The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Jim Lookabaugh

Followed Ted Cox. Jim Lookabaugh raised Oklahoma State from Regional Program IV to National Program I.

58–41
1939–1949 · 1 stint
Oklahoma State
← all coaches

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 careerOKLAHOMA STATEPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelOklahoma State, 1939: 5-4, Regional Program IV1939Oklahoma State, 1940: 6-3, Regional Program IV1940Oklahoma State, 1941: 5-4, Regional Program III1941Oklahoma State, 1942: 6-3, Regional Program II1942Oklahoma State, 1943: 3-4, Regional Program II1943Oklahoma State, 1944: 8-1, Regional Program I1944Oklahoma State, 1945: 9-0, National Program II1945Oklahoma State, 1946: 3-7, National Program I1946Oklahoma State, 1947: 3-7, National Program I1947Oklahoma State, 1948: 6-4, National Program I1948Oklahoma State, 1949: 4-4, National Program II1949+25.5One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached National Program in his 7th career season — faster than 9% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #597 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).

Oklahoma State, 11 seasons
+25.5
Regional Program IV → National Program II.

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.

2–9 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Bud Wilkinson.

Rivalry record
2–9–2
15.4% · 2 rivals
One-score games
8–12–5
32.0% · margin ≤8
Rivalry ledger
Oklahoma2–8–118%
Texas Tech0–1–10%
The toughest matchup
vs. Bud Wilkinson0–3
3 meetings, 1947–1949
’47 L’48 L’49 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
Power Program
7–17 29.2%
National Program
7–11 38.9%
Regional Program
11–5 68.8%

Coaching career

1939–1949
Oklahoma Statebuilder
Regional Program IV → National Program I
Jim Lookabaugh raised Oklahoma State from Regional Program IV to National Program I.

5th-best Oklahoma State tenure of 15 by the numbers.

Followed Ted Cox (1936–1938) · succeeded by Jennings Whitworth (1950–1954).

58–41