Now
Career arc
Bowls and playoffs: 3-0
1970Orange BowlW 17-12ALA1971Orange BowlW 38-6ND1972Orange BowlW 40-6Stats
Big games
Pick a job to see its years on their own.
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.
5-0 against his rivals at Wyoming. Just 1-2 against Ben Martin.
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.
12-1 against his rivals at Nebraska. Just 1-2 against Bear Bryant.
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.
17-1 against his rivals. Just 1-2 against Bear Bryant.
Building the roster
Three numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.
Followed him here
Wyoming→
Nebraska1962Players who transferred from his old program to his new one through the portal in the same year he made the move. Name-matching across data sources misses some, so every count is a floor, not an exact number.
Roster ownership
Roster ownership
This coach's entire tenure (1962-1972) 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. 6 went in the first round.
At least 30 — his 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | R1.25 | Johnny Rodgers | Wide Receiver | San Diego Chargers | Estimated |
| 1973 | R2.15 | Willie Harper | Linebacker |  San Francisco 49ers | Estimated |
| 1973 | R2.23 | Monte Johnson | Linebacker |  Oakland Raiders | Estimated |
| 1973 | R3.09 | Bill Olds | Running Back |  Baltimore Colts | Estimated |
| 1973 | R3.17 | Rich Glover | Defensive Tackle |  New York Giants | Estimated |
| 1973 | R5.04 | Doug Dumler | Center |  New England Patriots | Estimated |
| 1972 | R1.11 | Jerry Tagge | Quarterback |  Green Bay Packers | Estimated |
| 1972 | R1.23 | Jeff Kinney | Running Back |  Kansas City Chiefs | Estimated |
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | R1.24 | Larry Jacobson | Defensive Tackle | New York Giants | Estimated |
| 1972 | R5.08 | Carl Johnson | Offensive Tackle |  New Orleans Saints | Estimated |
| 1971 | R2.23 | Joe Orduna | Running Back | San Francisco 49ers | Estimated |
| 1971 | R3.19 | Bob Newton | Offensive Tackle |  Chicago Bears | Estimated |
| 1970 | R7.08 | Jim McFarland | Tight End |  St. Louis Cardinals | Estimated |
| 1970 | R7.19 | Ken Geddes | Linebacker |  Detroit Lions | Estimated |
| 1969 | R7.21 | James Hawkins | Defensive Back |  Los Angeles Rams | Estimated |
| 1968 | R4.21 | Wayne Meylan | Linebacker |  Cleveland Browns | Estimated |
| 1968 | R5.03 | Ben Gregory | Running Back | Buffalo Bills | Estimated |
| 1968 | R7.20 | Bob Taucher | Offensive Tackle |  Dallas Cowboys | Estimated |
| 1967 | R3.15 | Harry Wilson | Running Back |  Philadelphia Eagles | Estimated |
| 1967 | R4.06 | Carel Stith | Defensive Tackle | Houston Oilers | Estimated |
| 1966 | R2.19 | Estimated | |||
| 1966 | R3.41 | Estimated | |||
| 1966 | R3.43 | Estimated | |||
| 1965 | R3.33 | Estimated | |||
| 1964 | R1.02 | Estimated | |||
| 1964 | R1.13 | Estimated | |||
| 1964 | R5.53 | Estimated | |||
| 1964 | R5.58 | Estimated | |||
| 1963 | R3.38 | Estimated | |||
| 1963 | R5.56 | 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 · Steady no large move in either direction on our stature ladder
3rd-best Nebraska tenure of 18 by the numbers.
Followed William Jennings (1957–1961) · succeeded by Tom Osborne (1973–1997).
| Season | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | ||||||||||||
| Record | 9-2 | 10-1 | 9-2 | 10-1 | 9-2 | 6-4 | 6-4 | 9-2 | 11-0-1 | 13-0 | 9-2-1 | |
| Postseason | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | W 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 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
2nd-best Wyoming tenure of 22 by the numbers.
Followed Phil Dickens (1953–1956) · succeeded by Lloyd Eaton (1962–1970).
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.
3rd-most wins by a Big 8 coach
Was he good?
Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.
+56.5 pts at Nebraska · #2 of 1290 · top quarter