Tim Lester
Tim Lester went 67–55 as a head coach, 2004–2022, at Saint Joseph’s, Elmhurst and Western Michigan. Share
Six seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 2004 at Saint Joseph’s; 2008–12 at Elmhurst. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 67–55 career
- Seasons
- 12
- Schools
- 3
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Feb 8, 1977
- Alma mater
- Western Michigan 2000
- Best season
- 2020 4–2
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Saint Joseph’s * | 7–4 | ||||
| 2005–07: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2008 | Elmhurst * | 7–3 | 4th | |||
| 2009 | Elmhurst * | 4–6 | 7th | |||
| 2010 | Elmhurst * | 6–4 | T–5th | |||
| 2011 | Elmhurst * | 6–4 | 4th | |||
| 2012 | Elmhurst * | 0–2 | T–1st | NCAA Division III Quarterfinal L | ||
| 2013–16: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2017 | Western Michigan | 6–6 | 4th (West) | |||
| 2018 | Western Michigan | 7–6 | T–2nd (West) | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl L | ||
| 2019 | Western Michigan | 7–6 | 2nd (West) | First Responder Bowl L | ||
| 2020 | Western Michigan | 4–2 | T–2nd (West) | |||
| 2021 | Western Michigan | 8–5 | T–4th (West) | Quick Lane Bowl W | ||
| 2022 | Western Michigan | 5–7 | 3rd (West) | |||
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
Jon Wassink2019 Wuerffel Trophy
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 5 | 0–5 | 0% |
| Against top-10 teams | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 18 | 8–10 | 44% |
| Conference games | 46 | 26–20 | 57% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 3 | 1–2 | 33% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 30 | 18–12 | 60% |
| At home | 33 | 21–12 | 64% |
| On the road | 33 | 15–18 | 45% |
| At neutral sites | 3 | 1–2 | 33% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 42 | 25–17 | 60% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 27 | 12–15 | 44% |
His own 69 games on file, 2017–2022, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Neu 2017–2022 | 3–3 | Ball State | 6 | |
| Chris Creighton 2017–2022 | 2–4 | Eastern Michigan | 6 | |
| Jason Candle 2017–2022 | 2–4 | Toledo | 6 | |
| Jim McElwain 2019–2022 | 3–1 | Central Michigan | 4 | |
| Thomas Hammock 2019–2022 | 2–2 | Northern Illinois | 4 | |
| Chuck Martin 2018–2022 | 3–0 | Miami (OH) | 3 |
Tim Lester’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Central Michiganseries | 6 | 4–2 |
| Ball Stateseries | 6 | 3–3 |
| Northern Illinoisseries | 6 | 3–3 |
| Eastern Michiganseries | 6 | 2–4 |
| Toledoseries | 6 | 2–4 |
| Miami (OH)series | 3 | 3–0 |
| Bowling Greenseries | 3 | 2–1 |
| Akronseries | 3 | 2–1 |
Other roles
- Team MVP, Western Michigan 1998–99
From each season’s Wikipedia article.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Wheaton Warrenville South HS (IL) high school | Offensive coordinator | |
| 2001 | Saint Benedict at Auburndale (TN) | Offensive coordinator | |
| 2002–03 | Elmhurst | Offensive coordinator | |
| 2004 | Saint Joseph’s (IN) | Head coach | |
| 2005–06 | Western Michigan | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2007 | North Central | Assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | |
| 2008–12 | Elmhurst | Head coach | |
| 2013–14 | Syracuse | Quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| 2014–15 | Syracuse | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2016 | Purdue | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2017–22 | Western Michigan | Head coach | |
| 2023 | Green Bay Packers NFL | Senior analyst | |
| 2024–present | Iowa | Offensive coordinator |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Bill CubitWestern Michigan
- Scott ShaferSyracuse
- Darrell HazellPurdue
- Gerad ParkerPurdue
- Kirk FerentzIowa
Assistants who became head coaches
- Lou EspositoSaint Joseph’s (IN), Davenport
- Cory SandersSaint Joseph’s (IN)
- Mike LaFleurArizona Cardinals
- David DugganCologne Centurions
- Mike BathMiami (OH)
- Trevor AndrewsDayton
- Jeff ThorneNorth Central (IL)
Worked under (5)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Cubit | Western Michigan | 2005–06 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Scott Shafer | Syracuse | 2013–15 | 2013–14: quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator; 2014–15: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Darrell Hazell | Purdue | 2016 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Gerad Parker | Purdue | 2016 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Kirk Ferentz | Iowa | 2024–26 | Offensive coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (7)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lou Esposito | Saint Joseph’s (IN), 2004: defensive coordinator; Western Michigan, 2017–22: defensive coordinator and defensive line coach | Saint Joseph’s (IN), Davenport | |
| Cory Sanders | Elmhurst, 2008–09: defensive backs coach; Western Michigan, 2017: defensive backs coach | Saint Joseph’s (IN) | |
| Mike LaFleur | Elmhurst, 2009: offensive assistant | Arizona Cardinals | |
| David Duggan | Western Michigan, 2017–18: linebackers coach | Cologne Centurions | |
| Mike Bath | Western Michigan, 2019–20: running backs coach; 2021: co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach | Miami (OH) | |
| Trevor Andrews | Western Michigan, 2019–22: linebackers coach | Dayton | |
| Jeff Thorne | Western Michigan, 2022: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | North Central (IL) |
Other assistants under him (6)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Jake Moreland | Saint Joseph’s (IN), 2004: special teams coordinator and offensive assistant; Western Michigan, 2017: co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach; 2018–19: offensive coordinator and offensive line coach; 2020: offensive coordinator and tight ends coach | |
| Kevin Johns | Western Michigan, 2017: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Terry Malone | Western Michigan, 2017–18: running backs coach and director of player development | |
| Tim Daoust | Western Michigan, 2017–18: defensive coordinator | |
| Greg Harbaugh | Western Michigan, 2020–21: wide receivers coach | |
| Eric Evans | Western Michigan, 2021: co-offensive 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.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Western Michigan | head coachbonuses up to $322,000; buyout $1,000,000 | $800,000 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
Lester’s teams went for it on 25% of fourth downs and on 43% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 43% of plays and took 26.7 seconds a play, 2017–2022.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 12 g | 15 of 101 15% | 26% | 37% | 26.0 | +0.01 | |
| 2018 13 g | 35 of 110 32% | 51% | 43% | 26.8 | +0.08 | |
| 2019 13 g | 28 of 97 29% | 53% | 47% | 25.4 | +0.13 | |
| 2020 6 g | 8 of 35 23% | 38% | 42% | 25.2 | +0.27 | |
| 2021 13 g | 25 of 88 28% | 49% | 41% | 28.0 | +0.14 | |
| 2022 12 g | 27 of 122 22% | 44% | 48% | 27.8 | −0.14 | |
| All 69 g | 138 of 553 25% | 43% | 43% | 26.7 | +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.