The Zeitgeist List · coaching

John Stiegman

John Stiegman slid Pennsylvania from Regional Program I to Regional Program II in 5 seasons.

The journeyman
34–48
1956–1964 · 2 stints
RutgersPennsylvania
← 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 careerRUTGERSPENNSYLVANIARegional Programthe building-block levelRutgers, 1956: 3-7, Regional Program III1956Rutgers, 1957: 5-4, Regional Program III1957Rutgers, 1958: 8-1, Regional Program III1958Rutgers, 1959: 6-3, Regional Program III1959+0.6Pennsylvania, 1960: 3-6, Regional Program II1960Pennsylvania, 1961: 2-7, Regional Program III1961Pennsylvania, 1962: 3-6, Regional Program IV1962Pennsylvania, 1963: 3-6, Regional Program IV1963Pennsylvania, 1964: 1-8, Regional Program V1964-12.3One 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).

Rutgers, 4 seasons
+0.6
Regional Program III → Regional Program III.
Pennsylvania, 5 seasons
−12.3
Regional Program II → Regional Program V.

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.

Just 1–4 against John Yovicsin.

One-score games
4–7
36.4% · margin ≤8
The toughest matchupNemesis
vs. John Yovicsin1–4
5 meetings, 1960–1964
’60 L’61 L’62 L’63 W’64 L
Performance by opponent class
Power Program
0–1 0.0%
National Program
3–15 16.7%
Regional Program
7–21 25.0%

Coaching career

1960–1964
Pennsylvaniacaretaker
Regional Program I → Regional Program II
John Stiegman slid Pennsylvania from Regional Program I to Regional Program II in 5 seasons.

3rd-best Pennsylvania tenure of 4 by the numbers.

12–33
1956–1959
Rutgerscaretaker
Regional Program II → Regional Program III
John Stiegman moved Rutgers from Regional Program II to Regional Program III in 4 seasons.

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

Followed Harvey Harman (1946–1955) · succeeded by John Bateman (1960–1972).

22–15