Matt Entz
Matt Entz went 73–18 as a head coach, 2019–2026, at North Dakota State and Fresno State. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 4–2); by them his record is 73–17. Share
Five seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 2019–23 at North Dakota State. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 73–18 career
- Seasons
- 7
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Alma mater
- Wartburg 1995
- Best season
- 2025 9–4
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | North Dakota State * | 16–0 | 1st | NCAA Division I Championship W | 1 | |
| 2020 | North Dakota State * | 7–3 | 4th | NCAA Division I Quarterfinal L | 6 | |
| 2021 | North Dakota State * | 14–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I Championship W | 1 | |
| 2022 | North Dakota State * | 12–3 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Championship L | 2 | |
| 2023 | North Dakota State * | 11–4 | T–3rd | NCAA Division I Semifinal L | 3 | |
| 2024: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2025 | Fresno State | 9–4 | T–5th | Arizona Bowl W | ||
| 2026 | Fresno State | 4–3 (Wikipedia: 4–2) | ||||
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 | 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 8 | 5–3 | 63% |
| Conference games | 11 | 6–5 | 55% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 1 | 1–0 | 100% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 4 | 2–2 | 50% |
| At home | 9 | 6–3 | 67% |
| On the road | 10 | 6–4 | 60% |
| At neutral sites | 1 | 1–0 | 100% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 16 | 11–5 | 69% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 4 | 2–2 | 50% |
His own 20 games on file, 2025–2026, 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.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| San José Stateseries | 2 | 2–0 |
| Boise Stateseries | 2 | 1–1 |
| San Diego Stateseries | 2 | 0–2 |
| Sacramento Stateseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Hawai’iseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Miami (OH)series | 1 | 1–0 |
| Oregon Stateseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Riceseries | 1 | 1–0 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Illinois College | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1999–2001 | Wayne State (NE) | Assistant head coach and linebackers coach | |
| 2002–09 | Winona State | Assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 2010–11 | Northern Iowa | Defensive line coach | |
| 2012 | Northern Iowa | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2013 | Western Illinois | Assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and defensive line coach | |
| 2014–18 | North Dakota State | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 2019–23 | North Dakota State | Head coach | |
| 2024 | USC | Assistant head coach and linebackers coach | |
| 2025–present | Fresno State | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Chris KliemanNorth Dakota State
- Lincoln RileyUSC
Assistants who became head coaches
- Dan LarsonWisconsin Eau Claire
- David BraunNorthwestern
Worked under (2)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Klieman | North Dakota State | 2014–18 | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Lincoln Riley | USC | 2024 | Assistant head coach and linebackers coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (2)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dan Larson | North Dakota State, 2019–20: running backs coach; 2021–23: offensive line coach | Wisconsin Eau Claire | |
| David Braun | North Dakota State, 2019–22: defensive coordinator and safeties coach | Northwestern |
Other assistants under him (5)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Tyler Roehl | North Dakota State, 2019–23: offensive coordinator, tight ends coach and fullbacks coach | |
| Brian Ferentz | Fresno State, 2025: tight ends coach; 2026: offensive line coach | |
| Josh Davis | Fresno State, 2025–26: offensive coordinator | |
| Nick Benedetto | Fresno State, 2025–26: defensive coordinator | |
| Adam Breske | Fresno State, 2026: co-defensive 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
Entz’s teams went for it on 20% of fourth downs and on 35% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 48% of plays and took 28.6 seconds a play, 2025–2026.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 13 g | 23 of 100 23% | 41% | 47% | 28.9 | −0.05 | |
| 2026 7 g | 7 of 47 15% | 24% | 51% | 28.2 | +0.08 | |
| All 20 g | 30 of 147 20% | 35% | 48% | 28.6 | 0.00 |
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.