John Ray
John Ray went 39–39 as a head coach, 1959–1972, at John Carroll and Kentucky. Share
Five seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1959–63 at John Carroll. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 39–39 career
- Seasons
- 9
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 1971 3–8
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | John Carroll * | 7–0 | 1st | |||
| 1960 | John Carroll * | 3–4 | T–3rd | |||
| 1961 | John Carroll * | 5–2 | 2nd | |||
| 1962 | John Carroll * | 7–0 | 1st | |||
| 1963 | John Carroll * | 7–0 | 1st | |||
| 1964–68: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1969 | Kentucky | 2–8 | 9th | |||
| 1970 | Kentucky | 2–9 | 10th | |||
| 1971 | Kentucky | 3–8 | T–8th | |||
| 1972 | Kentucky | 3–8 | T–7th | |||
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 | 18 | 2–16 | 11% |
| Against top-10 teams | 9 | 1–8 | 11% |
| Against rivals | 15 | 2–13 | 13% |
| Conference games | 28 | 4–24 | 14% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 15 | 7–8 | 47% |
| At home | 21 | 7–14 | 33% |
| On the road | 22 | 3–19 | 14% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 5 | 2–3 | 40% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 38 | 8–30 | 21% |
His own 43 games on file, 1969–1972, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Pace 1969–1972 | 2–2 | Vanderbilt | 4 | |
| Charles McClendon 1969–1972 | 0–4 | LSU | 4 | |
| Doug Dickey 1969–1972 | 0–4 | Tennessee, Florida | 4 | |
| Vince Dooley 1969–1972 | 0–4 | Georgia | 4 | |
| John Pont 1969–1972 | 0–3 | Indiana | 3 | |
| Ralph Jordan 1969–1971 | 0–3 | Auburn | 3 | |
| Bill Battle 1970–1972 | 0–3 | Tennessee | 3 |
John Ray’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Vanderbiltseries | 4 | 2–2 |
| Floridaseries | 4 | 0–4 |
| Georgiaseries | 4 | 0–4 |
| LSUseries | 4 | 0–4 |
| Tennesseeseries | 4 | 0–4 |
| Ole Missseries | 3 | 1–2 |
| Auburnseries | 3 | 0–3 |
| Indianaseries | 3 | 0–3 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955–58 | Detroit | Assistant coach | |
| 1959–63 | John Carroll | Head coach | |
| 1964–68 | Notre Dame First Asst. Headcoach in the school’s history. Coached the National championship team in 1966. high school | Head coach | |
| 1969–72 | Kentucky | Head coach | |
| 1973–76 | Buffalo Bills NFL | Defensive coordinator |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Lou SabanBuffalo Bills
Assistants who became head coaches
- Dennis FitzgeraldKent State
- John CooperTulsa, Arizona State, Ohio State
Worked under (1)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lou Saban | Buffalo Bills NFL | 1973–76 | Defensive coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (2)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis Fitzgerald | Kentucky, 1969–70: defensive coordinator | Kent State | |
| John Cooper | Kentucky, 1972: assistant coach | Tulsa, Arizona State, Ohio State |
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.