The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Dwight Wallace

Followed Dave McClain. Dwight Wallace held Ball State at National Program II for 7 seasons.

40–37
1978–1984 · 1 stint
Ball 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 careerBALL STATENational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelBall State, 1978: 10-1, National Program II1978Ball State, 1979: 6-5, National Program II1979Ball State, 1980: 6-5, National Program II1980Ball State, 1981: 4-7, National Program II1981Ball State, 1982: 5-6, National Program III1982Ball State, 1983: 6-5, Regional Program I1983Ball State, 1984: 3-8, Regional Program III1984-3.1One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached National Program in his 1st career season — faster than 41% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #1 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).

Ball State, 7 seasons
−3.1
National Program II → 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.

6–1 against his rivals. Just 1–6 against Herb Deromedi.

Rivalry record
6–1
85.7% · 1 rival
One-score games
9–8
52.9% · margin ≤8
Rivalry ledger
Northern Illinois6–186%
The toughest matchupNemesis
vs. Herb Deromedi1–6
7 meetings, 1978–1984
’78 W’79 L’80 L’81 L’82 L’83 L’84 L
Performance by opponent class
National Program
3–9 25.0%
Regional Program
26–20 56.5%

Coaching career

1978–1984
Ball Statecaretaker
National Program II → National Program II
Dwight Wallace held Ball State at National Program II for 7 seasons.

1st-best Ball State tenure of 10 by the numbers.

Followed Dave McClain (1975–1977) · succeeded by Paul Schudel (1985–1994).

2 NFL Draft picks: Maurice Harvey (1978), Ken Kremer (1979)

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