The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Dennis Green

Followed Jack Elway. Dennis Green moved Stanford from National Program II to National Program I in 3 seasons.

The ascent
26–63
1981–1991 · 2 stints
NorthwesternStanford
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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 careerNORTHWESTERNSTANFORDPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelNorthwestern, 1981: 0-11, Regional Program VI1981Northwestern, 1982: 3-8, Regional Program VI1982Northwestern, 1983: 2-9, Regional Program V1983Northwestern, 1984: 2-9, Regional Program V1984Northwestern, 1985: 3-8, Regional Program VI1985+0.1Stanford, 1989: 3-8, National Program II1989Stanford, 1990: 5-6, National Program II1990Stanford, 1991: 8-4, National Program I1991+2.9One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached National Program in his 6th career season — faster than 12% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #580 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).

Northwestern, 5 seasons
+0.1
Regional Program VI → Regional Program VI.
Stanford, 3 seasons
+2.9
National 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.

4–7 against his rivals. Winless in 5 tries against Earle Bruce.

Rivalry record
4–7
36.4% · 3 rivals
One-score games
12–13
48.0% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
1–2
33.3%
Rivalry ledger
Illinois0–50%
Notre Dame1–233%
California3–0100%
The toughest matchup
vs. Earle Bruce0–5
5 meetings, 1981–1985
’81 L’82 L’83 L’84 L’85 L
0% win rate across a real, 5-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
Blue Blood
1–2 33.3%
Power Program
4–21 16.0%
National Program
9–28 24.3%
Regional Program
11–12 47.8%

Coaching career

1989–1991
Stanfordcaretaker
National Program II → National Program I
Dennis Green moved Stanford from National Program II to National Program I in 3 seasons.

13th-best Stanford tenure of 20 by the numbers.

Followed Jack Elway (1984–1988).

7 NFL Draft picks: Rob Hinckley (1990), Alan Grant (1990), Lester Archambeau (1990), Ed McCaffrey (1991), Kevin Scott (1991), Bob Whitfield (1992), Tommy Vardell (1992)

16–18
1981–1985
Northwesterncaretaker
Regional Program V → Regional Program V
Dennis Green held Northwestern at Regional Program V for 5 seasons.

13th-best Northwestern tenure of 13 by the numbers.

Followed Rick Venturi (1978–1980) · succeeded by Francis Peay (1986–1991).

4 NFL Draft picks: Chris Hinton (1983), Mike Guendling (1984), John Kidd (1984), Alex Moyer (1985)

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