Ray Eliot
Ray Eliot went 98–80–12 as a head coach, 1934–1959, at Illinois College and Illinois. His 1951 Illinois team claims the national title. Share
Three seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1934–36 at Illinois College (on file under another coach). They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 98–80–12 career
- Seasons
- 21
- Schools
- 2
- National titles
- 1 claimed: 1951
- Best season
- 1951 9–0–1, No. 4
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | Illinois College * | 6–1 | T–3rd | |||
| 1935 | Illinois College * | 5–3 | T–3rd | |||
| 1936 | Illinois College * | 4–3–1 | T–10th | |||
| 1937–41: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1942 | Illinois | 6–4 | T–3rd | |||
| 1943 | Illinois | 3–7 | 6th | |||
| 1944 | Illinois | 5–4–1 | 6th | 15 | ||
| 1945 | Illinois | 2–6–1 | 7th | |||
| 1946 | Illinois | 8–2 | 1st | Rose Bowl W | 5 | |
| 1947 | Illinois | 5–3–1 | T–3rd | |||
| 1948 | Illinois | 3–6 | 8th | |||
| 1949 | Illinois | 3–4–2 | 5th | |||
| 1950 | Illinois | 7–2 | 4th | 13 | ||
| 1951 | Illinois | 9–0–1 | 1st | Rose Bowl W | 4 | |
| 1952 | Illinois | 4–5 | T–6th | |||
| 1953 | Illinois | 7–1–1 | T–1st | 7 | ||
| 1954 | Illinois | 1–8 | 10th | |||
| 1955 | Illinois | 5–3–1 | 5th | |||
| 1956 | Illinois | 2–5–2 | 8th | |||
| 1957 | Illinois | 4–5 | 7th | |||
| 1958 | Illinois | 4–5 | 6th | |||
| 1959 | Illinois | 5–3–1 | T–3rd | 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
Bill BurrellFourth in the 1959 Heisman vote- J.C. CarolineConsensus All‑American, 1953
- Stan WallaceNo. 6 pick, 1954
- Rich KreitlingNo. 11 pick, 1959
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 55 | 23–30–2 | 44% |
| Against top-10 teams | 36 | 11–24–1 | 32% |
| Against rivals | 87 | 40–43–4 | 48% |
| Conference games | 116 | 54–55–7 | 50% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 2 | 2–0 | 100% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 69 | 28–30–11 | 49% |
| At home | 88 | 49–33–6 | 59% |
| On the road | 74 | 32–37–5 | 47% |
| At neutral sites | 5 | 2–3 | 40% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 79 | 51–21–7 | 69% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 88 | 32–52–4 | 39% |
His own 167 games on file, 1942–1959, 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 Oosterbaan 1948–1958 | 7–4 | Michigan | 11 | |
| Woody Hayes 1951–1959 | 2–6–1 | Ohio State | 9 | |
| Robert Voigts 1947–1954 | 2–6 | Northwestern | 8 | |
| Pappy Waldorf 1942–1956 | 5–2 | Northwestern, California | 7 | |
| Wesley Fesler 1946–1953 | 4–3 | Pittsburgh, Ohio State, Minnesota | 7 | |
| Stuart Holcomb 1947–1955 | 3–4 | Purdue | 7 | |
| Ivy Williamson 1949–1955 | 2–4–1 | Wisconsin | 7 | |
| Murray Warmath 1954–1959 | 4–2 | Minnesota | 6 | |
| Fritz Crisler 1942–1947 | 1–5 | Michigan | 6 | |
| Edward Anderson 1942–1949 | 5–0 | Iowa | 5 |
Ray Eliot’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Northwesternseries | 18 | 8–9–1 |
| Michiganseries | 18 | 8–10 |
| Ohio Stateseries | 18 | 5–12–1 |
| Wisconsinseries | 15 | 5–7–3 |
| Purdueseries | 14 | 4–8–2 |
| Iowaseries | 11 | 11–0 |
| Minnesotaseries | 11 | 7–4 |
| Indianaseries | 7 | 4–3 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1932–33 | Illinois College | Assistant coach | |
| 1934–36 | Illinois College | Head coach | |
| 1937–41 | Illinois | Line coach | |
| 1942–59 | Illinois | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Robert ZuppkeIllinois
Assistants who became head coaches
- Justa LindgrenIllinois, Cornell (IA)
- Burton IngwersenIowa
- Robert KingFurman
- Perry MossFlorida State, Marshall, Montreal Alouettes, San Antonio Wings, Chicago Bruisers, Detroit Drive, Miami
- Charles StudleyCincinnati, Massachusetts
- Dick MacPhersonSyracuse, Massachusetts, New England Patriots
- James ValekIllinois
- William TateWake Forest
Worked under (1)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Zuppke | Illinois | 1937–41 | Line coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (8)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Justa Lindgren | Illinois, 1942–43: line coach | Illinois, Cornell (IA) | |
| Burton Ingwersen | Illinois, 1945–59: assistant coach | Iowa | |
| Robert King | Illinois, 1947–57: ends coach | Furman | |
| Perry Moss | Illinois, 1949: freshman coach | Florida State, Marshall, Montreal Alouettes, San Antonio Wings, Chicago Bruisers, Detroit Drive, Miami | |
| Charles Studley | Illinois, 1955–59: line coach | Cincinnati, Massachusetts | |
| Dick MacPherson | Illinois, 1958: graduate assistant | Syracuse, Massachusetts, New England Patriots | |
| James Valek | Illinois, 1959: assistant coach | Illinois | |
| William Tate | Illinois, 1959: assistant coach | Wake Forest |
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.