The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Mike Cavan

Followed Tom Rossley. Mike Cavan moved SMU from Regional Program IV to Regional Program III in 5 seasons.

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1997–2001 · 1 stint
SMU
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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 careerSMURegional Programthe building-block levelSMU, 1997: 6-5, Regional Program IV1997SMU, 1998: 5-7, Regional Program III1998SMU, 1999: 4-6, Regional Program III1999SMU, 2000: 3-9, Regional Program IV2000SMU, 2001: 4-7, Regional Program IV2001+1.3One 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).

SMU, 5 seasons
+1.3
Regional Program IV → Regional Program IV.

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.

4–5 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against June Jones.

Rivalry record
4–5
44.4% · 2 rivals
One-score games
7–9
43.8% · margin ≤8
Rivalry ledger
Rice3–260%
TCU1–325%
The toughest matchup
vs. June Jones0–3
3 meetings, 1999–2001
’99 L’00 L’01 L
0% win rate across a real, 3-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
Power Program
0–1 0.0%
National Program
4–12 25.0%
Regional Program
17–19 47.2%

Coaching career

1997–2001
SMUcaretaker
Regional Program IV → Regional Program III
Mike Cavan moved SMU from Regional Program IV to Regional Program III in 5 seasons.

16th-best SMU tenure of 18 by the numbers.

Followed Tom Rossley (1991–1996) · succeeded by Phil Bennett (2002–2007).

3 NFL Draft picks: Chris Bordano (1998), Donald Mitchell (1999), Jacoby Rhinehart (1999)

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