The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Vince Gibson

Followed Larry Smith. Vince Gibson moved Tulane from Regional Program I to National Program III in 3 seasons.

The ascent
73–100
1967–1982 · 3 stints
Kansas StateLouisvilleTulane
← all coaches

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 careerKANSAS STATELOUISVILLETULANENational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelKansas State, 1967: 1-9, Regional Program VI1967Kansas State, 1968: 4-6, Regional Program VIKansas State, 1969: 5-5, Regional Program VKansas State, 1970: 6-5, Regional Program IIIKansas State, 1971: 5-6, Regional Program IIIKansas State, 1972: 3-8, Regional Program IIIKansas State, 1973: 5-6, Regional Program IIIKansas State, 1974: 4-7, Regional Program III1974+14.1Louisville, 1975: 1-10, Regional Program III1975Louisville, 1976: 4-7, Regional Program IIILouisville, 1977: 7-4, Regional Program IILouisville, 1978: 7-4, Regional Program IILouisville, 1979: 4-6, Regional Program I1979-1.3Tulane, 1980: 7-5, Regional Program I1980Tulane, 1981: 6-5, National Program IIITulane, 1982: 4-7, National Program III1982+2.9One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached National Program in his 15th career season — faster than 1% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #670 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).

Kansas State, 8 seasons
+14.1
Regional Program VI → Regional Program III.
Louisville, 5 seasons
−1.3
Regional Program III → Regional Program I.
Tulane, 3 seasons
+2.9
Regional Program I → National Program III.

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.

6–9 against his rivals. Winless in 5 tries against Bobby Collins.

Rivalry record
6–9–1
37.5% · 3 rivals
One-score games
21–24–2
44.7% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–2
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
Kansas2–625%
Cincinnati2–2–140%
LSU2–167%
The toughest matchupNemesis
vs. Bobby Collins0–4–1
5 meetings, 1978–1982
’78 L’79 T’80 L’81 L’82 L
Performance by opponent class
Dynasty
0–2 0.0%
Blue Blood
0–6 0.0%
Power Program
10–26 27.8%
National Program
19–44 30.2%
Regional Program
28–15 65.1%

Coaching career

1980–1982
Tulanecaretaker
Regional Program I → National Program III
Vince Gibson moved Tulane from Regional Program I to National Program III in 3 seasons.

10th-best Tulane tenure of 23 by the numbers.

Followed Larry Smith (1976–1979) · succeeded by Wally English (1983–1984).

5 NFL Draft picks: Eddie Murray (1980), Rodney Holman (1982), Marvin Lewis (1982), Jeff Roberts (1982), Lionel Washington (1983)

17–17
1975–1979
Louisvillecaretaker
Regional Program I → Regional Program I
Vince Gibson held Louisville at Regional Program I for 5 seasons.

14th-best Louisville tenure of 15 by the numbers.

Followed Tom Alley (1973–1974) · succeeded by Bob Weber (1980–1984).

2 NFL Draft picks: Dwayne Woodruff (1979), Otis Wilson (1980)

23–31
1967–1974
Kansas Statebuilder
Regional Program VI → Regional Program III
Vince Gibson raised Kansas State from Regional Program VI to Regional Program III.

7th-best Kansas State tenure of 18 by the numbers.

Followed Doug Weaver (1960–1966) · succeeded by Ellis Rainsberger (1975–1977).

14 NFL Draft picks: Corny Davis (1969), Lynn Larson (1970), Manuel Barrera (1970), Mack Herron (1970), Clarence Scott (1971), Lynn Dickey (1971), Mike Montgomery (1971), Dean Shaternick (1971) + 6 more

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