The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Bob Higgins

Bob Higgins held Penn State at Power Program III for 13 seasons.

73–29
1936–1948 · 1 stint
Penn State
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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 careerPENN STATEPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelPenn State, 1936: 3-5, Regional Program II1936Penn State, 1937: 5-3, Regional Program II1937Penn State, 1938: 3-4, Regional Program II1938Penn State, 1939: 5-1, Regional Program I1939Penn State, 1940: 6-1, Regional Program II1940Penn State, 1941: 7-2, Regional Program I1941Penn State, 1942: 6-1, Regional Program I1942Penn State, 1943: 5-3, Regional Program I1943Penn State, 1944: 6-3, Regional Program I1944Penn State, 1945: 5-3, Regional Program I1945Penn State, 1946: 6-2, National Program II1946Penn State, 1947: 9-0, Power Program III1947Penn State, 1948: 7-1, Power Program III1948+0.0One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Power Program in his 12th career season — faster than 4% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #374 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).

Penn State, 13 seasons
+0.0
Regional Program II → Power 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.

5–10 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Carl Snavely.

Rivalry record
5–10–1
31.2% · 2 rivals
One-score games
16–10–7
48.5% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
1–3
25.0%
Rivalry ledger
Pittsburgh5–838%
Michigan State0–2–10%
The toughest matchup
vs. Carl Snavely0–3
3 meetings, 1937–1939
’37 L’38 L’39 L
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
1–3 25.0%
Power Program
5–3 62.5%
National Program
14–11 56.0%
Regional Program
27–6 81.8%

Coaching career

1936–1948
Penn Statecaretaker
Power Program III
Bob Higgins held Penn State at Power Program III for 13 seasons.

7th-best Penn State tenure of 8 by the numbers.

Succeeded by Joe Bedenk (1949–1949).

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