 | 49–17–5 | 73% |
| On the road | 39 | 16–22–1 | 42% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 72 | 55–11–6 | 81% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 38 | 10–28 | 26% |
His own 110 games on file, 1902–1922, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop Warner 1904–1919 | 2–5 | Cornell, Carlisle, Pittsburgh | 7 | |
| Edward Robinson 1915–1919 | 4–0 | Brown | 4 | |
| George Sanford 1914–1919 | 3–0–1 | Rutgers | 4 | |
| Fielding Yost 1913–1918 | 2–2 | Michigan | 4 | |
| Laurence Bankart 1913–1915 | 1–1–1 | Colgate | 3 | |
| Gilmour Dobie 1920–1922 | 0–3 | Cornell | 3 |
Frank “Buck” O’Neill’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Colgateseries | 8 | 3–4–1 |
| Rochester (NY)series | 6 | 6–0 |
| Dartmouthseries | 6 | 2–3–1 |
| Williamsseries | 6 | 2–4 |
| Cornellseries | 6 | 0–6 |
| Hamiltonseries | 5 | 5–0 |
| Hobartseries | 4 | 4–0 |
| Brownseries | 4 | 4–0 |
Coaching tree
Assistants who became head coaches
- Bill HorrNorthwestern, Purdue
- Pete ReynoldsBucknell, Syracuse, Hobart, Hamilton, Knox
Coached under him, later head coaches (2)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Horr | Syracuse, 1914–15, 1917–19: line coach | Northwestern, Purdue | |
| Pete Reynolds | Syracuse, 1917–18: field coach | Bucknell, Syracuse, Hobart, Hamilton, Knox |
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.