Jim Hofher
Jim Hofher went 53–84 as a head coach, 1990–2005, at Cornell and Buffalo. Share
Eight seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1990–97 at Cornell. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 53–84 career
- Seasons
- 13
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 2001 3–8
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Cornell * | 7–3 | T–1st | |||
| 1991 | Cornell * | 5–5 | T–3rd | |||
| 1992 | Cornell * | 7–3 | 4th | |||
| 1993 | Cornell * | 4–6 | T–4th | |||
| 1994 | Cornell * | 6–4 | T–4th | |||
| 1995 | Cornell * | 6–4 | T–2nd | |||
| 1996 | Cornell * | 4–6 | T–3rd | |||
| 1997 | Cornell * | 6–4 | T–3rd | |||
| 1998–00: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2001 | Buffalo | 3–8 | T–6th (East) | |||
| 2002 | Buffalo | 1–11 | 7th (East) | |||
| 2003 | Buffalo | 1–11 | T–6th (East) | |||
| 2004 | Buffalo | 2–9 | T–5th (East) | |||
| 2005 | Buffalo | 1–10 | 5th (East) | |||
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 | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 7 | 2–5 | 29% |
| Conference games | 40 | 5–35 | 13% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 8 | 2–6 | 25% |
| At home | 27 | 4–23 | 15% |
| On the road | 30 | 4–26 | 13% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 3 | 0–3 | 0% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 54 | 8–46 | 15% |
His own 57 games on file, 2001–2005, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Randy Edsall 2001–2005 | 1–4 | UConn | 5 | |
| Brian Knorr 2001–2004 | 2–2 | Ohio | 4 | |
| Greg Schiano 2001–2005 | 1–3 | Rutgers | 4 | |
| Bob Pruett 2001–2004 | 0–4 | Marshall | 4 | |
| Terry Hoeppner 2001–2004 | 0–4 | Miami (OH) | 4 | |
| Dean Pees 2001–2003 | 0–3 | Kent State | 3 | |
| Lee Owens 2001–2003 | 0–3 | Akron | 3 |
Jim Hofher’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ohioseries | 5 | 2–3 |
| UConnseries | 5 | 1–4 |
| Kent Stateseries | 5 | 1–4 |
| Miami (OH)series | 5 | 0–5 |
| Akronseries | 5 | 0–5 |
| Rutgersseries | 4 | 1–3 |
| Marshallseries | 4 | 0–4 |
| UCFseries | 3 | 1–2 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979–80 | Wake Forest | Graduate assistant | |
| 1981–82 | Miami (OH) | Quarterbacks and wide receivers coach | |
| 1983–86 | Wake Forest | Running backs coach | |
| 1987–88 | Syracuse | Running backs coach | |
| 1989 | Tennessee | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 1990–97 | Cornell | Head coach | |
| 1998–99 | North Carolina | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2000 | Syracuse | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2001–05 | Buffalo | Head coach | |
| 2008 | Bowling Green | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2009–12 | Delaware | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2013–15 | Nevada | Assistant head coach and wide receivers coach | |
| 2016–17 | Iowa State | Passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2019 | Atlanta Legends AAF | Quarterbacks and wide receivers coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- John MackovicWake Forest
- Tom ReedMiami (OH)
- Al GrohWake Forest
- Dick MacPhersonSyracuse
- Johnny MajorsTennessee
- Carl TorbushNorth Carolina
- Paul PasqualoniSyracuse
- Gregg BrandonBowling Green
- K.C. KeelerDelaware
- Brian PolianNevada
- Matt CampbellIowa State
- Kevin CoyleAtlanta Legends
Assistants who became head coaches
- Andre PattersonCal Poly
- Jim KnowlesCornell
- Bruce BarnumPortland State
- Brian PolianNevada, John Carroll
- Andy RondeauPace
Worked under (12)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Mackovic | Wake Forest | 1979–80 | Graduate assistant | |
| Tom Reed | Miami (OH) | 1981–82 | Quarterbacks and wide receivers coach | |
| Al Groh | Wake Forest | 1983–86 | Running backs coach | |
| Dick MacPherson | Syracuse | 1987–88 | Running backs coach | |
| Johnny Majors | Tennessee | 1989 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Carl Torbush | North Carolina | 1998–99 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Paul Pasqualoni | Syracuse | 2000 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Gregg Brandon | Bowling Green | 2008 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| K.C. Keeler | Delaware | 2009–12 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Brian Polian | Nevada | 2013–15 | Assistant head coach and wide receivers coach | |
| Matt Campbell | Iowa State | 2016–17 | Passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Kevin Coyle | Atlanta Legends pro | 2019 | Quarterbacks and wide receivers coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (5)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andre Patterson | Cornell, 1990–91: defensive line coach | Cal Poly | |
| Jim Knowles | Cornell, 1990–94: running backs coach; 1995–96: linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator | Cornell | |
| Bruce Barnum | Cornell, 1991–92: offensive line coach | Portland State | |
| Brian Polian | Buffalo, 2001–03: running backs and special teams coach | Nevada, John Carroll | |
| Andy Rondeau | Buffalo, 2004–05: assistant defensive coordinator and safeties coach | Pace |
Other assistants under him (2)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Bill Lazor | Cornell, 1994–97: offensive assistant; Buffalo, 2001–02: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Roy Istvan | Buffalo, 2001–03: running game coordinator and offensive line coach; 2004–05: offensive coordinator |
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
Hofher’s teams went for it on 16% of fourth downs and on 25% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 51% of plays and took 26.1 seconds a play, 2004–2005.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 2 g | 1 of 24 4% | 0% | 45% | 23.0 | −0.42 | |
| 2005 10 g | 19 of 102 19% | 32% | 52% | 26.7 | −0.25 | |
| All 12 g | 20 of 126 16% | 25% | 51% | 26.1 | −0.28 |
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.