Who is the best coach in close games...

[Left Seater]

So I came across these stats about Big XII coaches and it brought up a few thoughts. In close games who turns out to be the best. Most would prolly say Stoops and that is a good guess. Turns out Brown has the best record in close games, those decided by 7 or less. (Record while in Big XII only.)

Games Decided by less than 7 points
Mack Brown, Texas 23 10 0 .670
Gene Chizik, Iowa State 2 1 0 .667
Bob Stoops, Oklahoma 17 11 0 .607
Ron Prince, Kansas State 3 2 0 .600
Mike Leach, Texas Tech 15 13 0 .536
Gary Pinkel, Missouri 10 10 0 .500
Mark Mangino, Kansas 10 11 0 .476
Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State 5 7 0 .417
Dan Hawkins, Colorado 3 7 0 .300

The flip side could be that Texas played in more games that were closer than they should have been, but Brown is right behind Stoops in blowout games.

Games decided by more than 17 points
Bob Stoops, Oklahoma 59 6 .908
Mack Brown, Texas 67 8 .893
Mike Leach, Texas Tech 37 15 .712
Gary Pinkel, Missouri 30 13 .698
Mark Mangino, Kansas 22 16 .579
Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State 9 9 .500
Ron Prince, Kansas State 7 7 .500
Dan Hawkins, Colorado 4 6 .400
Gene Chizik, Iowa State 0 4 .000


The bottom line is Stoops and Brown are the best in close games, but then they do have the best talent also.

Anyone have this type info for other conferences?

[TheJON]

Don't have that info for the Big-10 but I don't need a statistic to tell me the worst coach in close games in the history of college football is Joe Tiller. His teams melt like crazy under pressure. Every year. Based on system, I would guess Mike Leach's teams statistically throughout the years have been similar to Tiller. It's not a system that stresses mental toughness. It's a garbage system used to dominate terrible teams and that translates into mentally weak players.

[L45B]

Don't have any comparisons handy, but I'm sure Tressel would have to be high on that list for the Big Ten. tOSU won something like seven games by a touchdown or less in the '02 NC run. And the following year, I think he went 6-1 in games decided by seven points or less. That was back when the Big Ten was good.

[RadioFan]

Don't have any comparisons handy, but I'm sure Tressel would have to be high on that list for the Big Ten.

Absolutely.

I'd imagine Carroll and Spurrier are high on the list as well.

[King Crimson]

i don't have a link or anything but i once saw a stat that Barry Switzer was like 17-1 in game decided by 3 points or less. maybe it was 1 point. something like that, freakish.

sin,

King Homer Crimson

on the subject of Dan Hawkins, he's hard not to like. he's kind of a cartoon but his heart is in the right place. However, his record against teams of equal talent is not good. evidenced above. i think he's gonna have to move his OC or DC or both to get to the next level.

[SoCalTrjn]

Carroll is actually 1 game below .500 in games decided by 7 or fewer points
He is 76-14 overall at USC
12-13 in games decided by 7 or fewer points (5 of which were in his first season)
9-1 in games decided by 8-16 points (the 1 loss was also in his first season)
55-0 in games decided by 17 or more