The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Paul Wiggin

Followed Ron Dowhower. Paul Wiggin held Stanford at Power Program III for 4 seasons.

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1980–1983 · 1 stint
Stanford
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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 careerSTANFORDPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyStanford, 1980: 6-5, Power Program III1980Stanford, 1981: 4-7, Power Program III1981Stanford, 1982: 5-6, Power Program III1982Stanford, 1983: 1-10, National Program I1983+1.1One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Power Program in his 1st career season — faster than 57% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #1 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).

Stanford, 4 seasons
+1.1
Power Program III → National Program I.

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.

1–3 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Darryl Rogers.

Rivalry record
1–3
25.0% · 1 rival
One-score games
4–10
28.6% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
1–5
16.7%
Rivalry ledger
California1–325%
The toughest matchup
vs. Darryl Rogers0–3
3 meetings, 1981–1983
’81 L’82 L’83 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
Blue Blood
1–5 16.7%
Power Program
3–10 23.1%
National Program
4–11 26.7%
Regional Program
8–2 80.0%

Coaching career

1980–1983
Stanfordcaretaker
Power Program III → Power Program III
Paul Wiggin held Stanford at Power Program III for 4 seasons.

9th-best Stanford tenure of 20 by the numbers.

Followed Ron Dowhower (1979–1979) · succeeded by Jack Elway (1984–1988).

10 NFL Draft picks: Andre Hines (1980), Brian Holloway (1981), Ken Margerum (1981), Darrin Nelson (1982), Doug Rogers (1982), Andre Tyler (1982), John Elway (1983), Chris Dressel (1983) + 2 more

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