The Zeitgeist List · coaching

John Robinson

Followed Jeff Horton. John Robinson moved UNLV from Regional Program V to Regional Program IV in 6 seasons.

Peak, then fade
132–77
1976–2004 · 2 stints
USCUNLV
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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 careerUSCUNLVDynastythe sport's summitBlue Bloodpermanent top tierPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelUSC, 1976: 11-1, Blue Blood1976USC, 1977: 8-4, Blue BloodUSC, 1978: 12-1, Blue BloodUSC, 1979: 11-0, Blue BloodUSC, 1980: 8-2, Blue BloodUSC, 1981: 9-3, Blue BloodUSC, 1982: 8-3, Blue BloodUSC, 1993: 8-5, Power Program IUSC, 1994: 8-3, Power Program IUSC, 1995: 9-2, Power Program IUSC, 1996: 6-6, Power Program IUSC, 1997: 6-5, Power Program I1997+5.0UNLV, 1999: 3-8, Regional Program V1999UNLV, 2000: 8-5, Regional Program VUNLV, 2001: 4-7, Regional Program IVUNLV, 2002: 5-7, Regional Program IVUNLV, 2003: 6-6, Regional Program IVUNLV, 2004: 2-9, Regional Program III2004+8.7One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Blue Blood in his 1st career season — faster than 59% of the 100 FBS coaches who have ever reached Blue Blood (rank #1 of 100 by seasons-to-arrival).

USC, 12 seasons
+5.0
Blue Blood → Power Program I.
UNLV, 6 seasons
+8.7
Regional Program V → 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.

20–11 against his rivals. Winless in 4 tries against Joe Paterno.

Rivalry record
20–11–1
62.5% · 4 rivals
One-score games
42–27–4
57.5% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
12–8
60.0%
Rivalry ledger
UCLA5–742%
Notre Dame8–3–167%
Nevada5–183%
Hawai'i2–0100%
The toughest matchup
vs. Joe Paterno0–4
4 meetings, 1981–1996
’81 L’93 L’94 L’96 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
12–8 60.0%
Power Program
28–25 52.8%
National Program
47–28 62.7%
Regional Program
45–15 75.0%

Coaching career

1999–2004
UNLVcaretaker
Regional Program V → Regional Program IV
John Robinson moved UNLV from Regional Program V to Regional Program IV in 6 seasons.

6th-best UNLV tenure of 12 by the numbers.

Followed Jeff Horton (1994–1998) · succeeded by Mike Sanford Sr. (2005–2009).

9 NFL Draft picks: Talance Sawyer (1999), Quincy Sanders (2000), Anton Palepoi (2002), Sam Brandon (2002), Kevin Thomas (2002), Ahmad Miller (2002), Dominic Furio (2004), Adam Seward (2005) + 1 more

28–42
1976–1997
USCsustainer
Blue Blood → Blue Blood
John Robinson kept USC a national power for 7 seasons.

3rd-best USC tenure of 17 by the numbers.

Followed John McKay (1960–1975) · succeeded by Paul Hackett (1998–2000).

99 NFL Draft picks: Danny Reece (1976), Ricky Bell (1977), Marvin Powell (1977), Gary Jeter (1977), Dave Lewis (1977), Shelton Diggs (1977), Donnie Hickman (1977), Vince Evans (1977) + 91 more

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