Herb McCracken
Herb McCracken went 19–29–5 as a head coach in the games on file: 1924 at Lafayette, 1925 at Lafayette, 1926 at Lafayette, 1927 at Lafayette, 1928 at Lafayette, 1929 at Lafayette, 1930 at Lafayette, 1931 at Lafayette, 1932 at Lafayette, 1933 at Lafayette, 1934 at Lafayette and 1935 at Lafayette. His full head-coaching career isn’t in our records. His 1926 Lafayette team claims the national title. Wikipedia’s season articles record nine seasons differently (1924, 7–2, 1925, 7–1–1, 1926, 9–0, 1928, 6–1–2, 1929, 3–5, 1930, 5–3–1, 1931, 7–2, 1934, 2–6 and 1935, 2–7); by them his record is 59–40–6. Share
- Record
- 19–29–5 games on file
- Seasons
- 12
- Schools
- 1
- National titles
- 1 claimed: 1926
- Hall of Fame
- 1973 inducted
- Best season
- 1926 2–0
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1924 | Lafayette | 2–1 (Wikipedia: 7–2) | ||
| 1925 | Lafayette | 1–1–1 (Wikipedia: 7–1–1) | ||
| 1926 | Lafayette | 2–0 (Wikipedia: 9–0) | ||
| 1927 | Lafayette | 5–3–1 | ||
| 1928 | Lafayette | 1–1–1 (Wikipedia: 6–1–2) | ||
| 1929 | Lafayette | 0–2 (Wikipedia: 3–5) | ||
| 1930 | Lafayette | 0–3–1 (Wikipedia: 5–3–1) | ||
| 1931 | Lafayette | 2–2 (Wikipedia: 7–2) | ||
| 1932 | Lafayette | 3–5 | ||
| 1933 | Lafayette | 3–5–1 | ||
| 1934 | Lafayette | 0–3 (Wikipedia: 2–6) | ||
| 1935 | Lafayette | 0–3 (Wikipedia: 2–7) |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against rivals | 5 | 3–2 | 60% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 20 | 3–12–5 | 28% |
| At home | 21 | 12–7–2 | 62% |
| On the road | 32 | 7–22–3 | 27% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 25 | 15–6–4 | 68% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 28 | 4–23–1 | 16% |
His own 53 games on file, 1924–1935, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Kerr 1926–1935 | 1–5–2 | Washington & Jefferson, Colgate | 8 | |
| Harvey Harman 1931–1935 | 0–4 | Pennsylvania | 4 | |
| Jock Sutherland 1924–1926 | 3–0 | Pittsburgh | 3 | |
| Hugo Bezdek 1927–1929 | 1–2 | Penn State | 3 | |
| Bob Higgins 1930–1934 | 1–1–1 | Penn State | 3 |
Herb McCracken’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Washington & Jeffersonseries | 9 | 3–5–1 |
| Penn Stateseries | 6 | 2–3–1 |
| Colgateseries | 6 | 0–4–2 |
| Pennsylvaniaseries | 5 | 0–5 |
| Pittsburghseries | 3 | 3–0 |
| Lehighseries | 3 | 3–0 |
| Muhlenbergseries | 3 | 3–0 |
| Rutgersseries | 3 | 1–2 |