Ron Turner
Ron Turner went 52–91 as a head coach, 1992–2016, at San José State, Illinois and Florida International. Share
- Record
- 52–91 career
- Seasons
- 13
- Schools
- 3
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Dec 5, 1953
- Alma mater
- Pacific 1977
- Best season
- 2001 10–2, No. 12
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | San José State | 7–4 | T–2nd | |||
| 1993–96: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1997 | Illinois | 0–11 | 11 | |||
| 1998 | Illinois | 3–8 | T–7th | |||
| 1999 | Illinois | 8–4 | T–6th | MicronPC.com Bowl W | 24 | |
| 2000 | Illinois | 5–6 | T–9th | |||
| 2001 | Illinois | 10–2 | 1st | Sugar Bowl L | 12 | |
| 2002 | Illinois | 5–7 | T–5th | |||
| 2003 | Illinois | 1–11 | 11th | |||
| 2004 | Illinois | 3–8 | T–10th | |||
| 2005–12: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2013 | Florida International | 1–11 | T–5th (East) | |||
| 2014 | Florida International | 4–8 | 6th (East) | |||
| 2015 | Florida International | 5–7 | T–4th (East) | |||
| 2016 | Florida International coached four of 12 games | 0–4 | ||||
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.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 34 | 4–30 | 12% |
| Against top-10 teams | 10 | 1–9 | 10% |
| Against rivals | 48 | 19–29 | 40% |
| Conference games | 94 | 31–63 | 33% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 2 | 1–1 | 50% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 41 | 19–22 | 46% |
| At home | 75 | 32–43 | 43% |
| On the road | 64 | 19–45 | 30% |
| At neutral sites | 4 | 1–3 | 25% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 50 | 35–15 | 70% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 93 | 17–76 | 18% |
His own 143 games on file, 1992–2016, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Tiller 1992–2004 | 3–4 | Wyoming, Purdue | 7 | |
| Randy Walker 1999–2004 | 3–3 | Northwestern | 6 | |
| Barry Alvarez 1997–2004 | 2–4 | Wisconsin | 6 | |
| Joe Paterno 1997–2002 | 1–5 | Penn State | 6 | |
| Glen Mason 1999–2004 | 1–5 | Minnesota | 6 | |
| Lloyd Carr 1999–2004 | 1–5 | Michigan | 6 | |
| Cam Cameron 1997–2001 | 3–2 | Indiana | 5 | |
| John Smith 1998–2004 | 2–3 | Louisville, Michigan State | 5 | |
| Kirk Ferentz 1999–2004 | 2–2 | Iowa | 4 | |
| John Cooper 1997–2000 | 1–3 | Ohio State | 4 |
Ron Turner’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Indianaseries | 10 | 5–5 |
| Northwesternseries | 8 | 4–4 |
| Minnesotaseries | 7 | 2–5 |
| Louisvilleseries | 6 | 2–4 |
| Ohio Stateseries | 6 | 2–4 |
| Wisconsinseries | 6 | 2–4 |
| Iowaseries | 6 | 2–4 |
| Purdueseries | 6 | 2–4 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Pacific (CA) | Graduate assistant | |
| 1979–80 | Arizona | Wide receivers coach | |
| 1980 | Arizona | Running backs coach | |
| 1981–82 | Northwestern | Quarterbacks and wide receivers coach | |
| 1983–84 | Pittsburgh | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 1985 | USC | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 1986 | USC | Offensive coordinator | |
| 1987 | USC | Wide receivers coach | |
| 1988 | Texas A&M | Wide receivers coach | |
| 1989–91 | Stanford | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 1992 | San Jose State | Head coach | |
| 1993–96 | Chicago Bears NFL | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 1997–2004 | Illinois | Head coach | |
| 2005–09 | Chicago Bears NFL | Offensive coordinator | |
| 2010 | Indianapolis Colts NFL | Wide receivers coach | |
| 2011 | Indianapolis Colts NFL | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2012 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2013–16 | FIU | Head coach | |
| 2017 | Carolina Panthers NFL | Offensive consultant |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Chester CaddasPacific
- Tony MasonArizona
- Larry SmithArizona, USC
- Dennis GreenNorthwestern, Stanford
- Foge FazioPittsburgh
- Ted TollnerUSC
- Jackie SherrillTexas A&M
- Dave WannstedtChicago Bears
- Lovie SmithChicago Bears
- Jim CaldwellIndianapolis Colts
- Greg SchianoTampa Bay Buccaneers
Assistants who became head coaches
- Buddy TeevensTulane, Stanford, Maine, Dartmouth
- Tim KishArizona
- Scott ShaferSyracuse
- Andre PattersonCal Poly
- Josh ConklinWofford
- Tom WilliamsYale
- Rob HarleyNorthern Illinois
- Ron CooperEastern Michigan, Louisville, Alabama A&M, Long Island University
Worked under (11)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester Caddas | Pacific | 1978 | Graduate assistant | |
| Tony Mason | Arizona | 1979 | Wide receivers coach | |
| Larry Smith | Arizona | 1980 | 1980: wide receivers coach; 1980: running backs coach | |
| Dennis Green | Northwestern | 1981–82 | Quarterbacks and wide receivers coach | |
| Foge Fazio | Pittsburgh | 1983–84 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Ted Tollner | USC | 1985–86 | 1985: quarterbacks coach; 1986: offensive coordinator | |
| Larry Smith | USC | 1987 | Wide receivers coach | |
| Jackie Sherrill | Texas A&M | 1988 | Wide receivers coach | |
| Dennis Green | Stanford | 1989–91 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Dave Wannstedt | Chicago Bears NFL | 1993–96 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Lovie Smith | Chicago Bears NFL | 2005–09 | Offensive coordinator | |
| Jim Caldwell | Indianapolis Colts NFL | 2010–11 | 2010: wide receivers coach; 2011: quarterbacks coach | |
| Greg Schiano | Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL | 2012 | Quarterbacks coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (8)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buddy Teevens | Illinois, 1997–98: offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | Tulane, Stanford, Maine, Dartmouth | |
| Tim Kish | Illinois, 1997–2000: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Arizona | |
| Scott Shafer | Illinois, 2004: defensive backs coach | Syracuse | |
| Andre Patterson | Florida International, 2013: assistant head coach and defensive line coach | Cal Poly | |
| Josh Conklin | Florida International, 2013–14: defensive coordinator | Wofford | |
| Tom Williams | Florida International, 2013: linebackers coach | Yale | |
| Rob Harley | Florida International, 2014: linebackers coach | Northern Illinois | |
| Ron Cooper | Florida International, 2015: defensive backs coach; 2016: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Eastern Michigan, Louisville, Alabama A&M, Long Island University |
Other assistants under him (14)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Bill Laveroni | San José State, 1992: offensive line coach and special teams coordinator | |
| Craig Ver Steeg | Illinois, 1997–2000: quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| Harry Hiestand | Illinois, 1997–99: offensive line coach; 2000–04: assistant head coach and offensive line coach | |
| Osia Lewis | Illinois, 1997–2000: defensive line coach; 2001–02: linebackers coach | |
| Mike Cassity | Illinois, 2001–03: defensive coordinator | |
| Mike Mallory | Illinois, 2001–03: defensive backs coach; 2004: defensive coordinator | |
| Dan Roushar | Illinois, 2003: running backs coach; 2004: offensive coordinator and running backs coach | |
| Tommy Thigpen | Illinois, 2003: cornerbacks coach; 2004: linebackers coach | |
| Kevin Wolthausen | Florida International, 2013: special teams coach | |
| Sam Siefkes | Florida International, 2014: defensive quality control coach | |
| Steve Shankweiler | Florida International, 2014–16: offensive coordinator | |
| Matt House | Florida International, 2015: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Tem Lukabu | Florida International, 2015: defensive line coach | |
| Tim Harris Jr. | Florida International, 2015–16: running backs 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Florida International | head coachbonuses up to $150,000; $25,000 in bonuses paid | $610,731 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Florida International | head coachbonuses up to $150,000 | $605,190 USA Today | |
| 2014 | Florida International | head coachbonuses up to $150,000 | $551,000 USA Today |
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.
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
Turner’s teams went for it on 18% of fourth downs and on 28% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 47% of plays and took 22.8 seconds a play, in 2004.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 11 g | 16 of 87 18% | 28% | 47% | 22.8 | −0.07 |
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.