Coaches / Head coach / Frank Leahy
Career
87
not coaching now
Rating—recent
Peak90best 5 yrs
Career87whole career
confidence
Frank Leahy
Head coach, 1939–1953
Headline rating: as head coach. Every role he has been rated in is below.
Chemistry
—
index in development
Seasons here—
Programs2
Stints3
Career path
Head-coaching stints since 1936; assistant roles since 2016
As head coach
Rating—Peak90Career87
1939–1953 · 12 seasonsRecord 98-12National titles 4Great seasons 4 (top ~7% of all teams that year)
- Rating 89: 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 90: best five-season stretch, 1942–1949 at Notre Dame (43-2, 5 top-10 seasons by team strength, 3 national titles), taking over a good program.
- Career 87 (#26 since 1936): total accomplishment over 12 seasons (98-12), 4 national titles, 4 elite seasons; full credit for the program he inherited.
- Won big at one of his 2 programs (Notre Dame).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Notre Dame | 9-0-1 | #1 | +2.00 SD |
| 1952 | Notre Dame | 7-2-1 | #9 | +1.36 SD |
| 1951 | Notre Dame | 7-2-1 | #13 | +1.07 SD |
| 1950 | Notre Dame | 4-4-1 | #51 | +0.06 SD |
| 1949 | Notre Dame | 10-0 | #1 | +2.33 SD |
| 1948 | Notre Dame | 9-0-1 | #5 | +1.45 SD |
| 1947 | Notre Dame | 9-0 | #3 | +2.17 SD |
| 1946 | Notre Dame | 8-0-1 | #1 | +2.49 SD |
| 1943 | Notre Dame | 9-1 | #1 (wartime) | +2.31 SD |
| 1942 | Notre Dame | 7-2-2 | #8 | +1.22 SD |
| 1941 | Notre Dame | 8-0-1 | #8 | +1.19 SD |
| 1940 | Boston College | 11-0 | #10 | +1.36 SD |
| 1939 | Boston College | 9-2 | #9 | +1.33 SD |
Season rank = his team among all major-college teams that year; vs contemporaries = how far above the average team (in standard deviations).