Jimmy Kitts
Jimmy Kitts went 65–52–9 as a head coach, 1924–1947, at Dallas, Rice, Virginia Tech and Ottumwa NAS. Share
Four seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1924–25 at Dallas; 1943–44 at Ottumwa NAS. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 65–52–9 career
- Seasons
- 13
- Schools
- 4
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 1937 6–3–2, No. 18
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1924 | Dallas * | 4–3–1 | ||||
| 1925 | Dallas * | 7–2–1 | ||||
| 1926–33: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1934 | Rice | 9–1–1 | 1st | |||
| 1935 | Rice | 8–3 | T–3rd | |||
| 1936 | Rice | 5–7 | T–6th | |||
| 1937 | Rice | 6–3–2 | 1st | Cotton Bowl W | 18 | |
| 1938 | Rice | 4–6 | 4th | |||
| 1939 | Rice | 1–9–1 | 7th | |||
| 1940: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1941 | Virginia Tech | 6–4 | T–5th | |||
| 1942: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1943 | Ottumwa NAS * | 5–1 | ||||
| 1944 | Ottumwa NAS * | 3–4 | ||||
| 1945: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1946 | Virginia Tech | 3–4–3 | T–7th | Sun Bowl L | ||
| 1947 | Virginia Tech | 4–5 | 8th | |||
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
Olie CordillNo. 5 pick, 1940
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 7 | 4–3 | 57% |
| Against top-10 teams | 3 | 0–3 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 25 | 11–12–2 | 48% |
| Conference games | 57 | 27–26–4 | 51% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 2 | 1–1 | 50% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 43 | 17–19–7 | 48% |
| At home | 45 | 24–16–5 | 59% |
| On the road | 39 | 16–21–2 | 44% |
| At neutral sites | 11 | 6–5 | 55% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 47 | 31–13–3 | 69% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 48 | 15–29–4 | 35% |
His own 95 games on file, 1934–1947, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fred Thomsen 1934–1939 | 4–1–1 | Arkansas | 6 | |
| Homer Norton 1934–1939 | 2–3–1 | Texas A&M | 6 | |
| Morley Jennings 1934–1939 | 2–4 | Baylor | 6 | |
| Dutch Meyer 1934–1939 | 0–6 | TCU | 6 | |
| Madison Bell 1935–1939 | 2–3 | SMU | 5 | |
| Bernie Moore 1935–1939 | 1–4 | LSU | 5 | |
| Jack Chevigny 1934–1936 | 3–0 | Texas | 3 | |
| Dana Bible 1937–1939 | 2–1 | Texas | 3 |
Jimmy Kitts’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Texasseries | 6 | 5–1 |
| Arkansasseries | 6 | 4–1–1 |
| SMUseries | 6 | 3–3 |
| Baylorseries | 6 | 2–4 |
| Texas A&Mseries | 6 | 2–3–1 |
| LSUseries | 6 | 1–4–1 |
| TCUseries | 6 | 0–6 |
| Washington and Leeseries | 3 | 3–0 |
Other roles
- Team captain, SMU 1921
From each season’s Wikipedia article.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1924–25 | Dallas | Head coach | |
| 1926–29 | Athens HS (TX) high school | Head coach | |
| 1931–33 | Rice | Freshman coach | |
| 1934–39 | Rice | Head coach | |
| 1941 | VPI | Head coach | |
| 1943–44 | Ottumwa NAS service team | Head coach | |
| 1946–47 | VPI | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Jack MeagherRice
Assistants who became head coaches
- Gene McEverDavidson, North Carolina
Worked under (1)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Meagher | Rice | 1931–33 | Freshman coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (1)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gene McEver | Virginia Tech, 1946–47: backfield coach | Davidson, North Carolina |
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.