Coaches / Head coach / Major Applewhite
Form · last two seasons
57
performing to its level
Rating58recent
Peak58best 5 yrs
Career61whole career
confidence
Major Applewhite
Head Coach · South Alabama
Headline rating: as head coach. Every role he has been rated in is below.
Chemistry
50
continuity at South Alabama · early
Seasons here3
Programs2
Stints3
Career path
Head-coaching stints since 1936; assistant roles since 2016
Chemistry
vs every head coach since 2016 · 62 = typical
Tenure here
Seasons as head coach at his current school
Staff continuity
Seasons he and his offensive coordinator have worked together
Player retention
Players kept vs. the league norm for similar rosters (fewer transfers out)
Followers
Players and staff who followed him from his previous job
QB & coordinator
How long his quarterbacks have played for the same coordinator
Roster continuity
Share of starters returning from one season to the next under him
Dashed gold ring on the radar = average (62). Chemistry scale: 62 is typical, 20-50 is a warning sign, under 10 is a collapse.
As head coach
Rating58Form57≈ as usualPeak58Career61
2016–2026 · 6 seasonsRecord 26-25National 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 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 58: best five-season stretch, 2016–2024 at Houston and South Alabama (22-17).
Over expectation · 2016 on57Results against what his rosters' talent predicted (program lift, evaluation, recruiting, staff building, game management).
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.
Program lift62
Evaluation61
Results59
Recruiting58
Staff building55
Game management63
| Season | Team | Record | Season rank | vs contemporaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | South Alabama | 0-0 | #95 | -0.59 SD |
| 2025 | South Alabama | 4-8 | #116 | -1.10 SD |
| 2024 | South Alabama | 7-6 | #72 | -0.15 SD |
| 2018 | Houston | 8-5 | #69 | -0.09 SD |
| 2017 | Houston | 7-5 | #56 | +0.21 SD |
| 2016 | Houston | 0-1 | #43 | +0.44 SD |
Season rank = his team among all major-college teams that year; vs contemporaries = how far above the average team (in standard deviations).
As offensive coordinator
Rating75Peak76
His offense against its preseason projection (value over expectation) and the unit's opponent-adjusted quality.
| Season | Team | Unit (EPA/play) | Over expectation | Season score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | South Alabama | 0.08 | 0.07 | 0.97 |
| 2022 | South Alabama | 0.01 | 0.08 | 0.75 |
| 2021 | South Alabama | -0.05 | 0.01 | -0.16 |
| 2016 | Houston | -0.01 | — | -0.05 |
Season score: 0 = an average season in this role; positive = better.