The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Bobby Johnson

Followed Woody Widenhofer. Bobby Johnson moved Vanderbilt from Regional Program III to Regional Program II in 8 seasons.

29–66
2002–2009 · 1 stint
Vanderbilt
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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 careerVANDERBILTRegional Programthe building-block levelVanderbilt, 2002: 2-10, Regional Program III2002Vanderbilt, 2003: 2-10, Regional Program IV2003Vanderbilt, 2004: 2-9, Regional Program IV2004Vanderbilt, 2005: 5-6, Regional Program III2005Vanderbilt, 2006: 4-8, Regional Program III2006Vanderbilt, 2007: 5-7, Regional Program III2007Vanderbilt, 2008: 7-6, Regional Program II2008Vanderbilt, 2009: 2-10, Regional Program II2009+4.1One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Regional Program in his 1st career season — faster than 20% of the 925 FBS coaches who have ever reached Regional Program (rank #1 of 925 by seasons-to-arrival).

Vanderbilt, 8 seasons
+4.1
Regional Program III → Regional Program II.

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.

1–7 against his rivals. Winless in 5 tries against Urban Meyer.

Rivalry record
1–7
12.5% · 1 rival
One-score games
11–26
29.7% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–1
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
Tennessee1–712%
The toughest matchup
vs. Urban Meyer0–5
5 meetings, 2005–2009
’05 L’06 L’07 L’08 L’09 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
0–13 0.0%
Power Program
5–19 20.8%
National Program
6–18 25.0%
Regional Program
11–14 44.0%

Coaching career

2002–2009
Vanderbiltcaretaker
Regional Program III → Regional Program II
Bobby Johnson moved Vanderbilt from Regional Program III to Regional Program II in 8 seasons.

13th-best Vanderbilt tenure of 20 by the numbers.

Followed Woody Widenhofer (1997–2001) · succeeded by Robbie Caldwell (2010–2010).

10 NFL Draft picks: Hunter Hillenmeyer (2003), Jovan Haye (2005), Justin Geisinger (2005), Jay Cutler (2006), Chris Williams (2008), Earl Bennett (2008), Jonathan Goff (2008), D.J. Moore (2009) + 2 more

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