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Tim Polasek
Tim Polasek went 32–4 as a head coach, 2024–2026, at North Dakota State. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 5–1); by them his record is 31–4. Share
Two seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 2024–25 at North Dakota State (on file under another coach). They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 32–4 career
- Seasons
- 3
- Schools
- 1
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Aug 8, 1979
- Alma mater
- Concordia (WI) 2002
- Best season
- 2026 6–1
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | North Dakota State * | 14–2 | T–1st | NCAA Division I Championship W | 1 | |
| 2025 | North Dakota State * | 12–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I Second Round L | 4 | |
| 2026 | North Dakota State | 6–1 (Wikipedia: 5–1) |
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 rivals | 1 | 1–0 | 100% |
| Conference games | 4 | 3–1 | 75% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 2 | 1–1 | 50% |
| At home | 4 | 4–0 | 100% |
| On the road | 3 | 2–1 | 67% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 6 | 6–0 | 100% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
His own seven games on file, 2026, 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.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Sacramento Stateseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Jacksonville Stateseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Air Forceseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Fordhamseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Nevadaseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Wyomingseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| UNLVseries | 1 | 0–1 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Wisconsin–Stevens Point | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2003 | Wisconsin–Stevens Point | Passing game coordinator and wide receivers and tight ends coach | |
| 2003–04 | Wisconsin–Stevens Point | Special teams coach, passing game coordinator and wide receivers and tight ends coach | |
| 2005 | Wisconsin–Stevens Point | Special teams and defensive backs coach | |
| 2006 | North Dakota State | Graduate assistant | |
| 2007–11 | North Dakota State | Running backs coach | |
| 2012 | North Dakota State | Special teams, tight ends and fullbacks coach | |
| 2013 | Northern Illinois | Tight ends and fullbacks coach | |
| 2014–16 | North Dakota State | Offensive coordinator and running backs coach | |
| 2017–20 | Iowa | Offensive line coach | |
| 2021–23 | Wyoming | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2024–present | North Dakota State | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Craig BohlNorth Dakota State, Wyoming
- Rod CareyNorthern Illinois
- Chris KliemanNorth Dakota State
- Kirk FerentzIowa
Assistants who became head coaches
- Dan LarsonWisconsin Eau Claire
Worked under (4)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Craig Bohl | North Dakota State | 2006–12 | 2006: graduate assistant; 2007–11: running backs coach; 2012: special teams, tight ends and fullbacks coach | |
| Rod Carey | Northern Illinois | 2013 | Tight ends and fullbacks coach | |
| Chris Klieman | North Dakota State | 2014–16 | Offensive coordinator and running backs coach | |
| Kirk Ferentz | Iowa | 2017–20 | Offensive line coach | |
| Craig Bohl | Wyoming | 2021–23 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (1)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dan Larson | North Dakota State, 2024: offensive line coach; 2025–26: offensive coordinator and tight ends and fullbacks coach | Wisconsin Eau Claire |
Other assistants under him (2)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Jake Landry | North Dakota State, 2024: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Grant Olson | North Dakota State, 2026: defensive 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.
How he coached
Polasek’s teams went for it on 29% of fourth downs and on 52% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 40% of plays and took 28.8 seconds a play, in 2026.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 7 g | 15 of 52 29% | 52% | 40% | 28.8 | −0.01 |
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.