The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Dick Bestwick

Followed Sonny Randle. Dick Bestwick held Virginia at Regional Program IV for 6 seasons.

16–49
1976–1981 · 1 stint
Virginia
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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 careerVIRGINIARegional Programthe building-block levelVirginia, 1976: 2-9, Regional Program IV1976Virginia, 1977: 1-9, Regional Program V1977Virginia, 1978: 2-9, Regional Program V1978Virginia, 1979: 6-5, Regional Program IV1979Virginia, 1980: 4-7, Regional Program IV1980Virginia, 1981: 1-10, Regional Program III1981+3.2One 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).

Virginia, 6 seasons
+3.2
Regional Program IV → Regional Program III.

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.

2–3 against his rivals. Winless in 6 tries against Jerry Claiborne.

Rivalry record
2–3–1
33.3% · 1 rival
One-score games
8–15–1
33.3% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–1
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
Virginia Tech2–3–133%
The toughest matchup
vs. Jerry Claiborne0–6
6 meetings, 1976–1981
’76 L’77 L’78 L’79 L’80 L’81 L
0% win rate across a real, 6-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
0–1 0.0%
Power Program
2–10 16.7%
National Program
0–21 0.0%
Regional Program
9–12 42.9%

Coaching career

1976–1981
Virginiacaretaker
Regional Program IV → Regional Program IV
Dick Bestwick held Virginia at Regional Program IV for 6 seasons.

13th-best Virginia tenure of 16 by the numbers.

Followed Sonny Randle (1974–1975) · succeeded by George Welsh (1982–2000).

6 NFL Draft picks: Tom Glassic (1976), Mike Ozdowski (1977), John Choma (1978), Tony Blount (1980), Tommy Vigorito (1981), Stuart Anderson (1982)

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