Now
Career arc
Bowls and playoffs: 2-3
1977Gator BowlL 3-34Florida
1980Tangerine BowlW 35-20
1981Peach BowlL 6-26
1982Astro-Bluebonnet BowlL 24-28
1983Gator BowlW 14-6Stats
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.
1-0 against his rivals at Clemson.
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.
5-7 against his rivals at Florida. Just 1-5 against Vince Dooley.
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.
6-7 against his rivals. Just 2-5 against Vince Dooley.
Building the roster
Three numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.
Followed him here
Clemson→
Florida1979Players 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 (1979-1984) 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. 4 went in the first round.
At least 15 — his 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | R1.06 | Lomas Brown | Offensive Tackle |  Detroit Lions | Estimated |
| 1985 | R1.27 | Lorenzo Hampton | Running Back |  Miami Dolphins | Estimated |
| 1985 | R3.20 | Crawford Ker | Offensive Guard |  Dallas Cowboys | Estimated |
| 1985 | R5.27 | Billy Hinson | Offensive Guard |  Denver Broncos | Estimated |
| 1985 | R6.24 | Tim Newton | Defensive Tackle |  Minnesota Vikings | Estimated |
| 1984 | R1.11 | Wilber Marshall | Linebacker |  Chicago Bears | Estimated |
| 1984 | R3.22 | Tony Lilly | Defensive Back | Denver Broncos | Estimated |
| 1983 | R1.13 | James Jones | Running Back | Detroit Lions | Estimated |
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | R4.24 | Chris Faulkner | Tight End | Dallas Cowboys | Estimated |
| 1982 | R2.11 | David Galloway | Defensive Tackle |  St. Louis Cardinals | Estimated |
| 1981 | R2.09 | Cris Collinsworth | Wide Receiver |  Cincinnati Bengals | Estimated |
| 1981 | R6.15 | Dock Luckie | Defensive Tackle |  Kansas City Chiefs | Estimated |
| 1981 | R7.17 | David Little | Linebacker |  Pittsburgh Steelers | Estimated |
| 1981 | R7.24 | Mike Clark | Defensive End |  Los Angeles Rams | Estimated |
| 1980 | R3.20 | Scot Brantley | Linebacker |  Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 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.
Builder meaningfully raised a program that wasn't one · Steady no large move in either direction on our stature ladder
13th-best Florida tenure of 22 by the numbers.
Followed Doug Dickey (1970–1978) · succeeded by Galen Hall (1985–1989).
| Season | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||
| Record | 0-10-1 | 8-4 | 7-5 | 8-4 | 9-2-1 | 1-1-1 | |
| Postseason | — | W bowl | L bowl | L 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 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Followed Red Parker (1973–1976) · succeeded by Danny Ford (1978–1989).
| Season | 1977 | 1978 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||
| Record | 8-3-1 | 10-1 | |
| Postseason | L 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 | — | — | |
5 NFL Draft picks: Archie Reese (1978), Jerry Butler (1979), Steve Fuller (1979), Joe Bostic (1979), Jonathan Brooks (1979)
Was he good?
Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.
+4.1 pts at Florida · #429 of 1290 · middle half