Frank Thomas

Head coach, Alabama, 1936 to 1946

Now

Career arc

Stats

Big games

Pick a job to see its years on their own.

Alabama1936–42 · 53-12-3Alabama1944–46 · 22-6-2All jobs75-18-5

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.

3-3 against his rivals at Alabama. Just 1-3 against Bob Neyland.

Rivalry record

3-3-1

42.9% · 1 rival

One-score games

19-3-3

76.0% · margin ≤8

Rivalry ledger

Tennessee3-3-143%

The toughest matchup

vs. Bob Neyland1-3-1

5 meetings, 1936–1940

’36 T’37 W’38 L’39 L’40 L

20% win rate across a real, 5-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

Power Program

15-6 71.4%

National Program

11-5 68.8%

Regional Program

13-0 100.0%

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.

2-2 against his rivals at Alabama. Just 1-2 against Wallace Butts.

Rivalry record

2-2-2

33.3% · 2 rivals

One-score games

3-3-2

37.5% · margin ≤8

Rivalry ledger

Tennessee1-1-133%

LSU1-1-133%

The toughest matchup

vs. Wallace Butts1-2

3 meetings, 1944–1946

’44 L’45 W’46 L

33% 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

Power Program

4-5 44.4%

National Program

7-1 87.5%

Regional Program

6-0 100.0%

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.

5-5 against his rivals. Just 1-4 against Bob Neyland.

Rivalry record

5-5-3

38.5% · 2 rivals

One-score games

22-6-5

66.7% · margin ≤8

Rivalry ledger

Tennessee4-4-240%

LSU1-1-133%

The toughest matchup

vs. Bob Neyland1-4-1

6 meetings, 1936–1946

’36 T’37 W’38 L’39 L’40 L’46 L

17% win rate across a real, 6-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

Power Program

19-11 63.3%

National Program

18-6 75.0%

Regional Program

19-0 100.0%

Building the roster

Two numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.

1Roster ownership
2The NFL pipeline

Roster ownership

This coach's entire tenure (1936-1946) predates 2021, when transfer-portal tracking begins in this database. Portal usage cannot be measured for this tenure at all -- this is not the same as '0% portal'.

“His own” means the player arrived while he was head coach; “inherited” means a predecessor brought him in.

The NFL pipeline

at least10Drafted

players drafted into the NFL off his teams here (a floor — see the note below). None can be traced to who brought them in — there’s no roster record for these players here.

At least 10 — his 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1944, 1945, 1946 seasons predate the modern 7-round draft, so this table’s pre-1994 pick counts are a floor, not a full count, for those seasons.

0 roster-verified · 10 estimated

Most recent picks first

Year	Pick	Note
1943	R4.27	Estimated
1943	R5.32	Estimated
1941	R3.23	Estimated
1941	R7.51	Estimated
1940	R4.26	Estimated
1940	R5.30	Estimated
1939	R3.21	Estimated
1938	R2.11	Estimated

Year	Pick	Player	Pos	NFL team	Note
1938	R7.49				Estimated
1937	R2.12				Estimated

A pick counts toward his tenure when the player’s final college season was one he coached, a checkable rule rather than a claim about who developed the player. A blank note means the player is on a verified roster and arrived on his watch. “Estimated” means no roster record, so the final season is assumed to be the year before the draft.

Frank Thomas

Now

Career arc

Stats

Big games

The big-game ledger

The big-game ledger

The big-game ledger

Building the roster

Roster ownership

The NFL pipeline

Career

Coaching career

All-time wins