Dennis Stolz

Head coach, San Diego State, 1986 to 1988
Before: Bowling Green

College career91-77-2

Program liftNo. 1,017tied · of 1,290 tenures since 1937

Now

Career arc

Bowls and playoffs: 0-3

Bowling Green

1982California BowlL 28-29

1985California BowlL 7-51San Diego State

1986Holiday BowlL 38-39

Stats

Big games

Pick a job to see its years on their own.

Michigan State1973–75 · 19-13-1Bowling Green1977–85 · 56-45-1San Diego State1986–88 · 16-19All jobs91-77-2

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.

0-3 against his rivals at Michigan State. Winless in 3 tries against Bo Schembechler.

Rivalry record

0-3

0.0% · 1 rival

One-score games

9-5-1

60.0% · margin ≤8

Against Blue Bloods or better

2-4

33.3%

Rivalry ledger

Michigan0-30%

The toughest matchup

vs. Bo Schembechler0-3

3 meetings, 1973–1975

’73 L’74 L’75 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

Blue Blood

2-4 33.3%

Power Program

2-5 28.6%

National Program

5-1 83.3%

Regional Program

10-3 76.9%

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.

5-4 against his rivals at Bowling Green. Winless in 5 tries against Tom Reed.

Rivalry record

5-4

55.6% · 1 rival

One-score games

23-21-1

51.1% · margin ≤8

Rivalry ledger

Toledo5-456%

The toughest matchup

vs. Tom Reed0-4-1

5 meetings, 1978–1982

’78 L’79 L’80 L’81 T’82 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

Power Program

0-4 0.0%

National Program

10-19 34.5%

Regional Program

42-19 68.9%

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.

Winless in 3 tries against Jack Elway.

One-score games

10-7

58.8% · margin ≤8

The toughest matchup

vs. Jack Elway0-3

3 meetings, 1986–1988

’86 L’87 L’88 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

Power Program

2-5 28.6%

National Program

1-6 14.3%

Regional Program

11-8 57.9%

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. Winless in 5 tries against Tom Reed.

Rivalry record

5-7

41.7% · 2 rivals

One-score games

42-33-2

54.5% · margin ≤8

Against Blue Bloods or better

2-4

33.3%

Rivalry ledger

Toledo5-456%

Michigan0-30%

The toughest matchup

vs. Tom Reed0-4-1

5 meetings, 1978–1982

’78 L’79 L’80 L’81 T’82 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

2-4 33.3%

Power Program

4-14 22.2%

National Program

16-26 38.1%

Regional Program

63-30 67.7%

Building the roster

Three numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.

1Who followed him
2Roster ownership
3The NFL pipeline

Followed him here

Bowling Green→

San Diego State1986

No confirmed followers on this move. This move predates this database’s 2021 transfer-portal tracking floor, so real followers may be undercounted here.

Players 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

This coach's entire tenure (1986-1988) 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

at least2Drafted

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.

At least 2 — the draft class following his 1987 season is missing from this table entirely; and his 1986, 1988 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.

0 roster-verified · 2 estimated

Most recent picks first

Year	Pick	Player	Pos	NFL team	Note
1989	R5.23	Alfred Jackson	Wide Receiver	Los Angeles Rams	Estimated
1987	R3.06	Robert Awalt	Tight End	St. Louis Cardinals	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

See San Diego State’s full coaching history →

The arc of his career is on Now.

Steady no large move in either direction on our stature ladder

1986–1988

San Diego State Steady

National Program III → National Program III (left at Regional Program I)

Closest comparable run: Paul Hackett’s USC run (1998–2000)

Dennis Stolz slid San Diego State from National Program III to Regional Program I in 3 seasons.

−5.2 pts over 3 seasons · bottom 35% of 3-5-season tenures (717 in sample)

7th-best San Diego State tenure of 11 by the numbers.

Followed Doug Scovil (1981–1985) · succeeded by Al Luginbill (1989–1993).

Season	1986	1987	1988
Record & result
Record	8-4	5-7	3-8
Postseason	L 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	—	—	—

Postseason detail1986: Lost to Iowa 38-39 Bowl

16-19

1977–1985

Bowling Green Steady

National Program II → National Program II (left at Regional Program I)

Closest comparable run: Bo Pelini’s Nebraska run (2003 (1 game), 2008–2014)

Dennis Stolz slid Bowling Green from National Program II to Regional Program I in 9 seasons.

−7.8 pts over 9 seasons · bottom 11% of 6-9-season tenures (368 in sample)

4th-best Bowling Green tenure of 14 by the numbers.

Followed Don Nehlen (1968–1976) · succeeded by Moe Ankney (1986–1990).

Season	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985
Record & result
Record	5-7	4-7	4-7	4-7	5-5-1	7-5	8-3	8-3	11-1
Postseason	—	—	—	—	—	L bowl	—	—	L 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	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Postseason detail1982: Lost to Fresno State 28-29 Bowl1985: Lost to Fresno State 7-51 Bowl

3 NFL Draft picks: Mark Miller (1978), Jack Williams (1978), Martin Bayless (1984)

56-45-1

1973–1975

Michigan State Steady

Power Program II → Power Program II (left at Power Program III)

Closest comparable run: Mike Sherman’s Texas A&M run (2008–2011)

Dennis Stolz slid Michigan State from Power Program II to Power Program III in 3 seasons.

−4.9 pts over 3 seasons · bottom 37% of 3-5-season tenures (717 in sample)

6th-best Michigan State tenure of 16 by the numbers.

Followed Duffy Daugherty (1954–1972) · succeeded by Darryl Rogers (1976–1979).

3 NFL Draft picks: Bill Simpson (1974), Raymond Nester (1974), Greg Schaum (1976)

19-13-1

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.

2nd all-time at Bowling Green

Was he good?

Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.

Raised the program

-4.9 pts at Michigan State · #1003 of 1290 · bottom quarter

Also coached: Bowling Green (-5.7), San Diego State (-5.2).