The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Bob Commings

Followed Frank Lauterbur. Bob Commings held Iowa at Regional Program III for 5 seasons.

17–38
1974–1978 · 1 stint
Iowa
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Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerIOWARegional Programthe building-block levelIowa, 1974: 3-8, Regional Program III1974Iowa, 1975: 3-8, Regional Program III1975Iowa, 1976: 5-6, Regional Program III1976Iowa, 1977: 4-7, Regional Program III1977Iowa, 1978: 2-9, Regional Program III1978+1.4One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Regional Program in his 1st career season — faster than 20% of the 925 FBS coaches who have ever reached Regional Program (rank #1 of 925 by seasons-to-arrival).

Iowa, 5 seasons
+1.4
Regional Program III → Regional Program III.

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.

6–6 against his rivals. Winless in 5 tries against Woody Hayes.

Rivalry record
6–6
50.0% · 3 rivals
One-score games
5–9
35.7% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–8
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
Minnesota2–340%
Wisconsin3–260%
Iowa State1–150%
The toughest matchup
vs. Woody Hayes0–5
5 meetings, 1974–1978
’74 L’75 L’76 L’77 L’78 L
0% win rate across a real, 5-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
0–8 0.0%
Power Program
3–10 23.1%
National Program
4–12 25.0%
Regional Program
10–8 55.6%

Coaching career

1974–1978
Iowacaretaker
Regional Program III → Regional Program III
Bob Commings held Iowa at Regional Program III for 5 seasons.

12th-best Iowa tenure of 13 by the numbers.

Followed Frank Lauterbur (1971–1973) · succeeded by Hayden Fry (1979–1998).

6 NFL Draft picks: Dan Dickel (1974), Earl Douthitt (1975), Rod Walters (1976), Jim Jensen (1976), Joe Devlin (1976), Rod Wellington (1976)

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