Now
Career arc
Bowls and playoffs: 6-2
1974Tangerine BowlW 21-10
1975Tangerine BowlW 20-7North Carolina
1979Gator BowlW 17-15
1980Astro-Bluebonnet BowlW 16-7
1981Gator BowlW 31-27
1982Sun BowlW 26-10
1983Peach BowlL 3-28
1986Aloha BowlL 21-30
Stats
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.
6-2 against his rivals at Miami (OH). Nobody he faced three or more times there has a winning record against him.
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.
15-5 against his rivals at North Carolina. Winless in 3 tries against Bobby Bowden.
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.
1-2 against his rivals at Kent State. Winless in 3 tries against Herb Deromedi.
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.
22-9 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Bobby Bowden.
Building the roster
Three numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.
Followed him here
Miami (OH)→
North Carolina1978North Carolina→
Kent State1988Players 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 (1988-1990) 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.
At least 1 — his 1988, 1989, 1990 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | R6.17 | Andy Harmon | Defensive End |  Philadelphia Eagles | 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
11th-best Kent State tenure of 19 by the numbers.
Followed Glen Mason (1986–1987) · succeeded by Pete Cordelli (1991–1993).
2nd-best North Carolina tenure of 17 by the numbers.
Followed Bill Dooley (1967–1977) · succeeded by Mack Brown (1988–1997).
| Season | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||||||
| Record | 5-6 | 8-3-1 | 11-1 | 10-2 | 8-4 | 8-4 | 5-5-1 | 5-6 | 7-4-1 | 5-6 | |
| Postseason | — | W bowl | W bowl | W bowl | W bowl | 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 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
23 NFL Draft picks: Bob Hukill (1979), Dave Simmons (1979), Mike Salzano (1979), Buddy Curry (1980), Doug Paschal (1980), Lawrence Taylor (1981), Donnell Thompson (1981), Rick Donnalley (1981) + 15 more
1st-best Miami (OH) tenure of 14 by the numbers.
Followed Bill Mallory (1969–1973) · succeeded by Tom Reed (1978–1982).
| Season | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||
| Record | 10-0-1 | 11-1 | 3-8 | 10-1 | |
| Postseason | W 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: Mike Biehle (1975), Sherman Smith (1976), Pete Rome (1976), Mike Watson (1977), Rob Carpenter (1977)
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 North Carolina
Was he good?
Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.
+14.6 pts at North Carolina · #124 of 1290 · top quarter