Coaches / Head coach / Rob Harley
Form · last two seasons
59
performing to its level
Rating59recent
Peak59best 5 yrs
Career61whole career
confidence
Rob Harley
Head Coach · Northern Illinois
Headline rating: as head coach. Every role he has been rated in is below.
Chemistry
44
continuity at Northern Illinois · early
Seasons here1
Programs3
Stints4
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
Rating59Form59≈ as usualPeak59Career61
2026–2026 · 1 seasonsRecord 0-0National 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 59: 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.
Over expectation · 2016 on32Results 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 lift38
Evaluation65
Results45
Recruiting61
Staff building34
Game management56
| Season | Team | Record | Season rank | vs contemporaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Northern Illinois | 0-0 | #127 | -1.34 SD |
Season rank = his team among all major-college teams that year; vs contemporaries = how far above the average team (in standard deviations).
As defensive coordinator
Rating32Peak45
His defense against its preseason projection (value over expectation) and the unit's opponent-adjusted quality.
| Season | Team | Unit (EPA/play) | Over expectation | Season score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Northern Illinois | -0.10 | -0.05 | -0.91 |
| 2024 | Arkansas State | -0.14 | -0.06 | -1.27 |
| 2023 | Arkansas State | -0.09 | -0.01 | -0.55 |
| 2022 | Arkansas State | -0.13 | -0.02 | -0.79 |
| 2021 | Arkansas State | -0.17 | -0.13 | -2.06 |
Season score: 0 = an average season in this role; positive = better.