Frank Waters
Frank Waters went 172–96–7 as a head coach, 1954–1982, at Hillsdale, Saginaw Valley State and Michigan State. Share
25 seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1954–73 at Hillsdale; 1975–79 at Saginaw Valley State. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 172–96–7 career
- Seasons
- 28
- Schools
- 3
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 1981 5–6
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | Hillsdale * | 7–1–1 | 1st | |||
| 1955 | Hillsdale * | 9–0 | 1st | |||
| 1956 | Hillsdale * | 9–0 | 1st | |||
| 1957 | Hillsdale * | 9–1 | 1st | NAIA Championship L | ||
| 1958 | Hillsdale * | 7–2 | T–1st | |||
| 1959 | Hillsdale * | 8–2 | 1st | NAIA Semifinal L | ||
| 1960 | Hillsdale * | 9–1 | Mineral Water W | |||
| 1961 | Hillsdale * | 6–3 | ||||
| 1962 | Hillsdale * | 5–3–1 | ||||
| 1963 | Hillsdale * | 6–3–1 | ||||
| 1964 | Hillsdale * | 7–2–1 | ||||
| 1965 | Hillsdale * | 6–3 | ||||
| 1966 | Hillsdale * | 3–5–1 | ||||
| 1967 | Hillsdale * | 3–5 | ||||
| 1968 | Hillsdale * | 6–3 | ||||
| 1969 | Hillsdale * | 9–2 | NAIA Semifinal L | |||
| 1970 | Hillsdale * | 9–2 | ||||
| 1971 | Hillsdale * | 6–5 | ||||
| 1972 | Hillsdale * | 6–2 | ||||
| 1973 | Hillsdale * | 7–2 | ||||
| 1974: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1975 | Saginaw Valley State * | 3–7 | 5th | |||
| 1976 | Saginaw Valley State * | 4–7 | 6th | |||
| 1977 | Saginaw Valley State * | 6–5 | T–3rd | |||
| 1978 | Saginaw Valley State * | 4–5–1 | 4th | |||
| 1979 | Saginaw Valley State * | 8–2–1 | 1st | NAIA Division I Quarterfinal L | ||
| 1980 | Michigan State | 3–8 | 9th | |||
| 1981 | Michigan State | 5–6 | T–6th | |||
| 1982 | Michigan State | 2–9 | T–8th | |||
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 ranked teams | 9 | 1–8 | 11% |
| Against top-10 teams | 4 | 0–4 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 8 | 2–6 | 25% |
| Conference games | 26 | 8–18 | 31% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 14 | 3–11 | 21% |
| At home | 17 | 6–11 | 35% |
| On the road | 16 | 4–12 | 25% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 11 | 5–6 | 45% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 22 | 5–17 | 23% |
His own 33 games on file, 1980–1982, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Salem 1980–1982 | 3–0 | Minnesota | 3 | |
| Dave McClain 1980–1982 | 1–2 | Wisconsin | 3 | |
| Bo Schembechler 1980–1982 | 0–3 | Michigan | 3 | |
| Earle Bruce 1980–1982 | 0–3 | Ohio State | 3 | |
| Hayden Fry 1980–1982 | 0–3 | Iowa | 3 | |
| Mike White 1980–1982 | 0–3 | Illinois | 3 |
Frank Waters’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Minnesotaseries | 3 | 3–0 |
| Northwesternseries | 3 | 2–1 |
| Wisconsinseries | 3 | 1–2 |
| Notre Dameseries | 3 | 0–3 |
| Michiganseries | 3 | 0–3 |
| Ohio Stateseries | 3 | 0–3 |
| Illinoisseries | 3 | 0–3 |
| Iowaseries | 3 | 0–3 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950–51 | Walled Lake HS (MI) high school | Head coach | |
| 1952 | Albion HS (MI) high school | Head coach | |
| 1953 | Hillsdale | Assistant coach | |
| 1954–73 | Hillsdale | Head coach | |
| 1974–79 | Saginaw Valley State | Head coach | |
| 1980–82 | Michigan State | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Charlie BachmanHillsdale
Assistants who became head coaches
- Joe PendryPittsburgh Maulers
- Tyrone WillinghamStanford, Notre Dame, Washington
Worked under (1)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlie Bachman | Hillsdale | 1953 | Assistant coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (2)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Pendry | Michigan State, 1980–81: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Pittsburgh Maulers | |
| Tyrone Willingham | Michigan State, 1980–82: defensive backs and special teams coach | Stanford, Notre Dame, Washington |
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.