Gene Chizik
Gene Chizik went 38–38 as a head coach, 2007–2012, at Iowa State and Auburn. His 2010 Auburn team claims the national title. Share
- Record
- 38–38 career
- Seasons
- 6
- Schools
- 2
- National titles
- 1 claimed: 2010
- Best season
- 2010 14–0, No. 1
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Iowa State | 3–9 | T–5th (North) | |||
| 2008 | Iowa State | 2–10 | 6th (North) | |||
| 2009 | Auburn | 8–5 | T–4th (Western) | Outback Bowl W | ||
| 2010 | Auburn | 14–0 | 1st (Western) | BCS National Championship W | 1 | |
| 2011 | Auburn | 8–5 | 4th (Western) | Chick-fil-A Bowl W | ||
| 2012 | Auburn | 3–9 | 7th (Western) |
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
Lee ZiembaConsensus All‑American, 2010
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 | 28 | 9–19 | 32% |
| Against top-10 teams | 15 | 4–11 | 27% |
| Against rivals | 31 | 11–20 | 35% |
| Conference games | 48 | 17–31 | 35% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 3 | 3–0 | 100% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 26 | 15–11 | 58% |
| At home | 43 | 28–15 | 65% |
| On the road | 28 | 6–22 | 21% |
| At neutral sites | 5 | 4–1 | 80% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 37 | 28–9 | 76% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 39 | 10–29 | 26% |
His own 76 games on file, 2007–2012, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dan Mullen 2009–2012 | 3–1 | Mississippi State | 4 | |
| Les Miles 2009–2012 | 1–3 | LSU | 4 | |
| Mark Richt 2009–2012 | 1–3 | Georgia | 4 | |
| Nick Saban 2009–2012 | 1–3 | Alabama | 4 | |
| Houston Nutt 2009–2011 | 3–0 | Ole Miss | 3 | |
| Steve Spurrier 2010–2011 | 3–0 | South Carolina | 3 | |
| Bobby Petrino 2009–2011 | 1–2 | Arkansas | 3 | |
| Dabo Swinney 2010–2012 | 1–2 | Clemson | 3 |
Gene Chizik’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ole Missseries | 4 | 3–1 |
| Mississippi Stateseries | 4 | 3–1 |
| Arkansasseries | 4 | 1–3 |
| Georgiaseries | 4 | 1–3 |
| LSUseries | 4 | 1–3 |
| Alabamaseries | 4 | 1–3 |
| South Carolinaseries | 3 | 3–0 |
| Clemsonseries | 3 | 1–2 |
National coaching awards
The awards- 2010 Auburn: Bear Bryant Award
- 2004 Auburn: Broyles Award
National title staffs
Every title staff- Won a national title on Texas’s 2005 staff (co-defensive coordinator, assistant head coach, linebackers) · the staff · source
- Won a national title on Auburn’s 2010 staff (head coach) · the staff · source
The champions’ staffs from 1990 on, as the schools listed them that season: Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages. Roles as the source words them.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986–87 | Seminole HS (FL) high school | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 1988–89 | Clemson | Graduate assistant and outside linebackers coach | |
| 1990–91 | Middle Tennessee | Defensive ends coach | |
| 1992–94 | Stephen F. Austin | Linebackers coach | |
| 1995 | Stephen F. Austin | Defensive backs coach | |
| 1996–97 | Stephen F. Austin | Defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| 1998 | UCF | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 1999–2001 | UCF | Defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| 2002–04 | Auburn | Defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| 2005–06 | Texas | Co-defensive coordinator, assistant head coach and linebackers coach | |
| 2007–08 | Iowa State | Head coach | |
| 2009–12 | Auburn | Head coach | |
| 2015–16 | North Carolina | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2022–23 | North Carolina | Assistant head coach and defensive coordinator |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Danny FordClemson
- Mike KruczekUCF
- Tommy TubervilleAuburn
- Mack BrownTexas, North Carolina
- Larry FedoraNorth Carolina
Assistants who became head coaches
- Robert McFarlandStephen F. Austin
- Travis PearsonAlabama State
- Casey WoodsMissouri State
- Gus MalzahnArkansas State, Auburn, UCF
- Rhett LashleeSMU
- Ted RoofDuke
- Trooper TaylorDuke
- Eli DrinkwitzApp State, Missouri
- Brian VanGorderWayne State (MI), Georgia Southern
- Scot LoefflerBowling Green
Worked under (5)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danny Ford | Clemson | 1988–89 | Graduate assistant and outside linebackers coach | |
| Mike Kruczek | UCF | 1998–2001 | 1998: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach; 1999–2001: defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| Tommy Tuberville | Auburn | 2002–04 | Defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| Mack Brown | Texas | 2005–06 | Co-defensive coordinator, assistant head coach and linebackers coach | |
| Larry Fedora | North Carolina | 2015–16 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Mack Brown | North Carolina | 2022–23 | Assistant head coach and defensive coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (10)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robert McFarland | Iowa State, 2007–08: offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | Stephen F. Austin | |
| Travis Pearson | Iowa State, 2007–08: director of football operations | Alabama State | |
| Casey Woods | Auburn, 2009–11: offensive quality control coach | Missouri State | |
| Gus Malzahn | Auburn, 2009–11: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Arkansas State, Auburn, UCF | |
| Rhett Lashlee | Auburn, 2009–10: graduate assistant | SMU | |
| Ted Roof | Auburn, 2009–11: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Duke | |
| Trooper Taylor | Auburn, 2009–12: assistant head coach and wide receivers coach | Duke | |
| Eli Drinkwitz | Auburn, 2010–11: quality control coach | App State, Missouri | |
| Brian VanGorder | Auburn, 2012: defensive coordinator | Wayne State (MI), Georgia Southern | |
| Scot Loeffler | Auburn, 2012: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Bowling Green |
Other assistants under him (8)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Tony Petersen | Iowa State, 2007–08: quarterbacks coach | |
| Wayne Bolt | Iowa State, 2007–08: defensive coordinator; Auburn, 2009–12: director of football | |
| Curtis Luper | Auburn, 2009–12: running backs coach | |
| Jeff Grimes | Auburn, 2009–12: offensive line coach | |
| Tommy Thigpen | Auburn, 2009–11: safeties coach; 2012: linebackers coach | |
| Travis Williams | Auburn, 2009–11: graduate assistant | |
| Ryan Pugh | Auburn, 2012: graduate assistant | |
| Willie Martinez | Auburn, 2012: secondary 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.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | North Carolina | defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $46,521 | $279,125 USA Today | |
| 2015 | North Carolina | defensive coordinator | $250,000 USA Today | |
| 2012 | Auburn | head coachbonuses up to $1,200,000 | $3,577,500 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2011 | Auburn | head coachbonuses up to $1,200,000 | $3,500,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2010 | Auburn | head coachbonuses up to $1,500,000 | $2,103,500 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2009 | Auburn | head coachbonuses up to $1,300,000 | $2,050,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2008 | Iowa State | head coach | $1,100,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2007 | Iowa State | head coachbonuses up to $825,000 | $1,025,500 USA Today via Leeds |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
The same USA Today database for 2006–16, from Michael Leeds’ replication data on Harvard Dataverse (CC0): the season’s contract pay.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Chizik’s teams went for it on 16% of fourth downs and on 29% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 43% of plays and took 25.8 seconds a play, 2007–2012.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 12 g | Iowa State | 23 of 109 21% | 33% | 49% | 24.1 | −0.12 | |
| 2008 12 g | Iowa State | 21 of 95 22% | 30% | 54% | 25.5 | −0.02 | |
| 2009 13 g | Auburn | 15 of 95 16% | 33% | 42% | 24.4 | 0.00 | |
| 2010 14 g | Auburn | 8 of 68 12% | 31% | 33% | 25.3 | +0.23 | |
| 2011 13 g | Auburn | 12 of 99 12% | 19% | 39% | 25.6 | −0.06 | |
| 2012 12 g | Auburn | 9 of 90 10% | 26% | 42% | 30.1 | −0.08 | |
| All 76 g | 88 of 556 16% | 29% | 43% | 25.8 | 0.00 |
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.