The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Ben Schwartzwalder

Followed Reaves Baysinger. Ben Schwartzwalder took Syracuse from Regional Program IV to Blue Blood.

153–91
1949–1973 · 1 stint
Syracuse
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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 careerSYRACUSEBlue Bloodpermanent top tierPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelSyracuse, 1949: 4-5, Regional Program IV1949Syracuse, 1950: 5-5, Regional Program IIISyracuse, 1951: 5-4, Regional Program IIISyracuse, 1952: 7-3, Regional Program IIISyracuse, 1953: 5-3, National Program IIISyracuse, 1954: 4-4, National Program IIISyracuse, 1955: 5-3, National Program IIISyracuse, 1956: 7-2, National Program ISyracuse, 1957: 5-3, National Program ISyracuse, 1958: 8-2, Power Program IIISyracuse, 1959: 11-0, Power Program ISyracuse, 1960: 7-2, Blue BloodSyracuse, 1961: 8-3, Blue BloodSyracuse, 1962: 5-5, Power Program ISyracuse, 1963: 8-2, Power Program ISyracuse, 1964: 7-4, Power Program ISyracuse, 1965: 7-3, Power Program ISyracuse, 1966: 8-3, Power Program ISyracuse, 1967: 8-2, Power Program ISyracuse, 1968: 6-4, Power Program ISyracuse, 1969: 5-5, Power Program IISyracuse, 1970: 6-4, Power Program IISyracuse, 1971: 5-5, Power Program IIISyracuse, 1972: 5-6, National Program ISyracuse, 1973: 2-9, National Program II1973+47.0One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Blue Blood in his 12th career season — faster than 15% of the 100 FBS coaches who have ever reached Blue Blood (rank #85 of 100 by seasons-to-arrival).

Syracuse, 25 seasons
+47.0
Regional Program IV → National Program II.

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.

Winless in 3 tries against Ray Eliot.

One-score games
40–34–2
52.6% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
1–5
16.7%
The toughest matchup
vs. Ray Eliot0–3
3 meetings, 1951–1954
’51 L’53 L’54 L
0% win rate across a real, 3-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
1–5 16.7%
Power Program
25–27 48.1%
National Program
50–37 57.5%
Regional Program
47–15 75.8%

Coaching career

1949–1973
Syracusetransformer
Regional Program IV → Blue Blood
Ben Schwartzwalder took Syracuse from Regional Program IV to Blue Blood.

1st-best Syracuse tenure of 14 by the numbers.

Followed Reaves Baysinger (1947–1948) · succeeded by Frank Maloney (1974–1980).

153–91