Now
Career arc
Bowls and playoffs: 0-3
1982Liberty BowlL 15-21
1983Rose BowlL 9-45
1985Peach BowlL 29-31
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.
2-4 against his rivals at California. Just 1-2 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.
6-2 against his rivals at Illinois. Winless in 3 tries against Jim Young.
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.
8-6 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Jim Young.
Building the roster
Two numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.
Roster ownership
Roster ownership
This coach's entire tenure (1980-1987) 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. 1 went in the first round.
At least 15 — the draft class following his 1987 season is missing from this table entirely; and his 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | R2.20 | Jack Trudeau | Quarterback |  Indianapolis Colts | Estimated |
| 1986 | R3.27 | David Williams | Wide Receiver |  Chicago Bears | Estimated |
| 1986 | R4.01 | Craig Swoope | Defensive Back |  Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Estimated |
| 1986 | R4.22 | Jim Juriga | Offensive Tackle |  Denver Broncos | Estimated |
| 1986 | R6.09 | Thomas Rooks | Running Back |  Minnesota Vikings | Estimated |
| 1986 | R7.06 | Chris White | Place Kicker | Indianapolis Colts | Estimated |
| 1985 | R4.08 | Mike Heaven | Defensive Back | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Estimated |
| 1984 | R4.11 | Mitchell Brookins | Wide Receiver |  Buffalo Bills | Estimated |
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | R6.07 | Dwight Beverly | Running Back | Indianapolis Colts | Estimated |
| 1984 | R6.16 | Don Thorp | Defensive Tackle |  New Orleans Saints | Estimated |
| 1983 | R1.15 | Tony Eason | Quarterback |  New England Patriots | Estimated |
| 1983 | R6.15 | Mike Bass | Place Kicker | New England Patriots | Estimated |
| 1982 | R2.08 | Jack Squirek | Linebacker |  Los Angeles Raiders | Estimated |
| 1982 | R7.28 | Ron Ferrari | Linebacker |  San Francisco 49ers | Estimated |
| 1981 | R5.05 | John Gillen | Linebacker |  St. Louis Cardinals | 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
8th-best Illinois tenure of 16 by the numbers.
Followed Gary Moeller (1977–1979) · succeeded by John Mackovic (1988–1991).
| Season | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||||
| Record | 3-7-1 | 7-4 | 7-5 | 10-2 | 7-4 | 6-5-1 | 4-7 | 3-7-1 | |
| Postseason | — | — | L bowl | L 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 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
4th-best California tenure of 19 by the numbers.
Followed Ray Willsey (1964–1971) · succeeded by Roger Theder (1978–1981).
9 NFL Draft picks: Bob Kampa (1973), Steve Bartkowski (1975), Chuck Muncie (1976), Steve Rivera (1976), Ted Albrecht (1977), Wesley Walker (1977), Fred Besana (1977), Jeff Barnes (1977) + 1 more
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.
2nd-most wins by a Pac-8 coach
Was he good?
Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.
+15.0 pts at Illinois · #119 of 1290 · top quarter