The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Jim Hess

Followed Mike Knoll. Jim Hess held New Mexico State at Regional Program VI for 7 seasons.

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1990–1996 · 1 stint
New Mexico State
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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 careerNEW MEXICO STATERegional Programthe building-block levelNew Mexico State, 1990: 1-10, Regional Program VI1990New Mexico State, 1991: 2-9, Regional Program VI1991New Mexico State, 1992: 6-5, Regional Program VI1992New Mexico State, 1993: 5-6, Regional Program VI1993New Mexico State, 1994: 3-8, Regional Program VI1994New Mexico State, 1995: 4-7, Regional Program VI1995New Mexico State, 1996: 1-10, Regional Program VI1996+0.7One 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).

New Mexico State, 7 seasons
+0.7
Regional Program VI → Regional Program VI.

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.

1–6 against his rivals. Just 1–4 against Dennis Franchione.

Rivalry record
1–6
14.3% · 1 rival
One-score games
7–8
46.7% · margin ≤8
Rivalry ledger
New Mexico1–614%
The toughest matchupNemesis
vs. Dennis Franchione1–4
5 meetings, 1992–1996
’92 W’93 L’94 L’95 L’96 L
Performance by opponent class
Power Program
0–6 0.0%
National Program
1–8 11.1%
Regional Program
12–34 26.1%

Coaching career

1990–1996
New Mexico Statecaretaker
Regional Program VI → Regional Program VI
Jim Hess held New Mexico State at Regional Program VI for 7 seasons.

16th-best New Mexico State tenure of 20 by the numbers.

Followed Mike Knoll (1986–1989) · succeeded by Tony Samuel (1997–2004).

2 NFL Draft picks: Aaron Laing (1994), Troy Sienkiewicz (1995)

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