Career Quality
SimilarSimilar: Don James vs Les Miles
Don James: 93rd pct vs Les Miles: 92nd pct
Percentile score against all tracked coaches.
Coaches Compare
Compare coach careers on the same scale.
See top-line edges, side-by-side profiles, overlaid career arcs, and school-stop comparisons in one matchup view.
Don JamesLes Miles
2 of 4 slots filled. Comparison is active.
Top-line verdicts
Who leads, and by how much
Peak Score
SimilarSimilar: Don James vs Les Miles
Don James: 98th pct vs Les Miles: 97th pct
Percentile peak score derived from each coach's best season.
Consistency
SimilarSimilar: Don James vs Les Miles
Don James: 11th pct vs Les Miles: 10th pct
Percentile steadiness score across season-to-season performance.
National Championships
SimilarSimilar: Don James vs Les Miles
Don James: 1 title vs Les Miles: 1 title
Raw championship seasons from the curated national-title dataset.
Longevity
Narrow edgeEdge: Don James
Don James: 22 seasons vs Les Miles: 20 seasons
Raw career span based on first and last tracked season.
Career Win Percentage
Narrow edgeEdge: Don James
Don James: 68.7% vs Les Miles: 66.5%
Raw career win rate, not a normalized score.
Style and Strength Profile
Compare strength, identity, steadiness, and ceiling through normalized bars with raw SP and SRS context underneath.
These bars are normalized against the full coach dataset. Raw SP and SRS values stay visible so the profile reads as evidence, not decoration.
Overall Strength
Start with total quality before splitting style and variance.
Les Miles and Don James look similar in overall strength.
Overall Strength
SimilarLes Miles and Don James look similar in overall strength.
Normalized score; raw SP overall stays underneath for reference.
Don James
Elite
Raw avg SP Overall: 15.2
94th pct
Elite
Les Miles
Elite
Raw avg SP Overall: 16.9
96th pct
Elite
Career Arc Overlay
Overlay the same SRS scale to compare where each career climbed faster, held steadier, peaked higher, or dipped harder.
Focus on where peaks separate, where floors hold, and how the shape of each career changed over time.
Don JamesLes Miles
EliteStrongAverageLean
Don James: 1975 WashingtonLes Miles: 2005 LSULes Miles: 2019 Kansas
1971Actual season year • SRS range -14.6 to 33.42020
Active comparison point
Don James • 1991
1991 Washington
Best season12-0 • SRS 33.4 • SP Overall 36.2
Win %
100.0%
YoY SRS
+7.0
SP Off / Def
46.7 / 12.1
Finish
#2
Comparison context
Compared against the nearest season year point for the other selected coach.
Les Miles
Nearest year 2001 • Oklahoma State
4-7 • SRS -1.0 • SP Overall 2.2
Don James holds a 34.4-point SRS edge at this point.
Offense gap: +15.6 SP offense
Tenure comparison
Compare school stops, duration, average level, and peak seasons across each coach's path.
| School | Years | Seasons | Record | Avg SRS | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don James | |||||
| Kent State | 1971-1974 | 4 | 25-19-1 | -2.4 | 10.9 |
| Washington | 1975-1992 | 18 | 150-60-2 | 15.6 | 33.4Highest peak |
| Les Miles | |||||
| Oklahoma State | 2001-2004 | 4 | 28-21 | 6.2 | 10.9 |
| LSU | 2005-2016 | 12 | 114-34 | 18.2Best quality | 29.9 |
| Kansas | 2019-2020 | 2 | 3-18 | -9.8 | -5.1 |
Closing takeaway
What separates these careers at the finish
Longer run
Full profile →Don James
175-79-3 • 68.7% • 22 seasons • 1 title
22 tracked seasons across the arc.
Best Season
Washington 1991
SRS 33.4
Worst Season
Kent State 1971
SRS -13.2
Biggest Improvement
Kent State 1973
19.3 SRS
Broader school footprint
Full profile →Les Miles
145-73 • 66.5% • 18 seasons • 1 title
3 schools across the tracked career.
Best Season
LSU 2011
SRS 29.9
Worst Season
Kansas 2020
SRS -14.6
Biggest Improvement
LSU 2011
12.7 SRS