The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Bill Peterson

Followed Bo Hagan. Bill Peterson held Rice at Regional Program I for 1 season.

Peak, then fade
65–49
1960–1971 · 2 stints
Florida StateRice
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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 careerFLORIDA STATERICEPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelFlorida State, 1960: 3-6, Regional Program II1960Florida State, 1961: 4-5, Regional Program II1961Florida State, 1962: 4-3, Regional Program I1962Florida State, 1963: 4-5, Regional Program I1963Florida State, 1964: 9-1, National Program II1964Florida State, 1965: 4-5, National Program II1965Florida State, 1966: 6-5, National Program II1966Florida State, 1967: 7-2, National Program I1967Florida State, 1968: 8-3, Power Program III1968Florida State, 1969: 6-3, Power Program III1969Florida State, 1970: 7-4, National Program I1970+19.8Rice, 1971: 3-7, Regional Program I1971-0.8One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Power Program in his 9th career season — faster than 10% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #332 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).

Florida State, 11 seasons
+19.8
Regional Program II → National Program I.

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.

6–12 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Ralph Jordan.

Rivalry record
6–12–1
31.6% · 4 rivals
One-score games
19–23–11
35.8% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–1
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
Florida2–8–118%
Miami4–267%
Houston0–10%
SMU0–10%
The toughest matchup
vs. Ralph Jordan0–2–1
3 meetings, 1960–1963
’60 L’62 T’63 L
0% 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
Dynasty
0–1 0.0%
Blue Blood
1–2 33.3%
Power Program
5–19 20.8%
National Program
25–21 54.3%
Regional Program
28–3 90.3%

Coaching career

1971–1971
Ricecaretaker
Regional Program I → Regional Program I
Bill Peterson held Rice at Regional Program I for 1 season.

5th-best Rice tenure of 16 by the numbers.

Followed Bo Hagan (1967–1970) · succeeded by Al Conover (1972–1975).

1 NFL Draft pick: Brownie Wheless (1971)

3–7
1960–1970
Florida Statebuilder
Regional Program I → Power Program III
Bill Peterson raised Florida State from Regional Program I to Power Program III.

6th-best Florida State tenure of 10 by the numbers.

Followed Perry Moss (1959–1959) · succeeded by Larry Jones (1971–1973).

62–42