The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Dick Anderson

Followed Frank Burns. Dick Anderson held Rutgers at Regional Program I for 6 seasons.

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1984–1989 · 1 stint
Rutgers
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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 careerRUTGERSNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelRutgers, 1984: 7-3, Regional Program I1984Rutgers, 1985: 2-8, Regional Program II1985Rutgers, 1986: 5-5, Regional Program II1986Rutgers, 1987: 6-5, Regional Program I1987Rutgers, 1988: 5-6, Regional Program II1988Rutgers, 1989: 2-7, Regional Program II1989-1.9One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Regional Program in his 1st career season — faster than 20% of the 925 FBS coaches who have ever reached Regional Program (rank #1 of 925 by seasons-to-arrival).

Rutgers, 6 seasons
−1.9
Regional Program I → Regional Program II.

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 4 tries against Mike Gottfried.

One-score games
12–11–4
44.4% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
1–5
16.7%
The toughest matchup
vs. Mike Gottfried0–4
4 meetings, 1986–1989
’86 L’87 L’88 L’89 L
0% win rate across a real, 4-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
1–5 16.7%
Power Program
1–10 9.1%
National Program
10–12 45.5%
Regional Program
11–7 61.1%

Coaching career

1984–1989
Rutgerscaretaker
Regional Program I → Regional Program I
Dick Anderson held Rutgers at Regional Program I for 6 seasons.

5th-best Rutgers tenure of 11 by the numbers.

Followed Frank Burns (1973–1983) · succeeded by Doug Graber (1990–1995).

3 NFL Draft picks: Jim Dumont (1984), Alan Andrews (1985), Harry Swayne (1987)

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