Potsy Clark
Potsy Clark went 40–45–7 as a head coach, 1920–1948, at Michigan Agricultural, Kansas, Butler and Nebraska. Share
Four seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1920 at Michigan Agricultural; 1927–29 at Butler. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 40–45–7 career
- Seasons
- 11
- Schools
- 4
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 1923 5–0–3
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | Michigan Agricultural * | 4–6 | ||||
| 1921 | Kansas | 4–3 | 5th | |||
| 1922 | Kansas | 3–4–1 | 6th | |||
| 1923 | Kansas | 5–0–3 | T–1st | |||
| 1924 | Kansas | 2–5–1 | 7th | |||
| 1925 | Kansas | 2–5–1 | 8th | |||
| 1926: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1927 | Butler * | 4–3–1 | ||||
| 1928 | Butler * | 6–2 | ||||
| 1929 | Butler * | 4–4 | ||||
| 1930–44: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1945 | Nebraska | 4–5 | 4th | |||
| 1946–47: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1948 | Nebraska | 2–8 | T–5th | |||
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 | 3 | 0–3 | 0% |
| Against top-10 teams | 3 | 0–3 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 29 | 8–17–4 | 34% |
| Conference games | 43 | 15–22–6 | 42% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 23 | 7–10–6 | 43% |
| At home | 31 | 17–12–2 | 58% |
| On the road | 27 | 5–18–4 | 26% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 23 | 17–4–2 | 78% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 35 | 5–26–4 | 20% |
His own 58 games on file, 1921–1948, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bennie Owen 1921–1925 | 3–1–1 | Oklahoma | 5 | |
| Charlie Bachman 1921–1925 | 1–2–2 | Kansas State | 5 | |
| Ossie Solem 1921–1925 | 1–3–1 | Drake | 5 | |
| Fred Dawson 1921–1924 | 0–3–1 | Nebraska | 4 | |
| John Maulbetsch 1923–1925 | 2–1 | Oklahoma State | 3 | |
| Gwinn Henry 1923–1925 | 1–1–1 | Missouri | 3 |
Potsy Clark’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oklahomaseries | 7 | 3–3–1 |
| Kansas Stateseries | 7 | 3–2–2 |
| Missouriseries | 7 | 2–4–1 |
| Iowa Stateseries | 5 | 2–3 |
| Drakeseries | 5 | 1–3–1 |
| Nebraskaseries | 5 | 0–4–1 |
| Oklahoma Stateseries | 3 | 2–1 |
| Washington St. Louisseries | 2 | 2–0 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1916 | Kansas | Assistant coach | |
| 1919 | Illinois | Assistant coach | |
| 1920 | Michigan Agricultural | Head coach | |
| 1921–25 | Kansas | Head coach | |
| 1926 | Minnesota | Associate head coach | |
| 1927–29 | Butler | Head coach | |
| 1931–36 | Portsmouth Spartans / Detroit Lions NFL | Head coach | |
| 1937–38 | Brooklyn Dodgers NFL | Head coach | |
| 1940 | Detroit Lions NFL | Head coach | |
| 1945 | Nebraska | Head coach | |
| 1948 | Nebraska | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Herman OlcottKansas
- Robert ZuppkeIllinois
- Clarence SpearsMinnesota
Assistants who became head coaches
- Adrian LindseyOklahoma, Kansas, Bethany (KS)
Worked under (3)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herman Olcott | Kansas | 1916 | Assistant coach | |
| Robert Zuppke | Illinois | 1919 | Assistant coach | |
| Clarence Spears | Minnesota | 1926 | Associate head coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (1)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adrian Lindsey | Kansas, 1921: assistant coach | Oklahoma, Kansas, Bethany (KS) |
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.