Paul Wulff
Paul Wulff went 72–104 as a head coach, 2000–2025, at Eastern Washington, Washington State and Cal Poly. Share
11 seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 2000–07 at Eastern Washington; 2023–25 at Cal Poly. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 72–104 career
- Seasons
- 15
- Schools
- 3
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 2011 4–8
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Eastern Washington * | 6–5 | 5th | |||
| 2001 | Eastern Washington * | 7–4 | 5th | |||
| 2002 | Eastern Washington * | 6–5 | 4th | |||
| 2003 | Eastern Washington * | 6–5 | 6th | |||
| 2004 | Eastern Washington * | 9–4 | T–1st | NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal L | ||
| 2005 | Eastern Washington * | 7–5 | T–1st | NCAA Division I-AA First Round L | ||
| 2006 | Eastern Washington * | 3–8 | T–6th | |||
| 2007 | Eastern Washington * | 9–4 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Quarterfinal L | ||
| 2008 | Washington State | 2–11 | 9th | |||
| 2009 | Washington State | 1–11 | 10th | |||
| 2010 | Washington State | 2–10 | 10th | |||
| 2011 | Washington State | 4–8 | 6th (North) | |||
| 2012–22: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2023 | Cal Poly * | 3–8 | 11th | |||
| 2024 | Cal Poly * | 3–8 | 10th | |||
| 2025 | Cal Poly * | 4–8 | T–8th | |||
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 | 12 | 0–12 | 0% |
| Against top-10 teams | 4 | 0–4 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 4 | 1–3 | 25% |
| Conference games | 36 | 4–32 | 11% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 8 | 4–4 | 50% |
| At home | 25 | 7–18 | 28% |
| On the road | 23 | 2–21 | 9% |
| At neutral sites | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 7 | 6–1 | 86% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 42 | 3–39 | 7% |
His own 49 games on file, 2008–2011, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis Erickson 2008–2011 | 1–3 | Arizona State | 4 | |
| Mike Riley 2008–2011 | 1–3 | Oregon State | 4 | |
| Jeff Tedford 2008–2011 | 0–4 | California | 4 | |
| Rick Neuheisel 2008–2011 | 0–4 | UCLA | 4 | |
| Jim Harbaugh 2008–2010 | 0–3 | Stanford | 3 | |
| Mike Stoops 2008–2010 | 0–3 | Arizona | 3 | |
| Chip Kelly 2009–2011 | 0–3 | Oregon | 3 | |
| Steve Sarkisian 2009–2011 | 0–3 | Washington | 3 |
Paul Wulff’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona Stateseries | 4 | 1–3 |
| Oregon Stateseries | 4 | 1–3 |
| Washingtonseries | 4 | 1–3 |
| Stanfordseries | 4 | 0–4 |
| Californiaseries | 4 | 0–4 |
| UCLAseries | 4 | 0–4 |
| Oregonseries | 4 | 0–4 |
| Arizonaseries | 3 | 0–3 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Eastern Washington (VA) | Head coach | |
| 1994–97 | Eastern Washington | Offensive line coach | |
| 1998–99 | Eastern Washington | Offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| 2000–07 | Eastern Washington | Head coach | |
| 2008–11 | Washington State | Head coach | |
| 2012–13 | San Francisco 49ers NFL | Offensive assistant | |
| 2014 | South Florida | Offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| 2015 | Iowa State (VA) | Head coach | |
| 2016–18 | Sacramento State | Assistant head coach, running game coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| 2019 | UC Davis (VA) | Head coach | |
| 2020–22 | Cal Poly | Offensive line coach and running game coordinator | |
| 2023–25 | Cal Poly | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Jim HarbaughSan Francisco 49ers
- Willie TaggartSouth Florida
- Jody SearsSacramento State
- Beau BaldwinCal Poly
Assistants who became head coaches
- Jim McElwainColorado State, Florida, Central Michigan
- Aaron BestEastern Washington
- Jimmy LakeWashington
- Timm RosenbachAdams State
- Beau BaldwinCentral Washington, Eastern Washington, Cal Poly
- Jody SearsWeber State, Sacramento State
- Todd SturdySt. Ambrose, MidAmerica Nazarene
- Chris BallNorthern Arizona
- Chris TormeyIdaho, Nevada, Washington
- Cody HawkinsIdaho State
- Tim PloughUC Davis
Worked under (4)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Harbaugh | San Francisco 49ers NFL | 2012–13 | Offensive assistant | |
| Willie Taggart | South Florida | 2014 | Offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| Jody Sears | Sacramento State | 2016–18 | Assistant head coach, running game coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| Beau Baldwin | Cal Poly | 2020–22 | Offensive line coach and running game coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (11)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jim McElwain | Eastern Washington, 1993: quarterbacks and wide receivers coach | Colorado State, Florida, Central Michigan | |
| Aaron Best | Eastern Washington, 2000: student assistant; 2001: graduate assistant; 2002–06: offensive line coach | Eastern Washington | |
| Jimmy Lake | Eastern Washington, 2000–03: defensive backs coach | Washington | |
| Timm Rosenbach | Eastern Washington, 2000: assistant coach; 2001–02: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Cal Poly, 2024–25: co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | Adams State | |
| Beau Baldwin | Eastern Washington, 2003–06: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Central Washington, Eastern Washington, Cal Poly | |
| Jody Sears | Eastern Washington, 2003: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach; 2004–06: defensive coordinator and safeties coach; 2007: defensive coordinator and defensive ends coach; Washington State, 2008–10: co-defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach; 2011: cornerbacks coach | Weber State, Sacramento State | |
| Todd Sturdy | Eastern Washington, 2007: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Washington State, 2008–11: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Cal Poly, 2025: wide receivers coach | St. Ambrose, MidAmerica Nazarene | |
| Chris Ball | Washington State, 2008–11: assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | Northern Arizona | |
| Chris Tormey | Washington State, 2011: linebackers coach | Idaho, Nevada, Washington | |
| Cody Hawkins | UC Davis, 2019: wide receivers coach | Idaho State | |
| Tim Plough | UC Davis, 2019: assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | UC Davis |
Other assistants under him (5)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Jeff Schmedding | Eastern Washington, 2004–06: graduate assistant; 2007: safeties coach | |
| Zak Hill | Eastern Washington, 2004–05: student assistant | |
| Mike Levenseller | Washington State, 2008–11: wide receivers coach | |
| Erik Meyer | Cal Poly, 2023: quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator; 2024: co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| J. C. Sherritt | Cal Poly, 2023: defensive coordinator and linebackers 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | South Florida | offensive coordinator | $300,000 USA Today | |
| 2011 | Washington State | head coachbonuses up to $220,000 | $600,050 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2010 | Washington State | head coachbonuses up to $220,000 | $600,650 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2009 | Washington State | head coachbonuses up to $320,000 | $600,100 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2008 | Washington State | head coach | $600,000 USA Today via Leeds |
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.
The same USA Today database for 2006–16, from Michael Leeds’ replication data on Harvard Dataverse (CC0): the season’s contract pay.
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
Wulff’s teams went for it on 17% of fourth downs and on 26% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 55% of plays and took 24.2 seconds a play, 2008–2011.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 13 g | 18 of 116 16% | 29% | 50% | 26.8 | −0.27 | |
| 2009 11 g | 11 of 100 11% | 17% | 56% | 25.7 | −0.23 | |
| 2010 12 g | 21 of 99 21% | 27% | 54% | 22.4 | −0.08 | |
| 2011 12 g | 20 of 95 21% | 29% | 60% | 21.6 | +0.03 | |
| All 48 g | 70 of 410 17% | 26% | 55% | 24.2 | −0.14 |
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.