The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Al Conover

Followed Bill Peterson. Al Conover held Rice at Regional Program I for 4 seasons.

14–28
1972–1975 · 1 stint
Rice
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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 careerRICENational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelRice, 1972: 5-5, Regional Program I1972Rice, 1973: 5-6, Regional Program I1973Rice, 1974: 2-8, Regional Program I1974Rice, 1975: 2-9, Regional Program I1975+1.5One 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).

Rice, 4 seasons
+1.5
Regional Program I → Regional Program I.

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.

3–5 against his rivals. Winless in 4 tries against Charles McClendon.

Rivalry record
3–5
37.5% · 2 rivals
One-score games
6–10–2
33.3% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–6
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
Houston2–250%
SMU1–325%
The toughest matchup
vs. Charles McClendon0–3–1
4 meetings, 1972–1975
’72 L’73 L’74 T’75 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
Blue Blood
0–6 0.0%
Power Program
4–7 36.4%
National Program
4–9 30.8%
Regional Program
5–6 45.5%

Coaching career

1972–1975
Ricecaretaker
Regional Program I → Regional Program I
Al Conover held Rice at Regional Program I for 4 seasons.

4th-best Rice tenure of 16 by the numbers.

Followed Bill Peterson (1971–1971) · succeeded by Homer Rice (1976–1977).

6 NFL Draft picks: Gary Butler (1973), Rodrigo Barnes (1973), Carl Swierc (1974), Cornelius Walker (1975), Rodney Norton (1976), Larry Brune (1976)

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