Gary Darnell
Gary Darnell went 52–80 as a head coach, 1983–2007, at Tennessee Tech, Florida, Western Michigan and Texas A&M. Share
Three seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1983–85 at Tennessee Tech. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 52–80 career
- Seasons
- 13
- Schools
- 4
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 2000 9–3
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Tennessee Tech * | 2–8 | T–6th | |||
| 1984 | Tennessee Tech * | 0–11 | 8th | |||
| 1985 | Tennessee Tech * | 1–10 | 7th | |||
| 1986–88: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1989 | Florida interim, final 7 games | 3–4 | T–4th | Freedom Bowl L | ||
| 1990–96: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1997 | Western Michigan | 8–3 | 2nd (West) | |||
| 1998 | Western Michigan | 7–4 | 3rd (West) | |||
| 1999 | Western Michigan | 7–5 | 1st (West) | Mid-American Championship Game L | ||
| 2000 | Western Michigan | 9–3 | 1st (West) | Mid-American Championship Game L | ||
| 2001 | Western Michigan | 5–6 | 4th (West) | |||
| 2002 | Western Michigan | 4–8 | 5th (West) | |||
| 2003 | Western Michigan | 5–7 | 4th (West) | |||
| 2004 | Western Michigan | 1–10 | 7th (West) | |||
| 2005–06: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2007 | Texas A&M interim, bowl game | 0–1 | Alamo Bowl L | |||
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
Jason BabinNo. 27 pick, 2004
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 | 12 | 0–12 | 0% |
| Against top-10 teams | 6 | 0–6 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 28 | 14–14 | 50% |
| Conference games | 68 | 37–31 | 54% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 4 | 0–4 | 0% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 34 | 14–20 | 41% |
| At home | 46 | 30–16 | 65% |
| On the road | 49 | 19–30 | 39% |
| At neutral sites | 5 | 0–5 | 0% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 53 | 43–10 | 81% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 47 | 6–41 | 13% |
His own 100 games on file, 1989–2007, 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 Novak 1997–2004 | 4–4 | Northern Illinois | 8 | |
| Bill Lynch 1997–2002 | 4–2 | Ball State | 6 | |
| Bob Pruett 1999–2004 | 1–5 | Marshall | 6 | |
| Jeff Woodruff 2000–2003 | 4–0 | Eastern Michigan | 4 | |
| Mike DeBord 2000–2003 | 3–1 | Central Michigan | 4 | |
| Gary Pinkel 1997–2000 | 1–3 | Toledo | 4 | |
| Tom Amstutz 2001–2004 | 0–4 | Toledo | 4 | |
| Rick Rasnick 1997–1999 | 3–0 | Eastern Michigan | 3 | |
| Dick Flynn 1997–1999 | 2–1 | Central Michigan | 3 | |
| Jim Grobe 1997–2000 | 1–2 | Ohio | 3 |
Gary Darnell’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern Michiganseries | 8 | 7–1 |
| Ball Stateseries | 8 | 5–3 |
| Central Michiganseries | 8 | 5–3 |
| Northern Illinoisseries | 8 | 4–4 |
| Toledoseries | 8 | 1–7 |
| Bowling Greenseries | 6 | 3–3 |
| Marshallseries | 6 | 1–5 |
| Ohioseries | 4 | 2–2 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Oklahoma State | Graduate assistant | |
| 1971–72 | Oklahoma State | Linebackers coach | |
| 1973–75 | SMU | Linebackers coach | |
| 1976–77 | North Carolina | Linebackers coach | |
| 1978–82 | Kansas State | Assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | |
| 1983–85 | Tennessee Tech | Head coach | |
| 1986–87 | Wake Forest | Assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | |
| 1988–89 | Florida | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1989 | Florida | Interim head coach | |
| 1990–91 | Notre Dame | Assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | |
| 1992–93 | Texas | Assistant head coach and special teams coach | |
| 1994–96 | Texas | Assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | |
| 1997–2004 | Western Michigan | Head coach | |
| 2006–07 | Texas A&M | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2007 | Texas A&M | Interim head coach | |
| 2017 | Nebraska | Defensive consultant |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Floyd GassOklahoma State
- Dave SmithOklahoma State, SMU
- Bill DooleyNorth Carolina, Wake Forest
- Jim DickeyKansas State
- Al GrohWake Forest
- Galen HallFlorida
- Lou HoltzNotre Dame
- John MackovicTexas
- Dennis FranchioneTexas A&M
- Mike RileyNebraska
Assistants who became head coaches
- Dennis FranchioneNew Mexico, TCU, Alabama, Texas A&M, Texas State, Southwestern (KS), Pittsburg State
- Gary PattersonTCU
- Mike SchultzLamar
- Greg JohnsonLangston, Prairie View A&M
- Jim RaglandTennessee Tech
- Bill CubitWestern Michigan, Illinois, Widener
- Charlie StrongFlorida, Louisville, Texas, South Florida
- Jim DickeyKansas State
- Brian RockHoly Cross
- Jim KnowlesCornell
- Sam PittmanArkansas, Hutchinson
- Dan EnosCentral Michigan
- and 7 more
Worked under (10)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Floyd Gass | Oklahoma State | 1970–71 | 1970: graduate assistant; 1971: linebackers coach | |
| Dave Smith | Oklahoma State | 1972 | Linebackers coach | |
| Dave Smith | SMU | 1973–75 | Linebackers coach | |
| Bill Dooley | North Carolina | 1976–77 | Linebackers coach | |
| Jim Dickey | Kansas State | 1978–82 | Assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | |
| Al Groh | Wake Forest | 1986 | Assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | |
| Bill Dooley | Wake Forest | 1987 | Assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | |
| Galen Hall | Florida | 1988–89 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Lou Holtz | Notre Dame | 1990–91 | Assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | |
| John Mackovic | Texas | 1992–96 | 1992–93: assistant head coach and special teams coach; 1994–96: assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | |
| Dennis Franchione | Texas A&M | 2006–07 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Mike Riley | Nebraska | 2017 | Defensive consultant |
Coached under him, later head coaches (19)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis Franchione | Tennessee Tech, 1983–84: offensive coordinator | New Mexico, TCU, Alabama, Texas A&M, Texas State, Southwestern (KS), Pittsburg State | |
| Gary Patterson | Tennessee Tech, 1983–84: linebackers coach | TCU | |
| Mike Schultz | Tennessee Tech, 1983–84: running backs and defensive backs coach | Lamar | |
| Greg Johnson | Tennessee Tech, 1984–85: assistant coach | Langston, Prairie View A&M | |
| Jim Ragland | Tennessee Tech, 1984: recruiting coordinator; 1985: offensive coordinator | Tennessee Tech | |
| Bill Cubit | Florida, 1989: quarterbacks coach; Western Michigan, 1997–99: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Western Michigan, Illinois, Widener | |
| Charlie Strong | Florida, 1989: outside linebackers coach | Florida, Louisville, Texas, South Florida | |
| Jim Dickey | Florida, 1989: defensive backs coach | Kansas State | |
| Brian Rock | Western Michigan, 1997–99: special teams and wide receivers coach; 2000–04: offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | Holy Cross | |
| Jim Knowles | Western Michigan, 1997–2000: defensive line coach; 2001–02: defensive coordinator | Cornell | |
| Sam Pittman | Western Michigan, 1999: assistant head coach | Arkansas, Hutchinson | |
| Dan Enos | Western Michigan, 2000–02: quarterbacks coach | Central Michigan | |
| Pete Cordelli | Western Michigan, 2002–03: running backs coach and assistant special teams | Kent State | |
| Charley Molnar | Western Michigan, 2003–04: quarterbacks coach | Massachusetts | |
| J. C. Harper | Western Michigan, 2003: defensive line coach; 2004: defensive coordinator | Stephen F. Austin | |
| Bob Diaco | Western Michigan, 2004: linebackers and special teams coach | UConn | |
| Van Malone | Western Michigan, 2004: cornerbacks and special teams coach; Texas A&M, 2007: defensive backs coach | Hampton | |
| Bob DeBesse | Texas A&M, 2007: wide receivers coach | Texas State | |
| Brad Davis | Texas A&M, 2007: graduate assistant | LSU |
Other assistants under him (5)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Dick Bumpas | Tennessee Tech, 1983–84: defensive coordinator; Western Michigan, 2003: defensive coordinator | |
| Rex Norris | Florida, 1989: defensive line coach | |
| Whitey Jordan | Florida, 1989: offensive coordinator | |
| Chuck Driesbach | Western Michigan, 1997–2000: defensive coordinator | |
| Les Koenning | Texas A&M, 2007: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach |
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
Darnell’s teams went for it on 6% of fourth downs and on 0% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 55% of plays and took 30.4 seconds a play, in 2004.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 2 g | 1 of 16 6% | 0% | 55% | 30.4 | −0.09 |
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.