Dana Holgorsen
Followed Major Applewhite. Dana Holgorsen held Houston at National Program I for 6 seasons.
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.
Reached Power Program in his 1st career season — faster than 57% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #1 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).
Style position and drift
Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.
Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.
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.
5–1 against his rivals. Winless in 5 tries against Bob Stoops.
Coaching career
6th-best Houston tenure of 16 by the numbers.
Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.
Followed Major Applewhite (2016–2018).
| Season | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||
| Record | 4–8 | 3–5 | 12–2 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 0–0 | |
| Postseason | — | L bowl | W bowl | W bowl | — | — | |
| Recruiting rank | #72 | #82 | #81 | #50 | #55 | #60 | |
| Style — pass rate | |||||||
| Pass rate | 40.3 | 50.4 | 47.1 | 55.5 | 53.1 | 39.7 | |
| Coordinators | |||||||
| OC | Marquel Blackwell / Brandon Jones | Shannon Dawson / Brandon Jones | Shannon Dawson / Brandon Jones | Shannon Dawson / Brandon Jones | Eman Naghavi | Kevin Barbay | |
| DC | Joe Cauthen / Doug Belk | Joe Cauthen / Doug Belk | Doug Belk | Doug Belk | Doug Belk | Shiel Wood | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||||||
| Offense | 42 | 55 | 61 | 93 | 24 | 3 | |
| Defense | 13 | 37 | 89 | 40 | 29 | 72 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | |||||||
| 1st-down pass% | 38.2 | 46.2 | 40.7 | 52.8 | 52.8 | 41.0 | |
| Red-zone pass% | 37.6 | 44.8 | 46.3 | 55.0 | 50.0 | 33.8 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | 25.6 | 44.4 | 37.0 | 44.7 | 48.8 | 42.9 | |
A typical amount of portal roster-building.
Typical size for position, once adjusted for position mix.
Recruits older, more experienced transfers than most.
15 NFL Draft picks: Ed Oliver (2019), Isaiah Johnson (2019), Emeke Egbule (2019), Josh Jones (2020), Payton Turner (2021), Marquez Stevenson (2021), Grant Stuard (2021), Logan Hall (2022) + 7 more
2 player-seasons honored (All-America / national award): Marcus Jones (2020), Marcus Jones (2021)
3rd-best West Virginia tenure of 16 by the numbers.
Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.
Followed Bill Stewart (2008–2010) · succeeded by Neal Brown (2019–2024).
| Season | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||||
| Record | 10–3 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 8–4 | |
| Postseason | — | — | — | L bowl | W bowl | L bowl | L bowl | L bowl | |
| Recruiting rank | — | — | — | #39 | #35 | #39 | #57 | #35 | |
| Style — pass rate | |||||||||
| Pass rate | — | — | — | 48.7 | 40.8 | 41.6 | 51.1 | 51.1 | |
| Coordinators | |||||||||
| OC | — | — | — | Shannon Dawson | — | — | Jake Spavital | Jake Spavital | |
| DC | — | — | — | Tony Gibson | Tony Gibson | Tony Gibson | Tony Gibson | Tony Gibson | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||||||||
| Offense | — | — | — | 50 | 59 | 61 | 58 | 82 | |
| Defense | — | — | — | 77 | 85 | 70 | 42 | 29 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | |||||||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | — | — | 44.6 | 35.5 | 35.9 | 50.0 | 49.6 | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | — | — | 38.8 | 32.0 | 35.3 | 50.0 | 41.6 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | — | — | 23.7 | 24.4 | 28.6 | 35.1 | 35.9 | |
29 NFL Draft picks: Brandon Hogan (2011), Robert Sands (2011), J.T. Thomas (2011), Christopher Neild (2011), Bruce Irvin (2012), Najee Goode (2012), Keith Tandy (2012), Tavon Austin (2013) + 21 more