The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Jim Grobe

Followed Art Briles. Jim Grobe held Baylor at Power Program III for 1 season.

The ascent
117–121
1995–2016 · 3 stints
OhioWake ForestBaylor
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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 careerOHIOWAKE FORESTBAYLORPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelOhio, 1995: 2-8, Regional Program VI1995Ohio, 1996: 6-6, Regional Program VIOhio, 1997: 8-3, Regional Program VOhio, 1998: 5-6, Regional Program VOhio, 1999: 5-6, Regional Program IVOhio, 2000: 7-4, Regional Program IV2000+8.3Wake Forest, 2001: 6-5, Regional Program III2001Wake Forest, 2002: 7-6, Regional Program IIWake Forest, 2003: 5-7, Regional Program IIWake Forest, 2004: 4-7, Regional Program IIWake Forest, 2005: 4-7, Regional Program IIWake Forest, 2006: 11-3, National Program IIIWake Forest, 2007: 9-4, National Program IIIWake Forest, 2008: 8-5, National Program IIWake Forest, 2009: 5-7, National Program IIWake Forest, 2010: 3-9, National Program IIIWake Forest, 2011: 6-7, National Program IIIWake Forest, 2012: 5-7, Regional Program IWake Forest, 2013: 4-8, Regional Program II2013+15.4Baylor, 2016: 7-6, Power Program III2016-1.3One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Power Program in his 20th career season — faster than 1% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #392 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).

Ohio, 6 seasons
+8.3
Regional Program VI → Regional Program IV.
Wake Forest, 13 seasons
+15.4
Regional Program III → Regional Program II.

Style position and drift

Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.

40%Baylor2016–2016– 0.0pt
Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)

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.

1–7 against his rivals. Winless in 5 tries against Dabo Swinney.

Rivalry record
1–7
12.5% · 3 rivals
One-score games
43–53–1
44.3% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
3–14
17.6%
Rivalry ledger
Miami (OH)1–517%
TCU0–10%
Texas Tech0–10%
The toughest matchup
vs. Dabo Swinney0–5
5 meetings, 2009–2013
’09 L’10 L’11 L’12 L’13 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
3–14 17.6%
Power Program
7–31 18.4%
National Program
36–41 46.8%
Regional Program
56–34 62.2%

His own effect, isolated

A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.

Offense marginal impact
+0.07
#119 of 319 · a typical amount
Defense marginal impact
+0.08
#105 of 325 · a typical amount

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

Coaching career

2016–2016
Baylorcaretaker
Power Program III → Power Program III
Jim Grobe held Baylor at Power Program III for 1 season.

4th-best Baylor tenure of 16 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Outperforms his recruiting talent on offense and performs about as expected for his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent
+15.9 pts
#48 of 208 · more than most
Defense vs. talent
+7.6 pts
#73 of 208 · a typical amount
Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Followed Art Briles (2008–2015) · succeeded by Matt Rhule (2017–2019).

Where the roster comes from, by position
Grows Cornerback from high school
100%
#225 of 236 stints
Postseason detail2016: Beat Boise State 31–12 Motel 6 Cactus Bowl

7 NFL Draft picks: Corey Coleman (2016), Xavien Howard (2016), Andrew Billings (2016), Spencer Drango (2016), Jimmy Landes (2016), Rico Gathers (2016), Kyle Fuller (2017)

7–6
2001–2013
Wake Forestbuilder
Regional Program III → National Program II
Jim Grobe raised Wake Forest from Regional Program III to National Program II.

3rd-best Wake Forest tenure of 16 by the numbers.

Followed Jim Caldwell (1993–2000) · succeeded by Dave Clawson (2014–2024).

Where the roster comes from, by position
Grows Tight end from high school
100%
#164 of 188 stints
Grows Edge from high school
100%
#191 of 208 stints

22 NFL Draft picks: Calvin Pace (2003), Ovie Mughelli (2003), Montique Sharpe (2003), Eric King (2005), Ryan Plackemeier (2006), Josh Gattis (2007), Steve Vallos (2007), Jeremy Thompson (2008) + 14 more

77–82
1995–2000
Ohiocaretaker
Regional Program VI → Regional Program IV
Jim Grobe moved Ohio from Regional Program VI to Regional Program IV in 6 seasons.

9th-best Ohio tenure of 11 by the numbers.

Followed Tom Lichtenberg (1990–1994) · succeeded by Brian Knorr (2001–2004).

33–33