It seems that collegiate coaching jobs are becoming subject to more pressure to win, but do the numbers bear this out? We looked in the Win AD database at men’s football coaches between 2007-2012 from 250 schools and women’s basketball coaches between 2007-2012 from 344 schools to see if the turnover rate was increasing. We did not delineate between coaches who retired, were dismissed, or left to take another job – the only metric used was whether or not there was a new head coach in the position the following season. Here’s what we found:
Number of New Coaches in Each Season, 2008-2012
|
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Women’s Bball Coaches |
46 |
53 |
24 |
36 |
37 |
| % New |
13.4% |
15.4% |
7.0% |
10.5% |
10.8% |
| New Football Coaches |
45 |
37 |
37 |
44 |
40 |
| % New |
13.1% |
10.8% |
10.8% |
12.8% |
11.6% |
The numbers are relatively steady, especially considering the following:
Number of Coaches, 2007-2012
|
# Football Coaches |
# Schools |
% of Total |
# WBB Coaches |
# Schools |
% of Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
90 |
36.0% |
1 |
171 |
49.7% |
|
2 |
122 |
84.8% |
2 |
150 |
93.3% |
|
3 |
33 |
98.0% |
3 |
23 |
100.0% |
|
4 |
5 |
100.0% |
In football, nearly 85% of schools had the same coach over all six seasons or only changed coaches once during that time. In basketball, 93% of the schools had the same coach or only changed once. The schools that had three or more coaches over that time period were the exception. So, as football and basketball are two of the highest pressure coaching jobs on a campus, it seems that head coaching jobs on campus are relatively stable employment.
