Bob Marlin is Winningest Coach to Unsuccessfully Fish For NCAA Tourney Win
Talk about a major void in your professional life. Ed DeChellis, after retiring this year at Navy, became one of eight former coaches with more than 400 career wins but none of them in the NCAA Tournament despite multiple playoff appearances (lost two contests - one each with East Tennessee State and Penn State - by total of only five points). He had been one of seven active bench bosses with at least 100 triumphs for three or more NCAA Division I schools although he went emptyhanded at The Big Dance. Another frustrated pilot surely was Tom Apke, who lost all three of his playoff contests with Creighton by a total of only eight points.
Replacing DeChellis as the winningest active coach in this category is Leon Rice (316-177 in first 15 seasons with Boise State; 0-5 in NCAA tourney in 2013-15-22-23-24 by 7.2 ppg). On Rice's "dirty" heels with same winless playoff mark is Pat Kelsey (288-130 record in 13 seasons with Winthrop, College of Charleston and Louisville; 0-5 in NCAA tourney in 2017-21-23-24-25 by 11 ppg). Averaging in excess of 22 triumphs annually after sterling inaugural turnaround campaign at The Ville is impressive, but Kelsey needs to crack the NCAA playoff win column to erase blemish from his resume and for Cardinals fans to be content he is earning a $3 million-plus salary. Bob Marlin, replaced in mid-season this past campaign by Louisiana-Lafayette only six triumphs short of reaching 500-win plateau, is atop the following list of retired coaches with at least 300 Division I career victories - more than Kelsey - but winless in NCAA playoffs despite participating in multiple tourneys since inception of the event in late 1930s (Bill Reinhart guided Oregon 12 seasons in era just before the Ducks won inaugural NCAA tourney):
| Former Coach | Summary of DI Coaching Career Including Multiple NCAA Tourneys | Winless Playoff Record |
|---|---|---|
| Bob Marlin | 494-329 with Sam Houston State and Louisiana-Lafayette in 27 years from 1998-99 to 2024-25 | 0-4 in 2003-10-14-23 by average of 13 ppg |
| Jim Baron | 462-430 with St. Francis (Pa.), St. Bonaventure, Rhode Island and Canisius in 29 years from 1987-88 through 2015-16 | 0-2 in 1991 and 2000 by 9 ppg |
| Oliver Purnell | 448-384 with Radford, Old Dominion, Dayton, Clemson and DePaul in 27 years from 1988-89 through 2014-15 | 0-6 in 1992 and 2000-03-08-09-10 by 8.3 ppg |
| George Blaney | 432-364 with Dartmouth, Holy Cross and Seton Hall in 28 years from 1969-70 through 1996-97 | 0-3 in 1977-80-93 by 15.7 ppg |
| Dave Loos | 420-410 with Austin Peay State in 27 years from 1990-91 through 2016-17 | 0-4 in 1996 and 2003-08-16 by 19.75 ppg |
| Ed DeChellis | 415-461 with East Tennessee State, Penn State and Navy in 29 years from 1996-97 through 2024-25 | 0-2 in 2003 and 2011 by 2.5 ppg |
| Tom Green | 407-351 with Fairleigh Dickinson in 26 years from 1983-84 through 2008-09 | 0-4 in 1985-88-98 and 2005 by 9.75 ppg |
| Mike Vining | 401-303 with Louisiana-Monroe in 24 years from 1981-82 through 2004-05 | 0-7 in 1982-86-90-91-92-93-96 by 18 ppg |
| John Bach | 399-326 with Fordham and Penn State in 29 years from 1949-50 through 1977-78 | 0-2 in 1953 and 1954 by 7.5 ppg |
| Charlie Woollum | 387-315 with Bucknell and William & Mary in 25 years from 1975-76 through 1999-00 | 0-2 in 1987 and 1989 by 22.5 ppg |
| Fran O'Hanlon | 361-433 with Lafayette in 27 years from 1995-96 through 2021-22 | 0-3 in 1999, 2000 and 2015 by 29.3 ppg |
| Robert Moreland | 350-363 with Texas Southern in 25 years from 1977-78 through 2000-01 and 2007-08 | 0-3 in 1990-94-95 by 10.3 ppg |
| Rick Samuels | 344-349 with Iowa State and Eastern Illinois in 25 years in 1979-80 and 1981-82 through 2004-05 | 0-2 in 1992 and 2001 by 32 ppg |
| Murry Bartow | 338-274 with UAB, East Tennessee State, South Florida and UCLA in 20 years from 1996-97 through 2001-02, 2003-04 through 2014-15, 2016-17 and 2018-19 | 0-4 in 1999 and 2004-09-10 by 13.75 ppg |
| Tom Apke | 328-292 with Creighton, Colorado and Appalachian State in 22 years from 1974-75 through 1995-96 | 0-3 in 1975-78-81 by 2.7 ppg |
| Scott Sutton | 328-247 with Oral Roberts in 18 years from 1999-00 through 2016-17 | 0-3 in 2006-07-08 by 17 ppg |
| Bob Williams | 313-260 with UC Santa Barbara in 19 years from 1998-99 through 2016-17 | 0-3 in 2002-10-11 by 16.7 ppg |
| Bill Strannigan | 308-289 with Colorado State, Iowa State and Wyoming in 23 years from 1950-51 through 1972-73 | 0-4 in 1954 and 1967 by 19.75 ppg |
| Ray McCallum | 300-281 with Ball State, Houston and Detroit in 19 years from 1993-94 through 2003-04 and 2008-09 through 2015-16 | 0-3 in 1995, 2000 and 2012 by 12.7 ppg |
| M.K. Turk | 300-267 with Southern Mississippi in 20 years from 1976-77 through 1995-96 | 0-2 in 1990 and 1991 by 17.5 ppg |
| Bob Weltlich | 300-335 with Mississippi, Texas, Florida International and South Alabama in 22 years from 1976-77 through 1987-88, 1990-91 through 1994-95 and 1997-98 through 2001-02 | 0-3 in 1981-95-98 by 17.3 ppg |
NOTE: Coaches Fred Enke (480 career wins with Louisville and Arizona including 15 seasons before start of NCAA tourney/lost vs. Kansas State by two points in 1951), Larry Hunter (397 with Ohio University and Western Carolina/Indiana by 12 in 1994), Nick Macarchuk (374 with Canisius, Fordham and Stony Brook/Massachusetts by 27 in 1992), Danny Kaspar (365 with Stephen F. Austin and Texas State/Syracuse by 15 in 2009), Carroll Williams (341 with Santa Clara/Iowa by 23 in 1987), Joe Lapchick (334 with St. John's/Wake Forest by 23 in 1961), Mike Dement (331 with Cornell, UNC Greensboro and Southern Methodist/Arizona by 40 in 1988) and Hank Egan (303 with Air Force and San Diego/Auburn by 1 in 1987) each lost in their only NCAA Tournament appearance.