Joe Novak

Head coach, 1996–2007

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

1996–2007Northern IllinoisHead Coach

As head coach

Rating—Peak59Career51

1996–2007 · 12 seasonsRecord 63-76National titles 0Great seasons 0 (top ~7% of all teams that year)

Rating 58: 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 59: best five-season stretch, 2002–2006 at Northern Illinois (41-20), taking over one of the weakest programs in major college football.
Career 51 (#459 since 1936): total accomplishment over 12 seasons (63-76), 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
2007	Northern Illinois	2-10	#115	-1.70 SD
2006	Northern Illinois	7-6	#71	-0.26 SD
2005	Northern Illinois	7-5	#36	+0.46 SD
2004	Northern Illinois	9-3	#65	-0.04 SD
2003	Northern Illinois	10-2	#54	+0.14 SD
2002	Northern Illinois	8-4	#59	+0.05 SD
2001	Northern Illinois	6-5	#79	-0.42 SD
2000	Northern Illinois	6-5	#59	+0.08 SD
1999	Northern Illinois	5-6	#93	-0.85 SD
1998	Northern Illinois	2-9	#104	-1.36 SD
1997	Northern Illinois	0-11	#108	-1.78 SD
1996	Northern Illinois	1-10	#111	-2.21 SD

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