The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Pat Culpepper

Followed Jerry Ippoliti. Pat Culpepper slid Northern Illinois from Regional Program II to Regional Program IV in 4 seasons.

14–29
1976–1979 · 1 stint
Northern 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 careerNORTHERN ILLINOISRegional Programthe building-block levelNorthern Illinois, 1976: 1-10, Regional Program IV1976Northern Illinois, 1977: 3-8, Regional Program IV1977Northern Illinois, 1978: 5-6, Regional Program IV1978Northern Illinois, 1979: 5-5, Regional Program IV1979-7.3One 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).

Northern Illinois, 4 seasons
−7.3
Regional Program IV → Regional Program IV.

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 4 tries against Elliot Uzelac.

Rivalry record
1–7
12.5% · 2 rivals
One-score games
4–1–1
66.7% · margin ≤8
Rivalry ledger
Ball State0–40%
Toledo1–325%
The toughest matchup
vs. Elliot Uzelac0–4
4 meetings, 1976–1979
’76 L’77 L’78 L’79 L
0% win rate across a real, 4-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
National Program
0–10 0.0%
Regional Program
9–14 39.1%

Coaching career

1976–1979
Northern Illinoiscaretaker
Regional Program II → Regional Program IV
Pat Culpepper slid Northern Illinois from Regional Program II to Regional Program IV in 4 seasons.

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

Followed Jerry Ippoliti (1971–1975) · succeeded by Bill Mallory (1980–1983).

2 NFL Draft picks: Bob Gregolunas (1976), Ken Moore (1977)

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