Bernie Bierman

Head coach, Minnesota, 1936 to 1950

College career68-32-2

Titles3national

Now

Career arc

Stats

Big games

Pick a job to see its years on their own.

Minnesota1936–41 · 38-9-1Minnesota1945–50 · 30-23-1All jobs68-32-2

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

11-1 against his rivals at Minnesota. Nobody he faced three or more times there has a winning record against him.

Rivalry record

11-1

91.7% · 2 rivals

One-score games

15-8-1

62.5% · margin ≤8

Rivalry ledger

Iowa5-183%

Wisconsin6-0100%

Closest series

vs. Pappy Waldorf3-3

6 meetings, 1936–1941

’36 L’37 W’38 L’39 L’40 W’41 W

Performance by opponent class

Power Program

16-5 76.2%

National Program

16-3 84.2%

Regional Program

5-1 83.3%

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

7-5 against his rivals at Minnesota. Winless in 3 tries against Bennie Oosterbaan.

Rivalry record

7-5

58.3% · 2 rivals

One-score games

7-9-1

41.2% · margin ≤8

Against Blue Bloods or better

0-3

0.0%

Rivalry ledger

Iowa3-350%

Wisconsin4-267%

The toughest matchup

vs. Bennie Oosterbaan0-2-1

3 meetings, 1948–1950

’48 L’49 L’50 T

0% win rate across a real, 3-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.

Performance by opponent class

Blue Blood

0-3 0.0%

Power Program

2-9 18.2%

National Program

18-7 72.0%

Regional Program

9-4 69.2%

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

18-6 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Bennie Oosterbaan.

Rivalry record

18-6

75.0% · 2 rivals

One-score games

22-17-2

53.7% · margin ≤8

Against Blue Bloods or better

0-3

0.0%

Rivalry ledger

Iowa8-467%

Wisconsin10-283%

The toughest matchup

vs. Bennie Oosterbaan0-2-1

3 meetings, 1948–1950

’48 L’49 L’50 T

0% win rate across a real, 3-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.

Performance by opponent class

Blue Blood

0-3 0.0%

Power Program

18-14 56.2%

National Program

34-10 77.3%

Regional Program

14-5 73.7%

Building the roster

Two numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.

1Roster ownership
2The NFL pipeline

Roster ownership

This coach's entire tenure (1936-1950) predates 2021, when transfer-portal tracking begins in this database. Portal usage cannot be measured for this tenure at all -- this is not the same as '0% portal'.

“His own” means the player arrived while he was head coach; “inherited” means a predecessor brought him in.

The NFL pipeline

at least26Drafted

players drafted into the NFL off his teams here (a floor — see the note below). None can be traced to who brought them in — there’s no roster record for these players here. 8 went in the first round.

At least 26 — his 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950 seasons predate the modern 7-round draft, so this table’s pre-1994 pick counts are a floor, not a full count, for those seasons.

0 roster-verified · 26 estimated

Most recent picks first

Year	Pick	Note
1950	R1.04	Estimated
1950	R1.11	Estimated
1950	R1.14	Estimated
1950	R3.28	Estimated
1950	R6.66	Estimated
1948	R6.37	Estimated
1946	R7.49	Estimated
1942	R1.09	Estimated

Year	Pick	Note
1942	R3.21	Estimated
1942	R4.25	Estimated
1942	R4.26	Estimated
1942	R7.50	Estimated
1941	R1.06	Estimated
1941	R3.20	Estimated
1940	R1.08	Estimated
1940	R5.27	Estimated
1939	R1.09	Estimated
1939	R6.38	Estimated
1939	R7.51	Estimated
1938	R5.30	Estimated
1938	R6.43	Estimated
1938	R7.50	Estimated
1937	R1.03	Estimated
1937	R2.17	Estimated
1937	R3.24	Estimated
1937	R4.30	Estimated

A pick counts toward his tenure when the player’s final college season was one he coached, a checkable rule rather than a claim about who developed the player. A blank note means the player is on a verified roster and arrived on his watch. “Estimated” means no roster record, so the final season is assumed to be the year before the draft.

Bernie Bierman

Now

Career arc

Stats

Big games

The big-game ledger

The big-game ledger

The big-game ledger

Building the roster

Roster ownership

The NFL pipeline

Career

Coaching career

All-time wins