Comparison of relevant Gopher head coaches

RememberMurray

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For those of you keeping score at home, for comparison purposes. All records are as Minnesota head coach only, per Wiki...

P.J. Fleck
Overall: 43-27 — .614%
Conference: 26-26 — .500%
Bowls: 3-0 — 1.000%

Tracy Claeys
Overall: 11-8 — .579%
Conference: 6-8 — .429%
Bowls: 2-0 — 1.000%

Jerry Kill
Overall: 29-29 — .500%
Conference: 14-21 — .400%
Bowls: 0-3 — 0.00%

Glen Mason
Overall: 64-57 — .529%
Conference: 32-48 — .400%
Bowls: 3-4 — .429%


Murray Warmath
Overall: 87-78-7 — .527%
Conference: 65-57-4 — .533%
Bowls: 1-1 — .500%

Notes: Warmath is the only 'modern era' Gopher coach to win a Big Ten Title. Warmath also won the National Title in 1960. The Gophers under Warmath went to 2 consecutive Rose Bowls.

Fleck and Warmath are the only modern Gopher coaches with a record of .500 or better in the Big Ten.

These listings omit Gopher coaches from the more distant past, including the great Bernie Bierman, Clarence "Doc" Spears, and Henry L. Williams.
 
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I love our coach and we will continue to be very good year after year as long as he’s here. But we need to stop losing home games to Illinois, Purdue, and Iowa!! We should be back to back West champs.
 





Cal Stoll
Overall: 39-39 — .500%
Conference: 27-29 — .482%
Bowls: 0-1 — .000%
 

For those of you keeping score at home, for comparison purposes. All records are as Minnesota head coach only, per Wiki...

P.J. Fleck
Overall: 43-27 — .614%
Conference: 26-26 — .500%
Bowls: 3-0 — 1.000%

Tracy Claeys
Overall: 11-8 — .579%
Conference: 6-8 — .429%
Bowls: 2-0 — 1.000%

Jerry Kill
Overall: 29-29 — .500%
Conference: 14-21 — .400%
Bowls: 0-3 — 0.00%

Glen Mason
Overall: 64-57 — .529%
Conference: 32-48 — .400%
Bowls: 3-4 — .429%


Murray Warmath
Overall: 87-78-7 — .527%
Conference: 65-57-4 — .533%
Bowls: 1-1 — .500%

Notes: Warmath is the only 'modern era' Gopher coach to win a Big Ten Title. Warmath also won the National Title in 1960. The Gophers under Warmath went to 2 consecutive Rose Bowls.

Fleck and Warmath are the only modern Gopher coaches with a record of .500 or better in the Big Ten.

These listings omit Gopher coaches from the more distant past, including the great Bernie Bierman, Clarence "Doc" Spears, and Henry L. Williams.
Facts and stats . . . Damn you!!
 



Fleck has the best overall record in the modern era, in terms of win percentage.

He also has the second-best conference win percentage, behind only Warmath.
 

The mediocrity of that list is telling. 1 coach with a winning big 10 record and most just hover at 500.
 

The mediocrity of that list is telling. 1 coach with a winning big 10 record and most just hover at 500.

It's "telling", yes. It's an indication of how hard it is to win at Minnesota.

It's also "telling" in that it shows how much Fleck has accomplished here. The trajectory of the program has not been this good in a very long time.
 

For those of you keeping score at home, for comparison purposes. All records are as Minnesota head coach only, per Wiki...

P.J. Fleck
Overall: 43-27 — .614%
Conference: 26-26 — .500%
Bowls: 3-0 — 1.000%

Tracy Claeys
Overall: 11-8 — .579%
Conference: 6-8 — .429%
Bowls: 2-0 — 1.000%

Jerry Kill
Overall: 29-29 — .500%
Conference: 14-21 — .400%
Bowls: 0-3 — 0.00%

Glen Mason
Overall: 64-57 — .529%
Conference: 32-48 — .400%
Bowls: 3-4 — .429%


Murray Warmath
Overall: 87-78-7 — .527%
Conference: 65-57-4 — .533%
Bowls: 1-1 — .500%

Notes: Warmath is the only 'modern era' Gopher coach to win a Big Ten Title. Warmath also won the National Title in 1960. The Gophers under Warmath went to 2 consecutive Rose Bowls.

Fleck and Warmath are the only modern Gopher coaches with a record of .500 or better in the Big Ten.

These listings omit Gopher coaches from the more distant past, including the great Bernie Bierman, Clarence "Doc" Spears, and Henry L. Williams.
Thanks for this. Good to see it in nice clean numbers.
 






It's "telling", yes. It's an indication of how hard it is to win at Minnesota.

It's also "telling" in that it shows how much Fleck has accomplished here. The trajectory of the program has not been this good in a very long time.
Correct. Thats exactly what I was trying to say. I think fleck gets a little too much abuse on this board. Minnesota is never going to be a national power I don’t think. But he has made them better and maybe every few years they have a special team. He is kind of a beavis with all his quirks and sayings but seems like a genuine guy who works hard. Gotta respect that.
 

Correct. Thats exactly what I was trying to say. I think fleck gets a little too much abuse on this board. Minnesota is never going to be a national power I don’t think. But he has made them better and maybe every few years they have a special team. He is kind of a beavis with all his quirks and sayings but seems like a genuine guy who works hard. Gotta respect that.
My sentiments exactly. Let's not set the bar so high that we are disappointed with 8 and 9 win seasons. I'm happy with above .500 seasons, competing for the BIG West title, beating IA and WI, and going to a bowl game. Anything more than that is just icing on the cake. I realistically don't know if we will ever be in the new 12 team CFP bowl picture.......and I'm fine with that.
 

It's all about the trajectory. Is the program headed in the right direction?

— Best win percentage in the modern era.

— Best conference win percentage since Warmath.

— 3-3 against Wisconsin, including ending an 0-15 streak against the Badgers, and starting our own 2-0 streak (first time since 1993).

— 0-6 vs Iowa, but outplayed the Hawkeyes in 2021 and 2022. Streak-breaker is coming soon.

— First Top 10 finish nationally since the last National Title in 1960.

— 11-2, 9-4, 9-4 in the last three full seasons.
 

I don't think Warmath gets his due.

His era at Minnesota was ending in the 70s, when the mood on campus was really quite antagonistic toward football.

He was a great, great football coach.
Absolutely correct. Plus, he gave opportunities to a number of black players from the segregated south and did not get to play pre-conference cupcakes.
 

Absolutely correct. Plus, he gave opportunities to a number of black players from the segregated south and did not get to play pre-conference cupcakes.

I remember, as a kid, watching the end of his coaching career. He never complained about changing views on campus regarding football, or the way the administration handled things. He conducted himself like a gentleman. He was always true to himself. Extremely admirable. We won't see his like again.
 


Murray Warmath could very well be the last football coach to ever win a National Championship at Minnesota. Think about that.

I'd bet a fair percentage of Gopher Hole posters know next to nothing about him, and I'd wager the vast majority of students at the U have never heard of him.

That's an indication of how hard it is to win as a football coach at Minnesota. The campus climate, and the state interest level, are not similar to true football schools.
 

By the way, just thought of this so I looked it up on Wiki...

Nick Saban (at Michigan State)
Overall: 34-24-1 — .586%
Conference: 23-16-1 — .590%
Bowls: 0-3 — .000%

0 conference titles, 0 division titles
Never ranked in the Top 25
Best record: 9-2
 





John Gutekunst
Overall: 29-37-2 — .439%
Conference: 18-28-2 — .391%
Bowls: 1-1 — .500%
 





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