Jack Bicknell
Jack Bicknell went 77–90–2 as a head coach, 1976–1990, at Maine and Boston College. Share
Five seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1976–80 at Maine. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 77–90–2 career
- Seasons
- 15
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 1 season
- Best season
- 1984 10–2, No. 5
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Maine * | 6–5 | T–3rd | |||
| 1977 | Maine * | 3–7 | T–3rd | |||
| 1978 | Maine * | 3–7–1 | 6th | |||
| 1979 | Maine * | 2–9 | 6th | |||
| 1980 | Maine * | 4–7 | 5th | |||
| 1981 | Boston College | 5–6 | ||||
| 1982 | Boston College | 8–3–1 | Tangerine Bowl L | |||
| 1983 | Boston College | 9–3 | Liberty Bowl L | 19 | ||
| 1984 | Boston College | 10–2 | Cotton Bowl W | 5 | ||
| 1985 | Boston College | 4–8 | ||||
| 1986 | Boston College | 9–3 | Hall of Fame Bowl W | 19 | ||
| 1987 | Boston College | 5–6 | ||||
| 1988 | Boston College | 3–8 | ||||
| 1989 | Boston College | 2–9 | ||||
| 1990 | Boston College | 4–7 |
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
Mike Ruth1985 Outland Trophy- Tony ThurmanConsensus All‑American, 1984
- Joe WolfNo. 17 pick, 1989
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 | 31 | 5–25–1 | 18% |
| Against top-10 teams | 13 | 1–12 | 8% |
| Against rivals | 22 | 12–9–1 | 57% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 4 | 2–2 | 50% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 44 | 22–21–1 | 51% |
| At home | 54 | 31–23 | 57% |
| On the road | 54 | 24–29–1 | 45% |
| At neutral sites | 7 | 4–3 | 57% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 59 | 41–18 | 69% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 56 | 18–37–1 | 33% |
His own 115 games on file, 1981–1990, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dick MacPherson 1981–1990 | 3–7 | Syracuse | 10 | |
| Don Nehlen 1981–1990 | 2–8 | West Virginia | 10 | |
| Joe Paterno 1981–1990 | 1–9 | Penn State | 10 | |
| Jim Young 1983–1990 | 7–1 | Army | 8 | |
| Bruce Arians 1983–1988 | 5–1 | Temple | 6 | |
| Dick Anderson 1984–1989 | 2–4 | Rutgers | 6 | |
| Frank Burns 1981–1983 | 3–0 | Rutgers | 3 | |
| Mike Gottfried 1987–1989 | 2–1 | Pittsburgh | 3 | |
| Bobby Ross 1985–1989 | 1–2 | Maryland, Georgia Tech | 3 | |
| Howard Schnellenberger 1986–1990 | 1–2 | Louisville | 3 |
Jack Bicknell’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Armyseries | 10 | 9–1 |
| Rutgersseries | 10 | 6–4 |
| Syracuseseries | 10 | 3–7 |
| West Virginiaseries | 10 | 2–8 |
| Penn Stateseries | 10 | 1–9 |
| Templeseries | 9 | 7–2 |
| Holy Crossseries | 6 | 6–0 |
| Pittsburghseries | 6 | 3–3 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Governor Livingston HS (NJ) high school | Head coach | |
| 1968–75 | Boston College | Backfield coach | |
| 1976–80 | Maine | Head coach | |
| 1981–90 | Boston College | Head coach | |
| 1991–2003 | Barcelona Dragons NFL Europe | Head coach | |
| 2004 | Scottish Claymores NFL Europe | Head coach | |
| 2005–07 | Hamburg Sea Devils NFL Europe | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Joseph YukicaBoston College
Assistants who became head coaches
- Gerry DiNardoVanderbilt, LSU, Indiana, Birmingham Thunderbolts
- Jack CosgroveMaine, Colby
- Tom CoughlinBoston College, RIT, Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants
- Jack Bicknell Jr.Louisiana Tech
- Bobby WilderOld Dominion, Tennessee Tech
- Dick CurlTrenton State, Frankfurt Galaxy
- Peter VaasAllegheny, Holy Cross, Berlin Thunder, Cologne Centurions
- Rick LantzNavy, Berlin Thunder, Rhein Fire
Worked under (1)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph Yukica | Boston College | 1968–75 | Backfield coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (8)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gerry DiNardo | Maine, 1976: graduate assistant and assistant defensive line coach | Vanderbilt, LSU, Indiana, Birmingham Thunderbolts | |
| Jack Cosgrove | Maine, 1978–80: graduate assistant; Boston College, 1985–86: offensive assistant | Maine, Colby | |
| Tom Coughlin | Boston College, 1981–83: quarterbacks coach | Boston College, RIT, Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants | |
| Jack Bicknell Jr. | Boston College, 1986: graduate assistant | Louisiana Tech | |
| Bobby Wilder | Boston College, 1988–89: graduate assistant | Old Dominion, Tennessee Tech | |
| Dick Curl | Boston College, 1990: quarterbacks coach; Barcelona Dragons, 1991–97: offensive coordinator | Trenton State, Frankfurt Galaxy | |
| Peter Vaas | Barcelona Dragons, 1998–99: quarterbacks and wide receivers coach | Allegheny, Holy Cross, Berlin Thunder, Cologne Centurions | |
| Rick Lantz | Barcelona Dragons, 2003: linebackers coach | Navy, Berlin Thunder, Rhein Fire |
Other assistants under him (2)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Seymour “Red” Kelin | Boston College, 1981–90: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach; Barcelona Dragons, 1991–2001: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Ron Hudson | Hamburg Sea Devils, 2007: 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.