The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Mike Houston

Followed Scottie Montgomery. Mike Houston moved East Carolina from Regional Program III to Regional Program II in 6 seasons.

27–38

2019–2024 · 1 stint

East Carolina

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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.

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).

East Carolina, 6 seasons

+3.9

Regional Program III → Regional Program II.

Style position and drift

Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.

Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)

How much that is, against every other stint

Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.

Typical stint7.010.2 median13.9middle half of all stints

East Carolina8.6pt#164 of 258 · a typical amount

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.

0–2 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Luke Fickell.

Rivalry record

0–2

0.0% · 1 rival

One-score games

8–12

40.0% · margin ≤8

vs. Blue Blood or better

0–1

0.0%

Rivalry ledger

NC State0–20%

The toughest matchup

vs. Luke Fickell0–3

3 meetings, 2019–2021

’19 L · blew a 12-pt lead’20 L’21 L · blew a 3-pt lead

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

Blue Blood

0–1 0.0%

Power Program

1–1 50.0%

National Program

3–18 14.3%

Regional Program

13–12 52.0%

His own effect, isolated

A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.

Offense marginal impact

-0.04

#182 of 319 · a typical amount

Defense marginal impact

-0.22

#272 of 325 · less than most

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

Coaching career

2019–2024

East Carolinacaretaker

Regional Program III → Regional Program II

Mike Houston moved East Carolina from Regional Program III to Regional Program II in 6 seasons.

13th-best East Carolina tenure of 15 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.

Offense vs. talent

-0.3 pts

#114 of 208 · a typical amount

Defense vs. talent

-11.3 pts

#153 of 208 · a typical amount

Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Followed Scottie Montgomery (2016–2018).

Season	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Record & result
Record	4–8	3–6	7–5	8–5	2–10	3–4
Postseason	—	—	—	W bowl	—	W bowl
Recruiting rank	#78	#70	#95	#85	#65	#73
Style — pass rate
Pass rate	50.1	44.8	47.2	53.4	50.1	47.6
Coordinators
OC	Donnie Kirkpatrick	Donnie Kirkpatrick	Donnie Kirkpatrick	Donnie Kirkpatrick	Donnie Kirkpatrick	John David Baker
DC	Bob Trott	Blake Harrell	Blake Harrell	Blake Harrell	Blake Harrell	Blake Harrell
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense	39	36	46	76	6	81
Defense	3	46	43	16	76	34
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%	41.9	41.9	43.5	47.8	44.6	45.4
Red-zone pass%	38.6	41.8	43.7	43.5	32.9	35.0
4th-down go%opp. territory	5.4	30.3	48.4	47.8	32.6	27.8

Roster construction · portal era

A typical amount of portal roster-building.

Portal arrivals

3.0★ avg rating

Portal departures

100

left via the portal

Net portal flow

-41

#75 of 187 FBS stints

Who they bring in

Typical size for position, once adjusted for position mix.

A typical class-year mix of incoming transfers.

Avg. size (raw)

6′2″, 229 lbs

across 44 of 59 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix

Size vs. position-typical

+3.1 lbs

#151 of 255 · a typical amount

Avg. class year

#80 of 255 · a typical amount

Top states: NC (17), GA (5), OH (4), FL (3), TX (3)

Who won the portal our read

Talent added

55.4

position-weighted

Talent lost

58.9

position-weighted

Net

-3.5

arrivals minus departures

Best addition: Katin Houser (QB) from Michigan State

Biggest loss: Mason Garcia (QB) to Austin Peay

Position-value-weighted (QB/CB weighted highest, depth-decayed within each position) — the same scoring engine as the Portal Heat feed, not a separate grade.

Does the system survive a coordinator change?

DC: Bob Trott → Blake Harrell · 2020

1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.

Roster size, by position

Skill positions · usage-weighted (real participation)

Quarterback

231 lbs

6′4″ avg · #29 of 767 · more than most

Running back

205 lbs

5′11″ avg · #500 of 791 · a typical amount

Wide receiver

195 lbs

6′1″ avg · #302 of 791 · a typical amount

Tight end

243 lbs

6′4″ avg · #444 of 731 · a typical amount

Trench & secondary · recruited roster, not confirmed starters

Interior line

310 lbs

6′4″ avg · #347 of 779 · a typical amount

D-line

275 lbs

6′2″ avg · #566 of 753 · less than most

Linebacker

230 lbs

6′1″ avg · #320 of 772 · a typical amount

Cornerback

189 lbs

6′0″ avg · #459 of 771 · a typical amount

Offensive-line size is one undifferentiated bucket — the source data almost never distinguishes tackle from guard from center, so we can't split them out.

Where the roster comes from, by position

Buys Linebacker via the portal

62%

#44 of 225 stints

Grows Edge from high school

75%

#165 of 208 stints

Grows D-line from high school

80%

#186 of 239 stints

Postseason detail2022: Beat Coastal Carolina 53–29 TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl2024: Beat NC State 26–21 Go Bowling Military Bowl

2 NFL Draft picks: D'Ante Smith (2021), Shavon Revel Jr. (2025)

27–38