Tommy Bowden
Tommy Bowden went 90–49 as a head coach, 1997–2008, at Tulane and Clemson. Share
- Record
- 90–49 career
- Seasons
- 12
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 2000 9–3, No. 16
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Tulane | 7–4 | 2nd | |||
| 1998 | Tulane | 11–0 | 1st | Liberty (not coached) | ||
| 1999 | Clemson | 6–6 | T–2nd | Peach Bowl L | ||
| 2000 | Clemson | 9–3 | T–2nd | Gator Bowl L | 16 | |
| 2001 | Clemson | 7–5 | T–4th | Humanitarian Bowl W | ||
| 2002 | Clemson | 7–6 | T–5th | Tangerine Bowl L | ||
| 2003 | Clemson | 9–4 | 3rd | Peach Bowl W | 22 | |
| 2004 | Clemson | 6–5 | T–6th | Declined (not played) | ||
| 2005 | Clemson | 8–4 | 3rd (Atlantic) | Champs Sports Bowl W | 21 | |
| 2006 | Clemson | 8–5 | T–2nd (Atlantic) | Music City Bowl L | ||
| 2007 | Clemson | 9–4 | 2nd (Atlantic) | Chick-fil-A Bowl L | 21 | |
| 2008 | Clemson coached six of 13 games | 3–3 | T–2nd (Atlantic) |
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.
Players he coached
Keith AdamsConsensus All‑American, 2000- Rod GardnerNo. 15 pick, 2001
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 | 34 | 13–21 | 38% |
| Against top-10 teams | 11 | 4–7 | 36% |
| Against rivals | 47 | 23–24 | 49% |
| Conference games | 87 | 54–33 | 62% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 8 | 3–5 | 38% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 49 | 24–25 | 49% |
| At home | 74 | 55–19 | 74% |
| On the road | 55 | 31–24 | 56% |
| At neutral sites | 10 | 4–6 | 40% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 87 | 69–18 | 79% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 52 | 21–31 | 40% |
His own 139 games on file, 1997–2008, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Bowden 1999–2007 | 4–5 | Florida State | 9 | |
| Jim Grobe 2001–2008 | 5–3 | Wake Forest | 8 | |
| Ralph Friedgen 2001–2008 | 3–5 | Maryland | 8 | |
| Chuck Amato 2000–2006 | 5–2 | NC State | 7 | |
| Lou Holtz 1999–2004 | 5–1 | South Carolina | 6 | |
| Chan Gailey 2002–2007 | 3–3 | Georgia Tech | 6 | |
| Carl Franks 1999–2002 | 4–0 | Duke | 4 | |
| John Bunting 2001–2006 | 3–1 | North Carolina | 4 | |
| Ted Roof 2003–2007 | 3–1 | Duke | 4 | |
| Tom O’Brien 2005–2008 | 2–2 | Boston College, NC State | 4 |
Tommy Bowden’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 |
|---|---|---|
| NC Stateseries | 10 | 7–3 |
| Wake Forestseries | 10 | 7–3 |
| Marylandseries | 10 | 5–5 |
| South Carolinaseries | 9 | 7–2 |
| Florida Stateseries | 9 | 4–5 |
| Georgia Techseries | 9 | 4–5 |
| Dukeseries | 8 | 7–1 |
| North Carolinaseries | 6 | 5–1 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | West Virginia | Graduate assistant | |
| 1978–79 | Florida State | Defensive backs coach | |
| 1980 | Auburn | Running backs coach | |
| 1981–82 | Florida State | Tight ends coach | |
| 1983–84 | Duke | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 1985–86 | Duke | Offensive coordinator | |
| 1987–89 | Alabama | Wide receivers coach | |
| 1990 | Kentucky | Offensive coordinator | |
| 1991–96 | Auburn | Offensive coordinator | |
| 1997–98 | Tulane | Head coach | |
| 1999–2008 | Clemson | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Frank CignettiWest Virginia
- Bobby BowdenFlorida State
- Doug BarfieldAuburn
- Steve SloanDuke
- Bill CurryAlabama, Kentucky
- Pat DyeAuburn
- Terry BowdenAuburn
Assistants who became head coaches
- Frank ScelfoSE Louisiana
- Rich RodriguezWest Virginia, Michigan, Arizona, Jacksonville State, Salem, Glenville State
- Brad ScottSouth Carolina
- Reggie HerringArkansas
- Rick StockstillMiddle Tennessee
- Rodney AllisonChattanooga
- Mike O’CainNC State
- Rod SmithIllinois, Jacksonville State
- Billy NapierLouisiana, Florida, James Madison
- Dabo SwinneyClemson
- David BlackwellEast Carolina
- Vic KoenningWyoming, Illinois
- and 2 more
Worked under (7)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frank Cignetti | West Virginia | 1977 | Graduate assistant | |
| Bobby Bowden | Florida State | 1978–82 | 1978–79: defensive backs coach; 1981–82: tight ends coach | |
| Doug Barfield | Auburn | 1980 | Running backs coach | |
| Steve Sloan | Duke | 1983–86 | 1983–84: quarterbacks coach; 1985–86: offensive coordinator | |
| Bill Curry | Alabama | 1987–89 | Wide receivers coach | |
| Bill Curry | Kentucky | 1990 | Offensive coordinator | |
| Pat Dye | Auburn | 1991–92 | Offensive coordinator | |
| Terry Bowden | Auburn | 1993–96 | Offensive coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (14)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frank Scelfo | Tulane, 1997–98: tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator | SE Louisiana | |
| Rich Rodriguez | Tulane, 1997–98: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Clemson, 1999–2000: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | West Virginia, Michigan, Arizona, Jacksonville State, Salem, Glenville State | |
| Brad Scott | Clemson, 1999–2000: tight ends coach; 2001–03: offensive coordinator and tight ends coach; 2004–08: offensive line coach; 2008: assistant head coach and offensive line coach | South Carolina | |
| Reggie Herring | Clemson, 1999–2001: defensive coordinator | Arkansas | |
| Rick Stockstill | Clemson, 1999–2002: wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator | Middle Tennessee | |
| Rodney Allison | Clemson, 1999–2003: defensive ends coach | Chattanooga | |
| Mike O’Cain | Clemson, 2001–03: quarterbacks coach; 2004: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | NC State | |
| Rod Smith | Clemson, 2001: graduate assistant | Illinois, Jacksonville State | |
| Billy Napier | Clemson, 2003–04: graduate assistant; 2006–08: tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator | Louisiana, Florida, James Madison | |
| Dabo Swinney | Clemson, 2003–06: wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator; 2007–08: assistant head coach, wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator | Clemson | |
| David Blackwell | Clemson, 2003–06: linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator; 2007–08: inside linebackers coach | East Carolina | |
| Vic Koenning | Clemson, 2005–08: defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | Wyoming, Illinois | |
| Willie Simmons | Clemson, 2006: graduate assistant | Prairie View A&M, Florida A&M, Florida International | |
| Jeff Scott | Clemson, 2008: wide receivers coach; 2008: wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator | South Florida |
Other assistants under him (8)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Dick Hopkins | Tulane, 1997–98: defensive ends coach | |
| Rick Smith | Tulane, 1997–98: defensive coordinator | |
| Herb Hand | Clemson, 1999–2000: graduate assistant | |
| John Lovett | Clemson, 2002–04: defensive coordinator | |
| Brandon Streeter | Clemson, 2004–05: graduate assistant | |
| Marion Hobby | Clemson, 2005: defensive ends coach | |
| Rob Spence | Clemson, 2005–08: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Chris Rumph | Clemson, 2006–08: defensive ends 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Clemson | head coach | $1,850,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2007 | Clemson | head coachbonuses up to $272,278 | $1,231,832 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2006 | Clemson | head coachbonuses up to $270,252 | $1,198,028 USA Today via Leeds |
The same USA Today database for 2006–16, from Michael Leeds’ replication data on Harvard Dataverse (CC0): the season’s contract pay.
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
Bowden’s teams went for it on 13% of fourth downs and on 23% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 48% of plays and took 24.3 seconds a play, 2004–2007.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 10 g | 10 of 89 11% | 27% | 50% | 22.0 | −0.16 | |
| 2005 12 g | 12 of 96 13% | 19% | 48% | 25.9 | 0.00 | |
| 2006 12 g | 10 of 82 12% | 24% | 44% | 25.8 | 0.00 | |
| 2007 12 g | 15 of 99 15% | 24% | 51% | 23.3 | 0.00 | |
| All 46 g | 47 of 366 13% | 23% | 48% | 24.3 | −0.03 |
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.