Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin
An old football theorem has held that the most successful coaches do the best in close games and rarely are on the wrong side of a trip to the woodshed.
Putting that to a test, I examined every college game coached by current Big 12 coaches. I looked both at games that were decided by a touchdown (seven points or less) or by 17 points or more. It provided some eye-opening data.
Games decided by 7 points or less:
| | Current job | College career | | | W | L | T | Pct. | W | L | T | Pct. | | Mack Brown, Texas | 23 | 10 | 0 | .670 | 46 | 36 | 1 | .560 | | Gene Chizik, Iowa State | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | | Bob Stoops, Oklahoma | 17 | 11 | 0 | .607 | 17 | 11 | 0 | .607 | | Ron Prince, Kansas State | 3 | 2 | 0 | .600 | 3 | 2 | 0 | .600 | | Mike Leach, Texas Tech | 15 | 13 | 0 | .536 | 15 | 13 | 0 | .536 | | Gary Pinkel, Missouri | 10 | 10 | 0 | .500 | 29 | 25 | 3 | .535 | | Mark Mangino, Kansas | 10 | 11 | 0 | .476 | 10 | 11 | 0 | .476 | | Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State | 5 | 7 | 0 | .417 | 5 | 7 | 0 | .417 | | Dan Hawkins, Colorado | 3 | 7 | 0 | .300 | 13 | 12 | 0 | .520 | | Art Briles, Baylor | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 9 | 13 | 0 | .409 | | Bo Pelini, Nebraska | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | | Mike Sherman, Texas A&M | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
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As expected, the most successful coaches like Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and Texas' Mack Brown were at the top of both lists. But coaching newbies like Kansas State's Ron Prince and Iowa State's Gene Chizik have been successful in close games in their short coaching careers.
I also found that coaching at dominant programs helps in both categories, particularly when compared with coaches' earlier jobs at less successful programs. Mack Brown was 67-8 in big-margin games at Texas and 41-35 when coaching at Tulane, North Carolina and Appalachian State. Brown is 93-11 in 17-point or more games in his last 15 years, but was 15-32 in those blowout games in his first nine years as a college head coach and 5-26 in his first six years.
Stoops won 38 games by 17 points or more before he lost his first game by that margin -- the 2003 Big 12 championship game. Since then he's gone a more modest 20-6 in those blowout games.
And after going 13-7 in his first 20 games settled by a touchdown or less, Stoops has gone 4-4 in those games over the last two seasons.
The quality of a coach's team, in comparison with the rest of the conference, also plays a part in his success in tight games. Dan Hawkins was 10-5 in close games and 38-6 in blowouts while he was leading Boise State. At Colorado, he's 3-7 in games decided by seven points or less and 4-6 in those settled by 17 points or more.
Mark Mangino's turnaround has been noticeable at Kansas. The Jayhawks were 1-8 in Mangino's first season in 2002 in games settled by 17 points or more. They are 21-8 since then, including a 7-0 record. Mangino's teams were 3-7 in tight games in his first three seasons at Kansas. Since then, Kansas is 7-4 in games settled by a touchdown or less, including 3-0 last season.
Here's a look at how the Big 12 coaches stack up in blowout games.
Games settled by 17 points or more:
| | Current job | College career | | | W | L | Pct. | W | L | Pct. | | Bob Stoops, Oklahoma | 59 | 6 | .908 | 59 | 6 | .908 | | Mack Brown, Texas | 67 | 8 | .893 | 108 | 43 | .715 | | Mike Leach, Texas Tech | 37 | 15 | .712 | 37 | 15 | .712 | | Gary Pinkel, Missouri | 30 | 13 | .698 | 65 | 30 | .684 | | Mark Mangino, Kansas | 22 | 16 | .579 | 22 | 16 | .579 | | Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State | 9 | 9 | .500 | 9 | 9 | .500 | | Ron Prince, Kansas State | 7 | 7 | .500 | 7 | 7 | .500 | | Dan Hawkins, Colorado | 4 | 6 | .400 | 42 | 12 | .778 | | Gene Chizik, Iowa State | 0 | 4 | .000 | 0 | 4 | .000 | | Art Briles, Baylor | 0 | 0 | .000 | 15 | 11 | .577 | | Bo Pelini, Nebraska | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | .000 | | Mike Sherman, Texas A&M | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
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