John Bonamego
John Bonamego went 22–29 as a head coach, 2015–2018, at Central Michigan. Share
- Record
- 22–29 career
- Seasons
- 4
- Schools
- 1
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Aug 14, 1963
- Alma mater
- Central Michigan 1987
- Best season
- 2017 8–5
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Central Michigan | 7–6 | T–1st (West) | Quick Lane Bowl L | ||
| 2016 | Central Michigan | 6–7 | 5th (West) | Miami Beach Bowl L | ||
| 2017 | Central Michigan | 8–5 | T–2nd (West) | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl L | ||
| 2018 | Central Michigan | 1–11 | 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 | 3 | 1–2 | 33% |
| Against top-10 teams | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 8 | 3–5 | 38% |
| Conference games | 32 | 15–17 | 47% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 3 | 0–3 | 0% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 20 | 11–9 | 55% |
| At home | 23 | 12–11 | 52% |
| On the road | 25 | 10–15 | 40% |
| At neutral sites | 3 | 0–3 | 0% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 25 | 14–11 | 56% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 26 | 8–18 | 31% |
His own 51 games on file, 2015–2018, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rod Carey 2015–2018 | 3–1 | Northern Illinois | 4 | |
| Chris Creighton 2015–2018 | 2–2 | Eastern Michigan | 4 | |
| Paul Haynes 2015–2017 | 2–1 | Kent State | 3 | |
| Mike Neu 2016–2018 | 2–1 | Ball State | 3 | |
| Jason Candle 2016–2018 | 0–3 | Toledo | 3 |
John Bonamego’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ball Stateseries | 4 | 3–1 |
| Northern Illinoisseries | 4 | 3–1 |
| Eastern Michiganseries | 4 | 2–2 |
| Western Michiganseries | 4 | 1–3 |
| Toledoseries | 4 | 0–4 |
| Kent Stateseries | 3 | 2–1 |
| Ohioseries | 2 | 2–0 |
| Oklahoma Stateseries | 2 | 1–1 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Mount Pleasant HS (MI) high school | Assistant coach | |
| 1988–91 | Maine | Assistant coach | |
| 1992 | Lehigh | Assistant coach | |
| 1993–98 | Army | Assistant coach | |
| 1999–2001 | Jacksonville Jaguars NFL | Assistant special teams coach | |
| 2002 | Jacksonville Jaguars NFL | Special teams coordinator | |
| 2003–05 | Green Bay Packers NFL | Special teams coordinator | |
| 2006–07 | New Orleans Saints NFL | Special teams coordinator | |
| 2008–10 | Miami Dolphins NFL | Special teams coordinator | |
| 2011 | New Orleans Saints NFL | Assistant special teams coach | |
| 2012 | Jacksonville Jaguars NFL | Special teams coordinator | |
| 2013–14 | Detroit Lions NFL | Special teams coordinator | |
| 2015–18 | Central Michigan | Head coach | |
| 2019 | Detroit Lions NFL | Special teams coordinator | |
| 2020 | Los Angeles Rams NFL | Special teams coordinator | |
| 2021 | Los Angeles Rams NFL | Senior coaching assistant | |
| 2022–23 | Iowa State | Senior special teams assistant | |
| 2025–present | Tennessee | Special teams assistant |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Tim MurphyMaine
- Tom LichtenbergMaine
- Kirk FerentzMaine
- Hank SmallLehigh
- Bob SuttonArmy
- Tom CoughlinJacksonville Jaguars
- Mike ShermanGreen Bay Packers
- Jim CaldwellDetroit Lions
- Matt PatriciaDetroit Lions
- Matt CampbellIowa State
- Josh HeupelTennessee
Assistants who became head coaches
- Greg ColbyMillersville
- Morris WattsMichigan State
- Sherrone MooreMichigan
- Chris OstrowskyNorthern Michigan
- Cory HallOregon State
Worked under (11)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Murphy | Maine | 1988 | Assistant coach | |
| Tom Lichtenberg | Maine | 1989 | Assistant coach | |
| Kirk Ferentz | Maine | 1990–91 | Assistant coach | |
| Hank Small | Lehigh | 1992 | Assistant coach | |
| Bob Sutton | Army | 1993–98 | Assistant coach | |
| Tom Coughlin | Jacksonville Jaguars NFL | 1999–2002 | 1999–2001: assistant special teams coach; 2002: special teams coordinator | |
| Mike Sherman | Green Bay Packers NFL | 2003–05 | Special teams coordinator | |
| Jim Caldwell | Detroit Lions NFL | 2014 | Special teams coordinator | |
| Matt Patricia | Detroit Lions NFL | 2019 | Special teams coordinator | |
| Matt Campbell | Iowa State | 2022–23 | Senior special teams assistant | |
| Josh Heupel | Tennessee | 2025–26 | Special teams assistant |
Coached under him, later head coaches (5)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Colby | Central Michigan, 2015–18: defensive coordinator | Millersville | |
| Morris Watts | Central Michigan, 2015–16: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Michigan State | |
| Sherrone Moore | Central Michigan, 2015–16: tight ends coach; 2017: assistant head coach, tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator | Michigan | |
| Chris Ostrowsky | Central Michigan, 2017–18: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Northern Michigan | |
| Cory Hall | Central Michigan, 2018: defensive backs coach | Oregon State |
Other assistants under him (1)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Gino Guidugli | Central Michigan, 2015–16: running backs 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.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Central Michigan | head coachbonuses up to $330,000; $35,500 in bonuses paid; buyout $400,000 | $545,640 USA Today | |
| 2016 | Central Michigan | head coachbonuses up to $320,000; $43,500 in bonuses paid | $545,940 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Central Michigan | head coachbonuses up to $330,000 | $533,500 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Bonamego’s teams went for it on 14% of fourth downs and on 25% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 55% of plays and took 25.7 seconds a play, 2015–2018.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 12 g | 13 of 94 14% | 23% | 58% | 27.1 | +0.06 | |
| 2016 13 g | 13 of 96 14% | 23% | 58% | 28.5 | +0.01 | |
| 2017 13 g | 19 of 120 16% | 29% | 54% | 23.9 | −0.07 | |
| 2018 12 g | 13 of 118 11% | 24% | 49% | 23.2 | −0.22 | |
| All 50 g | 58 of 428 14% | 25% | 55% | 25.7 | −0.06 |
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.