Now
Career arc
Bowls and playoffs: 3-6
’85L’86L’88L’89L’90W’91L’92L’93W’94W
Show all 9 games
1985Freedom BowlL 17-20BAY1986Bluebonnet BowlL 9-21
1988Freedom BowlL 17-20
1989Orange BowlL 6-21
1990Orange BowlW 10-9
1991Blockbuster BowlL 25-30
1992Fiesta BowlL 22-26
1993Aloha BowlW 41-30
1994Fiesta BowlW 41-24Stats
Big games
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.
9-10 against his rivals. Winless in 7 tries against Barry Switzer.
Building the roster
Two numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.
Roster ownership
Roster ownership
This coach's entire tenure (1982-1994) 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
The NFL pipeline
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. 7 went in the first round.
At least 35 — the draft class following his 1987 season is missing from this table entirely; and his 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992 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.
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | R1.04 | Michael Westbrook | Wide Receiver |  Washington Redskins | Estimated |
| 1995 | R1.21 | Rashaan Salaam | Running Back |  Chicago Bears | Estimated |
| 1995 | R2.07 | Christian Fauria | Tight End |  Seattle Seahawks | Estimated |
| 1995 | R2.25 | Ted Johnson | Linebacker |  New England Patriots | Estimated |
| 1995 | R2.28 | Kordell Stewart | Quarterback |  Pittsburgh Steelers | Estimated |
| 1995 | R3.01 | Darius Holland | Defensive Tackle |  Green Bay Packers | Estimated |
| 1995 | R3.07 | Chris Hudson | Defensive Back |  Jacksonville Jaguars | Estimated |
| 1995 | R5.15 | Derek West | Offensive Tackle |  Indianapolis Colts | Estimated |
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | R6.14 | Shannon Clavelle | Defensive Tackle |  Buffalo Bills | Estimated |
| 1995 | R6.29 | Tony Berti | Offensive Tackle |  San Diego Chargers | Estimated |
| 1994 | R1.17 | Charles Johnson | Wide Receiver | Pittsburgh Steelers | Estimated |
| 1994 | R2.35 | Sam Rogers | Linebacker | Buffalo Bills | Estimated |
| 1994 | R4.09 | Ronnie Woolfork | Linebacker |  Miami Dolphins | Estimated |
| 1994 | R6.03 | Lamont Warren | Running Back | Indianapolis Colts | Estimated |
| 1994 | R6.32 | Mitch Berger | Punter |  Philadelphia Eagles | Estimated |
| 1994 | R7.11 | Dennis Collier | Defensive Back | Chicago Bears | Estimated |
| 1993 | R1.23 | Deon Figures | Defensive Back | Pittsburgh Steelers | Estimated |
| 1993 | R1.24 | Leonard Renfro | Defensive Tackle | Philadelphia Eagles | Estimated |
| 1993 | R2.15 | Chad Brown | Linebacker | Pittsburgh Steelers | Estimated |
| 1993 | R4.21 | Ronnie Bradford | Defensive Back | Miami Dolphins | Estimated |
| 1993 | R7.13 | Greg Biekert | Linebacker |  Los Angeles Raiders | Estimated |
| 1992 | R3.11 | Joel Steed | Defensive Tackle | Pittsburgh Steelers | Estimated |
| 1992 | R6.03 | Rico Smith | Wide Receiver |  Cleveland Browns | Estimated |
| 1991 | R1.13 | Mike Pritchard | Wide Receiver |  Atlanta Falcons | Estimated |
| 1991 | R1.18 | Alfred Williams | Linebacker |  Cincinnati Bengals | Estimated |
| 1991 | R2.12 | Eric Bieniemy | Running Back | San Diego Chargers | Estimated |
| 1991 | R2.28 | Kanavis McGhee | Linebacker |  New York Giants | Estimated |
| 1991 | R3.14 | Dave McCloughan | Defensive Back | Indianapolis Colts | Estimated |
| 1991 | R4.13 | Mark Vander Poel | Offensive Tackle | Indianapolis Colts | Estimated |
| 1991 | R6.25 | Joe Garten | Center | Green Bay Packers | Estimated |
| 1990 | R5.09 | Jeff Campbell | Wide Receiver |  Detroit Lions | Estimated |
| 1987 | R6.26 | Jon Embree | Tight End |  Los Angeles Rams | Estimated |
| 1986 | R5.18 | Dan McMillen | Defensive End |  Philadelphia Eagles | Estimated |
| 1986 | R6.01 | Ron Brown | Wide Receiver | New York Giants | Estimated |
| 1984 | R2.12 | Victor Scott | Defensive Back |  Dallas Cowboys | 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.
Career
Coaching career
The arc of his career is on Now.
Transformer raised the program into the sport's top tier, or higher within it
2nd-best Colorado tenure of 20 by the numbers.
Followed Chuck Fairbanks (1979–1981) · succeeded by Rick Neuheisel (1995–1998).
| Season | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | ||||||||||||||
| Record | 2-8-1 | 4-7 | 1-10 | 7-5 | 6-6 | 7-4 | 8-4 | 11-1 | 11-1-1 | 8-3-1 | 9-2-1 | 8-3-1 | 11-1 | |
| Postseason | — | — | — | L bowl | L bowl | — | L bowl | L bowl | W bowl | L bowl | L bowl | W bowl | W bowl | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | ||||||||||||||
| Offense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Defense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script | ||||||||||||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Selector agreement
The AP and Coaches’ polls split on the national champion in 1 season of this coach’s career — shown as each selector’s own pick, not a single consensus title.
All-time wins
Wins at programs this site tracks, 1936–present — one consistent count for every coach, not each program’s own historically reported total.
1st all-time at Colorado
Was he good?
Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.
+29.6 pts at Colorado · #24 of 1290 · top quarter