The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Bill Davidson

Bill Davidson held Arkansas State at National Program II for 5 seasons.

37–17
1974–1978 · 1 stint
Arkansas State
← 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 careerARKANSAS STATENational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelArkansas State, 1974: 7-3, National Program III1974Arkansas State, 1975: 11-0, National Program II1975Arkansas State, 1976: 5-6, National Program II1976Arkansas State, 1977: 7-4, National Program II1977Arkansas State, 1978: 7-4, National Program III1978+0.0One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached National Program in his 1st career season — faster than 41% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #1 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).

Arkansas State, 5 seasons
+0.0
National Program III → 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.

2–1 against his rivals. Just 1–3 against Maxie Lambright.

Rivalry record
2–1
66.7% · 1 rival
One-score games
5–3
62.5% · margin ≤8
Rivalry ledger
UL Monroe2–167%
The toughest matchup
vs. Maxie Lambright1–3
4 meetings, 1975–1978
’75 W’76 L’77 L’78 L
25% 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
0–1 0.0%
National Program
3–6 33.3%
Regional Program
15–4 78.9%

Coaching career

1974–1978
Arkansas Statecaretaker
National Program II
Bill Davidson held Arkansas State at National Program II for 5 seasons.

1st-best Arkansas State tenure of 12 by the numbers.

Succeeded by Larry Lacewell (1979–1981).

6 NFL Draft picks: Stan Winfrey (1975), Steve Burks (1975), Ken Jones (1976), Dick Dixon (1976), Jerry Muckensturm (1976), Leroy Harris (1977)

37–17