The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Lee Corso

Followed Bill Mallory. Lee Corso held Northern Illinois at Regional Program III for 1 season.

The journeyman
73–85
1969–1984 · 3 stints
LouisvilleIndianaNorthern Illinois
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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 careerLOUISVILLEINDIANANORTHERN ILL…National Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelLouisville, 1969: 5-4, Regional Program III1969Louisville, 1970: 8-3, Regional Program IIILouisville, 1971: 6-3, Regional Program IILouisville, 1972: 9-1, Regional Program I1972+7.4Indiana, 1973: 2-9, Regional Program II1973Indiana, 1974: 1-10, Regional Program IIIndiana, 1975: 2-8, Regional Program IIIIndiana, 1976: 5-6, Regional Program IIIIndiana, 1977: 5-5, Regional Program IIIIndiana, 1978: 4-7, Regional Program IIIIndiana, 1979: 8-4, Regional Program IIIndiana, 1980: 6-5, Regional Program IIIndiana, 1981: 3-8, Regional Program IIIndiana, 1982: 5-6, Regional Program III1982+1.9Northern Illinois, 1984: 4-6, Regional Program III1984-0.2One 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).

Louisville, 4 seasons
+7.4
Regional Program III → Regional Program I.
Indiana, 10 seasons
+1.9
Regional 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.

6–10 against his rivals. Winless in 8 tries against Bo Schembechler.

Rivalry record
6–10
37.5% · 4 rivals
One-score games
28–23–4
50.9% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–13
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
Purdue4–640%
Cincinnati2–250%
Ball State0–10%
Toledo0–10%
The toughest matchup
vs. Bo Schembechler0–8
8 meetings, 1973–1982
’73 L’74 L’75 L’76 L’79 L’80 L’81 L’82 L
0% win rate across a real, 8-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
0–13 0.0%
Power Program
4–20 16.7%
National Program
19–24 44.2%
Regional Program
35–24 59.3%

Coaching career

1984–1984
Northern Illinoiscaretaker
Regional Program III → Regional Program III
Lee Corso held Northern Illinois at Regional Program III for 1 season.

10th-best Northern Illinois tenure of 13 by the numbers.

Followed Bill Mallory (1980–1983) · succeeded by Jerry Pettibone (1985–1990).

4–6
1973–1982
Indianacaretaker
Regional Program II → Regional Program II
Lee Corso held Indiana at Regional Program II for 10 seasons.

10th-best Indiana tenure of 16 by the numbers.

Followed John Pont (1965–1972) · succeeded by Sam Wyche (1983–1983).

8 NFL Draft picks: Mike Fulk (1973), Glenn Scolnik (1973), Carl Barzilauskas (1974), Larry Jameson (1975), Greg McGuire (1976), Joe Norman (1979), Mike Friede (1980), Babe Laufenberg (1983)

41–68
1969–1972
Louisvillecaretaker
Regional Program II → Regional Program I
Lee Corso moved Louisville from Regional Program II to Regional Program I in 4 seasons.

11th-best Louisville tenure of 15 by the numbers.

Followed Frank Camp (1962–1968) · succeeded by Tom Alley (1973–1974).

6 NFL Draft picks: Wally Oyler (1969), Lee Bouggess (1970), Cleo Walker (1970), Larry Ball (1972), Amos Martin (1972), Tom Jackson (1973)

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