The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Bill McCartney

Followed Chuck Fairbanks. Bill McCartney took Colorado from National Program II to Blue Blood.

93–55
1982–1994 · 1 stint
Colorado
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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 careerCOLORADOBlue Bloodpermanent top tierPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelColorado, 1982: 2-8, National Program III1982Colorado, 1983: 4-7, Regional Program I1983Colorado, 1984: 1-10, Regional Program II1984Colorado, 1985: 7-5, Regional Program I1985Colorado, 1986: 6-6, Regional Program I1986Colorado, 1987: 7-4, National Program III1987Colorado, 1988: 8-4, National Program II1988Colorado, 1989: 11-1, National Program I1989Colorado, 1990: 11-1, Power Program I1990Colorado, 1991: 8-3, Power Program I1991Colorado, 1992: 9-2, Power Program I1992Colorado, 1993: 8-3, Power Program I1993Colorado, 1994: 11-1, Blue Blood1994+29.6One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Blue Blood in his 13th career season — faster than 11% of the 100 FBS coaches who have ever reached Blue Blood (rank #86 of 100 by seasons-to-arrival).

Colorado, 13 seasons
+29.6
National Program III → Blue Blood.

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.

9–10 against his rivals. Winless in 7 tries against Barry Switzer.

Rivalry record
9–10–1
45.0% · 2 rivals
One-score games
23–22–5
46.0% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–1
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
Nebraska3–9–123%
Colorado State6–186%
The toughest matchup
vs. Barry Switzer0–7
7 meetings, 1982–1988
’82 L’83 L’84 L’85 L’86 L’87 L’88 L
0% win rate across a real, 7-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
7–12 36.8%
Power Program
12–20 37.5%
National Program
18–13 58.1%
Regional Program
54–9 85.7%

Coaching career

1982–1994
Coloradotransformer
National Program II → Blue Blood
Bill McCartney took Colorado from National Program II to Blue Blood.

2nd-best Colorado tenure of 20 by the numbers.

Followed Chuck Fairbanks (1979–1981) · succeeded by Rick Neuheisel (1995–1998).

37 NFL Draft picks: Rich Umphrey (1982), Bob Sebro (1982), Victor Scott (1984), Dan McMillen (1986), Ron Brown (1986), Jon Embree (1987), Jeff Campbell (1990), Mike Pritchard (1991) + 29 more

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