Coaches / Head coach / Don Nehlen
Career
74
not coaching now
Rating—recent
Peak74best 5 yrs
Career74whole career
confidence
Don Nehlen
Head coach, 1968–2000
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—Peak74Career74
1968–2000 · 30 seasonsRecord 202-128National titles 0Great seasons 1 (top ~7% of all teams that year)
- Rating 74: 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 74: best five-season stretch, 1981–1985 at West Virginia (42-16), taking over an average program.
- Career 74 (#129 since 1936): total accomplishment over 30 seasons (202-128), 0 national titles, 1 elite season; full credit for the program he inherited.
- Won big at one of his 2 programs (West Virginia).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | West Virginia | 7-5 | #43 | +0.37 SD |
| 1999 | West Virginia | 4-7 | #48 | +0.21 SD |
| 1998 | West Virginia | 8-4 | #18 | +1.16 SD |
| 1997 | West Virginia | 7-5 | #52 | +0.15 SD |
| 1996 | West Virginia | 8-4 | #27 | +0.68 SD |
| 1995 | West Virginia | 5-6 | #40 | +0.35 SD |
| 1994 | West Virginia | 7-6 | #57 | +0.03 SD |
| 1993 | West Virginia | 11-1 | #20 | +0.91 SD |
| 1992 | West Virginia | 5-4-2 | #32 | +0.53 SD |
| 1991 | West Virginia | 6-5 | #49 | +0.07 SD |
| 1990 | West Virginia | 4-7 | #68 | -0.30 SD |
| 1989 | West Virginia | 8-3-1 | #28 | +0.65 SD |
| 1988 | West Virginia | 11-1 | #5 | +1.70 SD |
| 1987 | West Virginia | 6-6 | #21 | +0.86 SD |
| 1986 | West Virginia | 4-7 | #57 | -0.20 SD |
| 1985 | West Virginia | 7-3-1 | #42 | +0.32 SD |
| 1984 | West Virginia | 8-4 | #22 | +0.93 SD |
| 1983 | West Virginia | 9-3 | #19 | +1.01 SD |
| 1982 | West Virginia | 9-3 | #21 | +1.04 SD |
| 1981 | West Virginia | 9-3 | #17 | +1.16 SD |
| 1980 | West Virginia | 6-6 | #47 | +0.31 SD |
| 1976 | Bowling Green | 6-5 | #85 | -0.52 SD |
| 1975 | Bowling Green | 8-3 | #47 | +0.29 SD |
| 1974 | Bowling Green | 6-4-1 | #64 | -0.14 SD |
| 1973 | Bowling Green | 7-3 | #75 | -0.47 SD |
| 1972 | Bowling Green | 6-3-1 | #63 | -0.27 SD |
| 1971 | Bowling Green | 6-4 | #71 | -0.35 SD |
| 1970 | Bowling Green | 2-6-1 | #92 | -1.15 SD |
| 1969 | Bowling Green | 6-4 | #66 | -0.31 SD |
| 1968 | Bowling Green | 6-3-1 | #78 | -0.62 SD |
Season rank = his team among all major-college teams that year; vs contemporaries = how far above the average team (in standard deviations).