Steve Sloan

Head coach, Duke, 1983 to 1986
Before: Ole Miss

College career68-86-3

Program liftNo. 1,149tied · of 1,290 tenures since 1937

Now

Career arc

Bowls and playoffs: 0-2-1

Vanderbilt

1974Peach BowlT 6-6

Texas Tech

1976Astro-Bluebonnet BowlL 24-27

1977Tangerine BowlL 17-40

Stats

Big games

Pick a job to see its years on their own.

Vanderbilt1973–74 · 12-9-2Texas Tech1975–77 · 23-12Ole Miss1978–82 · 20-34-1Duke1983–86 · 13-31All jobs68-86-3

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 Vanderbilt.

Rivalry record

0-1-1

0.0% · 1 rival

One-score games

4-2-2

50.0% · margin ≤8

Against Blue Bloods or better

0-2

0.0%

Rivalry ledger

Tennessee0-1-10%

Performance by opponent class

Blue Blood

0-2 0.0%

Power Program

3-3 50.0%

National Program

0-1 0.0%

Regional Program

8-3 72.7%

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.

4-3 against his rivals at Texas Tech. Just 1-2 against Emory Bellard.

Rivalry record

4-3

57.1% · 3 rivals

One-score games

8-5

61.5% · margin ≤8

Against Blue Bloods or better

1-3

25.0%

Rivalry ledger

Texas1-233%

Baylor3-0100%

Oklahoma State0-10%

The toughest matchup

vs. Emory Bellard1-2

3 meetings, 1975–1977

’75 L’76 W’77 L

33% 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

1-3 25.0%

Power Program

3-5 37.5%

National Program

7-4 63.6%

Regional Program

12-0 100.0%

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 at Ole Miss. Winless in 5 tries against Vince Dooley.

Rivalry record

8-6-1

53.3% · 3 rivals

One-score games

8-13-1

36.4% · margin ≤8

Against Blue Bloods or better

0-5

0.0%

Rivalry ledger

Memphis5-0100%

LSU0-4-10%

Mississippi State3-260%

The toughest matchup

vs. Vince Dooley0-5

5 meetings, 1978–1982

’78 L’79 L’80 L’81 L’82 L

0% win rate across a real, 5-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

0-4 0.0%

Power Program

2-16 11.1%

National Program

11-9 55.0%

Regional Program

7-4 63.6%

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 at Duke. Winless in 4 tries against Bobby Ross.

Rivalry record

1-3

25.0% · 1 rival

One-score games

7-12

36.8% · margin ≤8

Rivalry ledger

North Carolina1-325%

The toughest matchup

vs. Bobby Ross0-4

4 meetings, 1983–1986

’83 L’84 L’85 L’86 L

0% win rate across a real, 4-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

Power Program

1-12 7.7%

National Program

3-11 21.4%

Regional Program

9-8 52.9%

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.

13-13 against his rivals. Winless in 5 tries against Bear Bryant.

Rivalry record

13-13-2

46.4% · 8 rivals

One-score games

27-32-3

43.5% · margin ≤8

Against Blue Bloods or better

1-10

9.1%

Rivalry ledger

Memphis5-0100%

LSU0-4-10%

Mississippi State3-260%

North Carolina1-325%

Texas1-233%

Baylor3-0100%

Tennessee0-1-10%

Oklahoma State0-10%

The toughest matchup

vs. Bear Bryant0-5

5 meetings, 1973–1982

’73 L’74 L’80 L’81 L’82 L

0% win rate across a real, 5-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

1-9 10.0%

Power Program

9-36 20.0%

National Program

21-25 45.7%

Regional Program

36-15 70.6%

Building the roster

Three numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.

1Who followed him
2Roster ownership
3The NFL pipeline

Followed him here

Vanderbilt→

Texas Tech1975

No confirmed followers on this move. This move predates this database’s 2021 transfer-portal tracking floor, so real followers may be undercounted here.

Texas Tech→

Ole Miss1978

No confirmed followers on this move. This move predates this database’s 2021 transfer-portal tracking floor, so real followers may be undercounted here.

Ole Miss→

Duke1983

No confirmed followers on this move. This move predates this database’s 2021 transfer-portal tracking floor, so real followers may be undercounted here.

Players 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

This coach's entire tenure (1983-1986) 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

at least2Drafted

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 2 — his 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.

0 roster-verified · 2 estimated

Most recent picks first

Year	Pick	Player	Pos	NFL team	Note
1987	R1.05	Mike Junkin	Linebacker	Cleveland Browns	Estimated
1984	R6.08	Ben Bennett	Quarterback	Atlanta Falcons	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

See Duke’s full coaching history →

The arc of his career is on Now.

Steady no large move in either direction on our stature ladder

1983–1986

Duke Steady

Regional Program I → Regional Program I (left at Regional Program III)

Closest comparable run: Danny Ford’s Arkansas run (1993–1997)

Steve Sloan slid Duke from Regional Program I to Regional Program III in 4 seasons.

−8.2 pts over 4 seasons · bottom 20% of 3-5-season tenures (717 in sample)

10th-best Duke tenure of 15 by the numbers.

Followed Red Wilson (1979–1982) · succeeded by Steve Spurrier (1987–1989).

13-31

1978–1982

Ole Miss Steady

Power Program III → National Program I (left at National Program II)

Closest comparable run: Ed Orgeron’s Ole Miss run (2005–2007)

Steve Sloan slid Ole Miss from Power Program III to National Program I in 5 seasons.

−9.1 pts over 5 seasons · bottom 16% of 3-5-season tenures (717 in sample)

9th-best Ole Miss tenure of 17 by the numbers.

Followed Ken Cooper (1974–1977) · succeeded by Billy Brewer (1983–1993).

2 NFL Draft picks: Jim Miller (1980), Ken Toler (1981)

20-34-1

1975–1977

Texas Tech Steady

National Program II → National Program I

Closest comparable run: Butch Jones’s Central Michigan run (2007–2009)

Steve Sloan moved Texas Tech from National Program II to National Program I in 3 seasons.

+6.0 pts over 3 seasons · top 12% of 3-5-season tenures (717 in sample)

5th-best Texas Tech tenure of 15 by the numbers.

Followed Jim Carlen (1970–1974) · succeeded by Rex Dockery (1978–1980).

Season	1975	1976	1977
Record & result
Record	6-5	10-2	7-5
Postseason	—	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	—	—	—

Postseason detail1976: Lost to Nebraska 24-27 Bowl1977: Lost to Florida State 17-40 Bowl

6 NFL Draft picks: Curtis Jordan (1976), Thomas Howard (1977), Tommy Duniven (1977), Billy Taylor (1978), Eric Felton (1978), Jim Krahl (1978)

23-12

1973–1974

Vanderbilt Steady

Regional Program II → Regional Program II

Steve Sloan held Vanderbilt at Regional Program II for 2 seasons.

Followed Bill Pace (1967–1972) · succeeded by Fred Pancoast (1975–1978).

Season	1973	1974
Record & result
Record	5-6	7-3-2
Postseason	—	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	—	—

Postseason detail1974: Tied Texas Tech 6-6 Bowl

2 NFL Draft picks: Mark Ilgenfritz (1974), Doug Nettles (1974)

12-9-2

Was he good?

Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.

Raised the program

+6.0 pts at Texas Tech · #347 of 1290 · middle half

Also coached: Ole Miss (-9.1), Duke (-8.2).