Rey Dempsey
Now
Career arc
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.
Winless in 3 tries against Bill Davidson.
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.
0-1 against his rivals at Memphis.
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.
0-1 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Bill Davidson.
Building the roster
Three numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.
Followed him here
Southern Illinois→
Memphis1984Players who transferred from his old program to his new one through the portal in the same year he made the move. Name-matching across data sources misses some, so every count is a floor, not an exact number.
Roster ownership
Roster ownership
This coach's entire tenure (1984-1985) 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 7 — his 1984, 1985 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 | R3.15 | Jeff Walker | Offensive Tackle |  San Diego Chargers | Estimated |
| 1986 | R4.02 | Tim Harris | Defensive End |  Green Bay Packers | Estimated |
| 1986 | R6.14 | Gary Hunt | Defensive Back |  Cincinnati Bengals | Estimated |
| 1985 | R1.14 | Derrick Burroughs | Defensive Back |  Buffalo Bills | Estimated |
| 1985 | R3.10 | Tim Long | Offensive Tackle |  Minnesota Vikings | Estimated |
| 1985 | R3.11 | Donnie Elder | Defensive Back |  New York Jets | Estimated |
| 1985 | R6.19 | Jack Oliver | Offensive Guard |  New York Giants | 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.
Steady no large move in either direction on our stature ladder
Followed Rex Dockery (1981–1983) · succeeded by Charlie Bailey (1986–1988).
1st-best Southern Illinois tenure of 2 by the numbers.
Followed Doug Weaver (1974–1975).
4 NFL Draft picks: Andre Herrera (1977), Kevin House (1980), John Harper (1983), Terry Taylor (1984)
Was he good?
Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.
+3.7 pts at Southern Illinois · #452 of 1290 · middle half