Lee Owens
Lee Owens went 177–122 as a head coach, 1995–2022, at Akron and Ashland. Share
18 seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 2004–19, 2021–22 at Ashland. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 177–122 career
- Seasons
- 27
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 1999 7–4
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Akron | 2–9 | T–7th | |||
| 1996 | Akron | 4–7 | T–6th | |||
| 1997 | Akron | 2–9 | 6th (East) | |||
| 1998 | Akron | 4–7 | 5th (East) | |||
| 1999 | Akron | 7–4 | T–3rd (East) | |||
| 2000 | Akron | 6–5 | T–1st (East) | |||
| 2001 | Akron | 4–7 | 5th (East) | |||
| 2002 | Akron | 4–8 | 5th (East) | |||
| 2003 | Akron | 7–5 | 3rd (East) | |||
| 2004 | Ashland * | 5–6 | T–7th | |||
| 2005 | Ashland * | 9–2 | 3rd | |||
| 2006 | Ashland * | 4–6 | 9th | |||
| 2007 | Ashland * | 8–2 | 2nd | NCAA Division II First Round L | 22 | |
| 2008 | Ashland * | 9–4 | 2nd | NCAA Division II Second Round L | 15 | |
| 2009 | Ashland * | 6–5 | T–5th | |||
| 2010 | Ashland * | 8–3 | 3rd (South) | |||
| 2011 | Ashland * | 6–5 | T–3rd (South) | |||
| 2012 | Ashland * | 11–1 | 1st (South) | NCAA Division II Second Round L | 9 | |
| 2013 | Ashland * | 5–5 | 3rd (South) | |||
| 2014 | Ashland * | 8–2 | 2nd (South) | |||
| 2015 | Ashland * | 10–1 | 1st (South) | NCAA Division II First Round L | 10 | |
| 2016 | Ashland * | 9–2 | 1st (South) | 19 | ||
| 2017 | Ashland * | 11–2 | 1st | NCAA Division II Second Round L | 10 | |
| 2018 | Ashland * | 6–4 | 3rd | |||
| 2019 | Ashland * | 7–4 | 3rd | |||
| 2020: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2021 | Ashland * | 5–5 | T–4th | |||
| 2022 | Ashland * | 10–2 | 1st | NCAA Division II Second Round L | 13 | |
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
Dwight SmithConsensus All‑American, 2000
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 | 8 | 0–8 | 0% |
| Against top-10 teams | 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 10 | 7–3 | 70% |
| Conference games | 74 | 32–42 | 43% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 33 | 16–17 | 48% |
| At home | 45 | 27–18 | 60% |
| On the road | 56 | 13–43 | 23% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 41 | 30–11 | 73% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 60 | 10–50 | 17% |
His own 101 games on file, 1995–2003, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dean Pees 1998–2003 | 5–1 | Kent State | 6 | |
| Gary Blackney 1995–2000 | 3–3 | Bowling Green | 6 | |
| Jim Grobe 1995–2000 | 2–4 | Ohio | 6 | |
| Bob Pruett 1997–2003 | 1–5 | Marshall | 6 | |
| Rick Rasnick 1995–1999 | 1–4 | Eastern Michigan | 5 | |
| Terry Hoeppner 1999–2003 | 1–4 | Miami (OH) | 5 | |
| Dick Flynn 1995–1998 | 2–2 | Central Michigan | 4 | |
| Mike Kruczek 2000–2003 | 2–2 | UCF | 4 | |
| Randy Walker 1995–1998 | 1–3 | Miami (OH) | 4 | |
| Gary Pinkel 1995–1998 | 0–4 | Toledo | 4 |
Lee Owens’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kent Stateseries | 9 | 7–2 |
| Ohioseries | 9 | 4–5 |
| Miami (OH)series | 9 | 2–7 |
| Eastern Michiganseries | 8 | 3–5 |
| Bowling Greenseries | 7 | 3–4 |
| Central Michiganseries | 7 | 3–4 |
| Marshallseries | 6 | 1–5 |
| Buffaloseries | 5 | 5–0 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Waynesfield-Goshen HS (OH) high school | Assistant coach | |
| 1978–80 | Ashland Crestview HS (OH) high school | Assistant coach | |
| 1981–82 | Ashland Crestview HS (OH) high school | Head coach | |
| 1983–86 | Galion HS (OH) high school | Head coach | |
| 1987 | Lancaster HS (OH) high school | Head coach | |
| 1988–91 | Massillon Washington HS (OH) high school | Head coach | |
| 1992–94 | Ohio State | Tight ends and offensive tackles coach | |
| 1995–2003 | Akron | Head coach | |
| 2004–22 | Ashland | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- John CooperOhio State
Assistants who became head coaches
- Joe PalmisanoMalone
- Paul WintersWayne State (MI)
- Luke FickellOhio State, Cincinnati, Wisconsin
- Dick FlynnCentral Michigan
- Mike BathMiami (OH)
- Tim RoseMiami (OH)
Worked under (1)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Cooper | Ohio State | 1992–94 | Tight ends and offensive tackles coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (6)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Palmisano | Akron, 1995–96: wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator; 1997: defensive backs coach; 1998–2000: defensive coordinator | Malone | |
| Paul Winters | Akron, 1995–2003: offensive coordinator and running backs coach | Wayne State (MI) | |
| Luke Fickell | Akron, 2000–01: defensive line coach | Ohio State, Cincinnati, Wisconsin | |
| Dick Flynn | Akron, 2002–03: linebackers coach | Central Michigan | |
| Mike Bath | Ashland, 2009–10: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks and wide receivers coach | Miami (OH) | |
| Tim Rose | Ashland, 2009–22: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Miami (OH) |
Other assistants under him (6)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| David Snowball | Akron, 1995–97: defensive coordinator | |
| Joe Tresey | Akron, 2002–03: defensive coordinator | |
| Steve Clinkscale | Ashland, 2004–06: defensive backs coach; 2007: linebackers coach | |
| Joey Lynch | Ashland, 2008: offensive coordinator | |
| Taylor Housewright | Ashland, 2016–17: wide receivers coach | |
| Charlie Frye | Ashland, 2018: wide receivers 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.