Now
Career arc
Bowls and playoffs: 5-2
1982California BowlW 29-281985California BowlW 51-7
1988California BowlW 35-30
1989California BowlW 27-61991California BowlL 21-28
1992Freedom BowlW 24-7
1993Aloha BowlL 30-41
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.
3-5 against his rivals at Washington State. Winless in 7 tries against John McKay.
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.
2-1 against his rivals at Fresno State.
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.
5-2 against his rivals at Fresno State. Winless in 3 tries against Dick Tomey.
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.
10-8 against his rivals. Winless in 7 tries against John McKay.
Building the roster
Three numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.
Followed him here
Washington State→
Fresno State1976Players 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 (1976-1996) 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. 2 went in the first round.
At least 20 — the draft class following his 1987, 1995 seasons are missing from this table entirely; and his 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | R7.21 | Chris Bayne | Defensive Back |  Atlanta Falcons | Estimated |
| 1997 | R7.23 | Omar Stoutmire | Defensive Back |  Dallas Cowboys | Estimated |
| 1995 | R5.05 | David Dunn | Wide Receiver |  Cincinnati Bengals | Estimated |
| 1994 | R1.06 | Trent Dilfer | Quarterback |  Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Estimated |
| 1994 | R3.03 | Tydus Winans | Wide Receiver |  Washington Redskins | Estimated |
| 1994 | R3.36 | Malcolm Seabron | Wide Receiver |  Houston Oilers | Estimated |
| 1994 | R5.20 | James Burton | Defensive Back |  Kansas City Chiefs | Estimated |
| 1994 | R6.24 | Anthony Daigle | Running Back | Kansas City Chiefs | Estimated |
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | R4.05 | Lorenzo Neal | Running Back |  New Orleans Saints | Estimated |
| 1992 | R2.05 | Marquez Pope | Defensive Back |  San Diego Chargers | Estimated |
| 1992 | R5.23 | Tony Brown | Defensive Back | Houston Oilers | Estimated |
| 1991 | R3.05 | Aaron Craver | Running Back |  Miami Dolphins | Estimated |
| 1990 | R1.16 | James Williams | Defensive Back |  Buffalo Bills | Estimated |
| 1990 | R2.08 | Ron Cox | Linebacker |  Chicago Bears | Estimated |
| 1989 | R7.23 | Tracy Rogers | Linebacker | Houston Oilers | Estimated |
| 1987 | R3.27 | Stephen Baker | Wide Receiver |  New York Giants | Estimated |
| 1987 | R6.23 | Gene Taylor | Wide Receiver |  New England Patriots | Estimated |
| 1987 | R7.12 | Kevin Sweeney | Quarterback |  Dallas Cowboys | Estimated |
| 1983 | R2.04 | Henry Ellard | Wide Receiver |  Los Angeles Rams | Estimated |
| 1981 | R2.16 | Anthony Washington | Defensive Back |  Pittsburgh Steelers | 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
1st-best Fresno State tenure of 12 by the numbers.
Followed J.R. Boone (1973–1975) · succeeded by Bob Padilla (1978–1979) · returned in 1980 · succeeded by Pat Hill (1997–2011).
| Season | 1976 | 1977 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Record | 5-6 | 9-2 | 5-6 | 5-6 | 11-1 | 6-5 | 6-6 | 11-0-1 | 9-2 | 6-5 | 10-2 | 11-1 | 8-2-1 | 10-2 | 9-4 | 8-4 | 5-7-1 | 5-7 | 4-7 | |
| Postseason | — | — | — | — | W bowl | — | — | W bowl | — | — | W bowl | W bowl | — | L bowl | W 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 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
20th-best Washington State tenure of 21 by the numbers.
Followed Bert Clark (1964–1967) · succeeded by Jackie Sherrill (1976).
5 NFL Draft picks: Steve Van Sinderen (1969), Bernard Jackson (1972), Robin Sinclair (1974), Andrew Jones (1975), Geoff Reece (1975)
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.
most wins by a Big West coach
Was he good?
Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.
+24.9 pts at Fresno State · #42 of 1290 · top quarter