Coaches / Head coach / Ben Martin
Career
61
not coaching now
Rating—recent
Peak68best 5 yrs
Career61whole career
confidence
Ben Martin
Head coach, 1956–1977
Headline rating: as head coach. Every role he has been rated in is below.
Chemistry
—
index in development
Seasons here—
Programs2
Stints2
Career path
Head-coaching stints since 1936; assistant roles since 2016
As head coach
Rating—Peak68Career61
1956–1977 · 22 seasonsRecord 102-116National titles 0Great seasons 0 (top ~7% of all teams that year)
- Rating 63: his whole career, recent seasons weighted most, measured as how far his teams stood above their era, crediting him with half of what each program already was when he arrived (about the share that, historically, follows a coach to his next job), fading as the program becomes his own.
- Peak 68: best five-season stretch, 1968–1972 at Air Force (34-18), taking over one of the weakest programs in major college football.
- Career 61 (#324 since 1936): total accomplishment over 22 seasons (102-116), 0 national titles, 0 elite seasons; full credit for the program he inherited.
Rating = who he is: his whole head-coaching career (since 1936), weighted toward recent years — how far his teams stood above their contemporaries, how much he lifted programs, his great seasons and titles. Form = the last two seasons. Career = the all-time ranking number.
| Season | Team | Record | Season rank | vs contemporaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Air Force | 2-8-1 | #94 | -0.83 SD |
| 1976 | Air Force | 4-7 | #100 | -0.93 SD |
| 1975 | Air Force | 2-8-1 | #82 | -0.49 SD |
| 1974 | Air Force | 2-9 | #83 | -0.70 SD |
| 1973 | Air Force | 6-4 | #63 | -0.16 SD |
| 1972 | Air Force | 6-4 | #43 | +0.27 SD |
| 1971 | Air Force | 6-4 | #41 | +0.11 SD |
| 1970 | Air Force | 9-3 | #19 | +0.93 SD |
| 1969 | Air Force | 6-4 | #22 | +0.98 SD |
| 1968 | Air Force | 7-3 | #37 | +0.47 SD |
| 1967 | Air Force | 2-6-2 | #80 | -0.54 SD |
| 1966 | Air Force | 4-6 | #54 | -0.07 SD |
| 1965 | Air Force | 3-6-1 | #56 | +0.01 SD |
| 1964 | Air Force | 4-5-1 | #46 | +0.33 SD |
| 1963 | Air Force | 7-4 | #41 | +0.51 SD |
| 1962 | Air Force | 5-5 | #63 | -0.04 SD |
| 1961 | Air Force | 3-7 | #81 | -0.98 SD |
| 1960 | Air Force | 4-6 | #64 | -0.34 SD |
| 1959 | Air Force | 5-4-1 | #50 | +0.07 SD |
| 1958 | Air Force | 9-0-2 | #14 | +0.95 SD |
| 1957 | Virginia | 3-6-1 | #54 | -0.13 SD |
| 1956 | Virginia | 3-7 | #75 | -0.69 SD |
Season rank = his team among all major-college teams that year; vs contemporaries = how far above the average team (in standard deviations).