James Valek

Head coach, 1967–1970

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

1967–1970IllinoisHead Coach

As head coach

Rating—Peak49Career59

1967–1970 · 4 seasonsRecord 8-32National titles 0Great seasons 0 (top ~7% of all teams that year)Career: too early to rank all-time (8+ seasons as a head coach)

Rating 49: 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 49: best five-season stretch, 1967–1970 at Illinois (8-32), taking over a good program.

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
1970	Illinois	3-7	#58	-0.18 SD
1969	Illinois	0-10	#98	-1.24 SD
1968	Illinois	1-9	#77	-0.52 SD
1967	Illinois	4-6	#67	-0.29 SD

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