Joe Novak
Joe Novak went 63–76 as a head coach, 1996–2007, at Northern Illinois. Share
- Record
- 63–76 career
- Seasons
- 12
- Schools
- 1
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 2003 10–2
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Northern Illinois | 1–10 | 6th | |||
| 1997 | Northern Illinois | 0–11 | 6th (West) | |||
| 1998 | Northern Illinois | 2–9 | 5th (West) | |||
| 1999 | Northern Illinois | 5–6 | T–2nd (West) | |||
| 2000 | Northern Illinois | 6–5 | T–3rd (West) | |||
| 2001 | Northern Illinois | 6–5 | T–2nd (West) | |||
| 2002 | Northern Illinois | 8–4 | T–1st (West) | |||
| 2003 | Northern Illinois | 10–2 | T–2nd (West) | |||
| 2004 | Northern Illinois | 9–3 | T–1st (West) | Silicon Valley Football Classic W | ||
| 2005 | Northern Illinois | 7–5 | T–1st (West) | |||
| 2006 | Northern Illinois | 7–6 | T–3rd (West) | Poinsettia Bowl L | ||
| 2007 | Northern Illinois | 2–10 | 6th (West) |
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.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 12 | 2–10 | 17% |
| Against top-10 teams | 4 | 0–4 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 11 | 7–4 | 64% |
| Conference games | 85 | 47–38 | 55% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 2 | 1–1 | 50% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 47 | 21–26 | 45% |
| At home | 66 | 37–29 | 56% |
| On the road | 69 | 25–44 | 36% |
| At neutral sites | 4 | 1–3 | 25% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 70 | 48–22 | 69% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 69 | 15–54 | 22% |
His own 139 games on file, 1996–2007, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gary Darnell 1997–2004 | 4–4 | Western Michigan | 8 | |
| Tom Amstutz 2001–2007 | 1–6 | Toledo | 7 | |
| Bill Lynch 1997–2002 | 4–2 | Ball State | 6 | |
| Brady Hoke 2003–2007 | 3–2 | Ball State | 5 | |
| Mike DeBord 2000–2003 | 4–0 | Central Michigan | 4 | |
| Jeff Genyk 2004–2007 | 3–1 | Eastern Michigan | 4 | |
| Jim Grobe 1997–2002 | 1–3 | Ohio, Wake Forest | 4 | |
| Gary Pinkel 1997–2000 | 0–4 | Toledo | 4 | |
| Randy Walker 1997–2005 | 0–4 | Miami (OH), Northwestern | 4 | |
| Brian Kelly 2004–2006 | 3–0 | Central Michigan | 3 |
Joe Novak’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Central Michiganseries | 11 | 9–2 |
| Eastern Michiganseries | 11 | 8–3 |
| Ball Stateseries | 11 | 7–4 |
| Western Michiganseries | 11 | 5–6 |
| Toledoseries | 11 | 1–10 |
| Kent Stateseries | 5 | 4–1 |
| Miami (OH)series | 5 | 3–2 |
| Bowling Greenseries | 5 | 2–3 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972–73 | Warren Western Reserve (OH) high school | Head coach | |
| 1974–76 | Miami (OH) | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 1977–79 | Illinois | Defensive line coach | |
| 1980–83 | Northern Illinois | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 1984–95 | Indiana | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 1996–2007 | Northern Illinois | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Dick CrumMiami (OH)
- Gary MoellerIllinois
- Bill MalloryNorthern Illinois, Indiana
Assistants who became head coaches
- Scott ShaferSyracuse
- Matt CanadaMaryland
- Pat NarduzziPittsburgh
- Mike UremovichBall State, St. Francis (IL), Butler
- Bill BleilWestern Carolina
- Sam PittmanArkansas, Hutchinson
- John HauserOhio
- Thomas HammockNorthern Illinois
- Alex GoleshSouth Florida, Auburn
- Brandon StaleyLos Angeles Chargers
- P.J. FleckWestern Michigan, Minnesota
Worked under (3)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dick Crum | Miami (OH) | 1974–76 | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Gary Moeller | Illinois | 1977–79 | Defensive line coach | |
| Bill Mallory | Northern Illinois | 1980–83 | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Bill Mallory | Indiana | 1984–95 | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (11)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Shafer | Northern Illinois, 1996–99: defensive backs coach; 2000–03: defensive coordinator | Syracuse | |
| Matt Canada | Northern Illinois, 1998–2000: running backs coach; 2001–02: quarterbacks coach; 2003: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Maryland | |
| Pat Narduzzi | Northern Illinois, 2000–02: linebackers coach | Pittsburgh | |
| Mike Uremovich | Northern Illinois, 2001–03: graduate assistant | Ball State, St. Francis (IL), Butler | |
| Bill Bleil | Northern Illinois, 2003: tight ends coach | Western Carolina | |
| Sam Pittman | Northern Illinois, 2003: offensive line coach; 2004–06: assistant head coach and offensive line coach | Arkansas, Hutchinson | |
| John Hauser | Northern Illinois, 2004–05: graduate assistant; 2006–07: defensive backs coach | Ohio | |
| Thomas Hammock | Northern Illinois, 2005–06: running backs coach | Northern Illinois | |
| Alex Golesh | Northern Illinois, 2006–07: graduate assistant | South Florida, Auburn | |
| Brandon Staley | Northern Illinois, 2006–07: graduate assistant | Los Angeles Chargers | |
| P.J. Fleck | Northern Illinois, 2007: wide receivers coach | Western Michigan, Minnesota |
Other assistants under him (7)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Mike Mallory | Northern Illinois, 1996–99: defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| Dan Roushar | Northern Illinois, 1997: offensive line coach; 1998–2002: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| George McDonald | Northern Illinois, 2001–03: wide receivers coach | |
| Denny Doornbos | Northern Illinois, 2004–07: defensive coordinator | |
| John Bond | Northern Illinois, 2004–06: offensive coordinator | |
| Chris Beatty | Northern Illinois, 2007: running backs coach | |
| Roy Wittke | Northern Illinois, 2007: 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
Novak’s teams went for it on 18% of fourth downs and on 37% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 48% of plays and took 25.5 seconds a play, 2004–2007.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 3 g | 7 of 27 26% | 46% | 41% | 26.1 | −0.05 | |
| 2005 10 g | 5 of 63 8% | 20% | 44% | 26.3 | +0.13 | |
| 2006 13 g | 21 of 102 21% | 44% | 50% | 26.4 | −0.06 | |
| 2007 8 g | 15 of 69 22% | 35% | 51% | 22.8 | −0.11 | |
| All 34 g | 48 of 261 18% | 37% | 48% | 25.5 | −0.02 |
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.