99 Stats Until Kick-Off: (#2) Oakland Raiders have had most head coaches this century
(From May 30 and every day until September 5 – the start of the 2013 NFL season – Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ will publish “99 Stats Until Kick-Off” a daily dose of NFL stats that will get you ready for the 2013 NFL season.)
2. NFL head coaches: Oakland Raiders have had most head coaches this century
Eight teams enter the ’13 NFL season with new head coaches at the helm. They are: Arizona (Bruce Arians), Buffalo (Doug Marrone), Chicago (Mark Trestman), Cleveland (Rob Chudzinski), Jacksonville (Gus Bradley), Kansas City (Andy Reid), Philadelphia (Chip Kelly) and San Diego (Mike McCoy).
For the Bills and Browns, this is the seventh head coach since 2000. That, however, does not top the league; the Raiders hired Dennis Allen in 2012, their eighth head coach this century.
With the firing of Andy Reid in Philadelphia, the New England Patriots are the only franchise to have had the same coach this century. Andy Reid had been the Eagles’ top man since 1999; New England’s Bill Belichick took over as the Pats’ head coach in 2000.
Following are the number of head coaches each of the NFL teams have had since 2000.
8: Oakland
7: Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Miami, Washington
6: Atlanta, Kansas City, San Francisco, St. Louis
5: Arizona, Jacksonville
4: Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, Minnesota, New York Jets, San Diego, Tampa Bay
3: Carolina, Chicago, Cincinnati, Seattle
2: Baltimore, Green Bay, Houston, New Orleans, New York Giants, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Tennessee
1: New England
The Patriots’ Belichick is obviously the current head coach with the longest seniority in the league. Belichick has 208 regular season games under his belt as the New England head man. Here are the current coaches with 80 or more games at the helm of their current teams.
Coach, Team, Games
Bill Belichick, New England, 208
Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati, 160
Tom Coughlin, New York Giants, 144
Mike McCarthy, Green Bay, 112
Gary Kubiak, Houston, 112
Sean Payton, New Orleans, 96
Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh, 96
Mike Smith, Atlanta, 80
John Harbaugh, Baltimore, 80
Here’s a quick trivia question for you: Can you name the head coach for the Patriots before Belichick?
Here’s another trivia question to test your knowledge of the 32 current head coaches in the NFL: Can you name the four current NFL head coaches who are the winningest coach in their franchises’ history?
Trivia answers: The head coach of the Patriots prior to Belichick was Pete Carroll. The four current head coaches who are already the winningest coach in their teams’ history are Belichick (Patriots), Marvin Lewis (Bengals), Gary Kubiak (Texans) and Mike Smith (Falcons).
Follow Jerry on twitter @StatsonTapp
Is San Antonio’s sweep of Memphis a good sign for their 2013 NBA Finals appearance?
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published with a focus on stats that go beyond the numbers.
While the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers duke it out in the Eastern Conference Finals, the San Antonio Spurs sit and wait after sweeping the Memphis Grizzlies. Will the four-game sweep in the Western Conference Finals bode well for the “aging” Spurs?
San Antonio’s 4-0 series win over Memphis was the 15th time since 1958 that a team has swept an opponent in a conference finals (the NBA went to a seven-game series in the series prior to the NBA finals in 1958). This was the first four-game sweep in the conference finals since 2003 when New Jersey defeated the Detroit Pistons in four straight.
Here’s a look at the 14 sweeps that have occurred in the conference finals since 1958.
Year, conference finals sweep
2013: San Antonio over Memphis
2003: New Jersey over Detroit
2001: L.A. Lakers over San Antonio
1999: San Antonio over Portland
1998: Utah over L.A. Lakers
1996: Chicago over Orlando
1991: Chicago over Detroit
1989: L.A. Lakers over Phoenix
1987: L.A. Lakers over Seattle
1986: Boston over Milwaukee
1982: L.A. Lakers over San Antonio
1977: Portland over L.A. Lakers
1974: Milwaukee over Chicago
1970: L.A. Lakers over Atlanta
1968: L.A. Lakers over San Francisco
Of the 14 teams prior to San Antonio this year to sweep a conference final, eight went on to win the NBA title that year. Of the last six teams to sweep a conference finals, four won the title that year. The last team to sweep a conference finals, New Jersey in 2003, lost four games to two to the Spurs in the 2003 NBA Finals.
Note: The Spurs became the third team in NBA history to sweep a conference finals series multiple times. The Lakers did it six times. The Chicago Bulls did it twice in the 90’s.
Note #2: The Spurs also swept Portland in the Western Conference Finals in 1999. They then defeated the New York Knicks in five games for the ’99 title. Could 2013 be a repeat of that year?
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
99 Stats Until Kick-Off: (#1) The NFL’s Winningest Coaches… by the alphabet
(From May 30 and every day until September 5 – the start of the 2013 NFL season – Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ will publish “99 Stats Until Kick-Off” a daily dose of NFL stats that will get you ready for the 2013 NFL season.)
#1. The NFL’s winningest coaches… by the alphabet!
When the New York Giants defeated the New Orleans Saints, 52-27, on December 9, 2012, it was the 150th career win for Giants coach Tom Coughlin. But it also was monumental in that the victory put Coughlin on top of the list for most coaching wins by an NFL coach with the last name starting with the letter C.
Coughlin now sits atop the list of most wins by a “C” coach with 151, surpassing former Steelers coach Bill Cowher, who had 149 career wins.
The only active coach on the list below is St. Louis Rams head man Jeff Fisher; he has 149 career wins, most by any coach whose last name starts with an F. Former San Diego head coach Norv Turner leads coaches with the last name starting with T, but Turner may not be adding to those totals any time soon since he was fired as Chargers coach after the 2012 season.
For a little light-hearted fun, here’s a look at the winningest coaches in NFL history… based on the alphabet.
A: George Allen, 116
B: Paul Brown, 213
C: Bill Cowher, 149
D: Tony Dungy, 139
E: Weeb Ewbank, 130
F: Jeff Fisher, 142
G: Bud Grant, 158
H: George Halas, 318
I: Lindy Infante, 36
J: Jimmy Johnson, 80
K: Chuck Knox, 186
L: Tom Landry, 250
M: Jim Mora, 125
N: Chuck Noll, 193
O: Steve Owen, 151
P: Bill Parcells, 172
Q: (None)
R: Dan Reeves, 190
S: Don Shula, 328
T: Norv Turner, 103
U: Rube Ursella, 12
V: Dick Vermeil, 120
W: Bill Walsh, 92
X: (None)
Y: Swede Youngstrom, 4
Z: Jim Zorn, 12
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
Milwaukee Brewers in danger of worst month in team history
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published with a focus on stats that go beyond the numbers.
With only four games left in the month of May (including tonight’s contest against the Twins) the Milwaukee Brewers need to win at least two of their next four games to avoid matching their all-time worst month in the franchise’s history.
The Brewers are 5-19 in the month of May going into tonight’s game (a winning percentage of .208). The worst month in franchise history was in August 1969 when the Brewers were known as the Seattle Pilots. The team that year in August went 6-22 (a .214 winning percentage). For those purists who don’t want to accept the Pilots record that August, 1969 as part of the Brewers totals, the worst month for “the” Milwaukee Brewers was a 6-21 month (.222 winning percentage) in both September 1995 and August 2004.
If the Brewers win none of their next four games, they end up the month of May with a 5-23 record (.179); winning one of four will put them at 6-22 (.214); winning two of four will give them a May record of 7-21 (.250). The team would have to win all four of the remaining May games to finish the month 9-19 (a .321 winning percentage) and not end the month under .300.
Here’s a look at the worst months in franchise history.
Month, year, record (pct)
August, 1969, 6-22 (.214) *
September, 1995, 6-21 (.222)
August, 2004, 6-21 (.222)
July, 2001, 6-20 (.231)
August, 1975, 7-23 (.233)
April, 1970, 5-15 (.250)
May, 1987, 6-18, (.250)
May, 1994, 7-21 (.250)
September, 1976, 8-23 (.258)
September, 2001, 6-17 (.261)
September, 1973, 8-21 (.276)
September, 1985, 8-21 (.276)
August, 1999, 8-21 (.276)
May, 1976, 7-17 (.292)
September, 2002, 8-19, (.296)
* As the Seattle Pilots
Note: Of the 13 years in which the team won less than 30% of their games in a single month, in only one year (1987) did the team finish the season above .500. In that year the Brewers were 6-18 (.250) in May but still finished the year with a .562 winning percentage. In the other 12 seasons, the team finished the year with a winning percentage under .462.
Note #2: Of the 15 months under .300, six happened in September, four in August, three in May.
Note #3: Since 2000, the Brewers have finished with a winning percentage above .500 in the month of May only three times. They have finished above .500 only three times in the month of July since 2000.
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
Brewers thankful to see the Pittsburgh Pirates on their schedule
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published with a focus on stats that go beyond the numbers.
When a major league team goes through a rough stretch in their schedule, it’s sure nice to play a few games against a team that they have beaten with regularity. These “slump-buster” matchups can reverse a losing streak real quick.
It seems as though the Brewers have found their “slump-buster” in the form of the division-rival Pittsburgh Pirates. The Brewers have won three of five from the Pirates this season. Last year the Brew Crew won 11 of the 15 games; and in 2011, the Brewers were 12-3 against the Bucs.
Since 2010, the Brewers have won 39 of the 53 games played against Pittsburgh, a .736 winning percentage.
That is not, however, the most dominating matchup over the past three-plus seasons that we’ve seen in the majors. The Chicago White Sox hold that distinction with a very dominating 26-5 record against the Seattle Mariners since 2010 ( a .839 winning percentage).
Here’s a look at the most dominating matchups in the majors since 2010 (a minimum of 20 games played in head-to-head games since 2010 to qualify for this list).
Dominate matchups since 2010
Chicago White Sox 26-6 (.839) over Seattle
Philadelphia 17-4 (.810) over Colorado
Arizona 16-4 (.800) over Houston
Texas 19-5 (.792) over Houston
Los Angeles Dodgers 19-6 (.760) over Pittsburgh
Milwaukee 39-14 (.736) over Pittsburgh
Philadelphia 16-6 (.727) over San Diego
Toronto 16-6 (.727) over Minnesota
New York Yankees 18-7 (.720) over Cleveland
San Francisco 18-7 (.720) over Houston
Texas 18-7 (.720) over Cleveland
Cincinnati 40-16 (.714) over Chicago Cubs
Tampa Bay 17-7 (.708) over Minnesota
Atlanta 40-17 (.702) over Miami
Philadelphia 14-6 (.700) over Milwaukee
Looking at the Brewers all-time record against opponents, you might think that they have the best all-time record against the Pirates. The Brewers are 137-102 (.573 winning percentage) against Pittsburgh, which ranks second in their head-to-head records. The Brewers have their best head-to-head record against the Toronto Blue Jays since 1969. The Brewers have won 160 and lost 116 against Toronto, a .580 winning percentage. Third on the list are the Texas Rangers; the Brewers are 184-157 (a .540 winning percentage) against the Rangers all-time.
Stats Resource: Baseball-Reference.com
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp