The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Charles Shira

Followed Paul Davis. Charles Shira slid Mississippi State from National Program II to Regional Program I in 6 seasons.

16–45
1967–1972 · 1 stint
Mississippi State
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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 careerMISSISSIPPI STATENational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelMississippi State, 1967: 1-9, Regional Program I1967Mississippi State, 1968: 0-8, Regional Program II1968Mississippi State, 1969: 3-7, Regional Program III1969Mississippi State, 1970: 6-5, Regional Program III1970Mississippi State, 1971: 2-9, Regional Program III1971Mississippi State, 1972: 4-7, Regional Program III1972-13.6One 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).

Mississippi State, 6 seasons
−13.6
Regional Program I → Regional 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.

1–4 against his rivals. Winless in 6 tries against Bear Bryant.

Rivalry record
1–4–1
16.7% · 1 rival
One-score games
8–9–2
42.1% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–1
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
Ole Miss1–4–117%
The toughest matchup
vs. Bear Bryant0–6
6 meetings, 1967–1972
’67 L’68 L’69 L’70 L’71 L’72 L
0% win rate across a real, 6-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
0–6 0.0%
Power Program
3–26 10.3%
National Program
4–7 36.4%
Regional Program
6–3 66.7%

Coaching career

1967–1972
Mississippi Statecaretakerborderline
National Program II → Regional Program I
Charles Shira slid Mississippi State from National Program II to Regional Program I in 6 seasons.

17th-best Mississippi State tenure of 20 by the numbers.

Followed Paul Davis (1962–1966) · succeeded by Bob Tyler (1973–1978).

2 NFL Draft picks: D.D. Lewis (1968), Ken Phares (1973)

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