Dick MacPherson

Head coach, 1981–1990

Headline rating: as head coach. Every role he has been rated in is below.

Chemistry

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index in development

Seasons here—

Programs1

Stints1

Career path

Head-coaching stints since 1936; assistant roles since 2016

1981–1990SyracuseHead Coach

As head coach

Rating—Peak75Career71

1981–1990 · 10 seasonsRecord 66-46National titles 0Great seasons 0 (top ~7% of all teams that year)

Rating 75: 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 75: best five-season stretch, 1984–1988 at Syracuse (39-18, 1 top-10 season by team strength), taking over an average program.
Career 71 (#180 since 1936): total accomplishment over 10 seasons (66-46), 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
1990	Syracuse	7-4-2	#26	+0.81 SD
1989	Syracuse	8-4	#44	+0.27 SD
1988	Syracuse	10-2	#13	+1.19 SD
1987	Syracuse	11-0-1	#10	+1.40 SD
1986	Syracuse	5-6	#54	-0.04 SD
1985	Syracuse	7-5	#33	+0.51 SD
1984	Syracuse	6-5	#28	+0.74 SD
1983	Syracuse	6-5	#45	+0.09 SD
1982	Syracuse	2-9	#61	-0.19 SD
1981	Syracuse	4-6-1	#42	+0.35 SD

Season rank = his team among all major-college teams that year; vs contemporaries = how far above the average team (in standard deviations).