The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Mike Gottfried

Followed Foge Fazio. Mike Gottfried inherited a Power Program I Pittsburgh and won with it.

The ascent
53–45
1981–1989 · 3 stints
CincinnatiKansasPittsburgh
← all coaches

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 careerCINCINNATIKANSASPITTSBURGHBlue Bloodpermanent top tierPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelCincinnati, 1981: 6-5, Regional Program I1981Cincinnati, 1982: 6-5, Regional Program I1982-0.8Kansas, 1983: 4-6, Regional Program I1983Kansas, 1984: 5-6, Regional Program I1984Kansas, 1985: 6-6, Regional Program I1985+0.0Pittsburgh, 1986: 5-5, Power Program I1986Pittsburgh, 1987: 8-4, Power Program I1987Pittsburgh, 1988: 6-5, Power Program I1988Pittsburgh, 1989: 7-3, Power Program II1989-4.9One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Power Program in his 6th career season — faster than 25% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #279 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).

Cincinnati, 2 seasons
−0.8
Regional Program I → Regional Program I.
Kansas, 3 seasons
+0.0
Regional Program I → Regional Program I.
Pittsburgh, 4 seasons
−4.9
Power Program I → Power Program II.

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.

11–5 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Bobby Bowden.

Rivalry record
11–5–1
64.7% · 6 rivals
One-score games
12–17–3
37.5% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–1
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
West Virginia2–1–150%
Penn State2–250%
Missouri3–0100%
Louisville2–0100%
Miami (OH)1–150%
Kansas State1–150%
The toughest matchup
vs. Bobby Bowden0–3
3 meetings, 1982–1985
’82 L’84 L’85 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
Dynasty
0–1 0.0%
Blue Blood
6–9 40.0%
Power Program
6–12 33.3%
National Program
9–15 37.5%
Regional Program
22–7 75.9%

Coaching career

1986–1989
Pittsburghinheritor
Power Program I → Power Program I
Mike Gottfried inherited a Power Program I Pittsburgh and won with it.

5th-best Pittsburgh tenure of 23 by the numbers.

Followed Foge Fazio (1982–1985) · succeeded by Paul Hackett (1990–1992).

13 NFL Draft picks: Bob Buczkowski (1986), Bill Callahan (1986), Tony Woods (1987), Randy Dixon (1987), Lorenzo Freeman (1987), Tom Brown (1987), Burt Grossman (1989), Tom Ricketts (1989) + 5 more

26–17
1983–1985
Kansascaretaker
Regional Program I → Regional Program I
Mike Gottfried held Kansas at Regional Program I for 3 seasons.

13th-best Kansas tenure of 21 by the numbers.

Followed Don Fambrough (1971–1982) · succeeded by Bob Valesente (1986–1987).

8 NFL Draft picks: Wayne Capers (1983), Paul Fairchild (1984), Bruce Kallmeyer (1984), Renwick Atkins (1984), Alvin Walton (1986), Lynn Williams (1986), Mike Norseth (1986), Johnny Holloway (1986)

15–18
1981–1982
Cincinnaticaretaker
Regional Program I → Regional Program I
Mike Gottfried held Cincinnati at Regional Program I for 2 seasons.

14th-best Cincinnati tenure of 19 by the numbers.

Followed Ralph Staub (1977–1980) · succeeded by Watson Brown (1983–1983).

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