Frank Thomas

Head coach, 1936–1946

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

Stints2

Career path

Head-coaching stints since 1936; assistant roles since 2016

1944–1946AlabamaHead Coach

1936–1942AlabamaHead Coach

As head coach

Rating—Peak82Career76

1936–1946 · 8 seasonsRecord 60-16National titles 1Great seasons 1 (top ~7% of all teams that year)

Rating 82: 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 82: best five-season stretch, 1936–1938 at Alabama (24-2, 2 top-10 seasons by team strength), taking over an average program.
Career 76 (#104 since 1936): total accomplishment over 8 seasons (60-16), 1 national title, 1 elite season; full credit for the program he inherited.
All of it at one program (Alabama) — unproven elsewhere; historically about half of a coach's lift carries to a new job.

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
1946	Alabama	7-4	#24	+0.71 SD
1945	Alabama	10-0	#3 (wartime)	+2.02 SD
1944	Alabama	5-2-2	#17 (wartime)	+0.64 SD
1942	Alabama	8-3	#4	+1.50 SD
1941	Alabama	9-2	#7	+1.23 SD
1940	Alabama	7-2	#26	+0.52 SD
1939	Alabama	5-3-1	#14	+1.09 SD
1938	Alabama	7-1-1	#17	+1.04 SD
1937	Alabama	9-1	#7	+1.33 SD
1936	Alabama	8-0-1	#5	+1.41 SD

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