Now
Career arc
Bowls and playoffs: 1-2
1982Independence BowlW 14-3
1984Hall of Fame ClassicL 19-20Stats
Big games
Pick a job to see its years on their own.
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.
3-0 against his rivals at Ball State. Nobody he faced three or more times there has a winning record against him.
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.
6-9 against his rivals at Wisconsin. Winless in 7 tries against Hayden Fry.
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.
9-9 against his rivals. Winless in 7 tries against Hayden Fry.
Building the roster
Three numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.
Followed him here
Ball State→
Wisconsin1978Players who transferred from his old program to his new one through the portal in the same year he made the move. Name-matching across data sources misses some, so every count is a floor, not an exact number.
Roster ownership
Roster ownership
This coach's entire tenure (1978-1985) predates 2021, when transfer-portal tracking begins in this database. Portal usage cannot be measured for this tenure at all -- this is not the same as '0% portal'.
“His own” means the player arrived while he was head coach; “inherited” means a predecessor brought him in.
The NFL pipeline
The NFL pipeline
players drafted into the NFL off his teams here (a floor — see the note below). None can be traced to who brought them in — there’s no roster record for these players here. 4 went in the first round.
At least 20 — his 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985 seasons predate the modern 7-round draft, so this table’s pre-1994 pick counts are a floor, not a full count, for those seasons.
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | R6.11 | Bob Landsee | Center |  Philadelphia Eagles | Estimated |
| 1985 | R1.10 | Al Toon | Wide Receiver |  New York Jets | Estimated |
| 1985 | R1.11 | Richard Johnson | Defensive Back |  Houston Oilers | Estimated |
| 1985 | R1.20 | Darryl Sims | Defensive End |  Pittsburgh Steelers | Estimated |
| 1985 | R2.23 | Scott Bergold | Offensive Tackle |  St. Louis Cardinals | Estimated |
| 1985 | R4.17 | Dan Turk | Center | Pittsburgh Steelers | Estimated |
| 1985 | R4.27 | Jeff Dellenbach | Offensive Tackle |  Miami Dolphins | Estimated |
| 1985 | R7.14 | Gary Ellerson | Running Back |  Green Bay Packers | Estimated |
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | R7.18 | Kevin Belcher | Offensive Tackle |  Los Angeles Raiders | Estimated |
| 1984 | R6.13 | Randy Wright | Quarterback | Green Bay Packers | Estimated |
| 1983 | R5.14 | Matt Vandenboom | Defensive Back |  Buffalo Bills | Estimated |
| 1983 | R6.05 | Tim Stracka | Tight End |  Cleveland Browns | Estimated |
| 1983 | R6.26 | Bob Winckler | Offensive Tackle |  Washington Redskins | Estimated |
| 1982 | R5.11 | Von Mansfield | Defensive Back |  Atlanta Falcons | Estimated |
| 1981 | R6.05 | Dave Ahrens | Linebacker | St. Louis Cardinals | Estimated |
| 1980 | R1.22 | Ray Snell | Offensive Guard |  Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Estimated |
| 1980 | R3.27 | Ray Sydnor | Tight End | Pittsburgh Steelers | Estimated |
| 1980 | R6.14 | Tom Schremp | Defensive End | New York Jets | Estimated |
| 1979 | R2.12 | Lawrence Johnson | Defensive Back |  Cleveland Browns | Estimated |
| 1979 | R6.05 | Ira Matthews | Running Back |  Oakland Raiders | Estimated |
A pick counts toward his tenure when the player’s final college season was one he coached, a checkable rule rather than a claim about who developed the player. A blank note means the player is on a verified roster and arrived on his watch. “Estimated” means no roster record, so the final season is assumed to be the year before the draft.
Career
Coaching career
The arc of his career is on Now.
Steady no large move in either direction on our stature ladder
10th-best Wisconsin tenure of 14 by the numbers.
Followed John Jardine (1970–1977) · succeeded by Jim Hilles (1986).
| Season | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||||
| Record | 5-4-2 | 4-7 | 4-7 | 7-5 | 7-5 | 7-4 | 7-4-1 | 5-6 | |
| Postseason | — | — | — | L bowl | W bowl | — | L bowl | — | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||||||||
| Offense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Defense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script | |||||||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
2nd-best Ball State tenure of 10 by the numbers.
Succeeded by Dwight Wallace (1978–1984).
2 NFL Draft picks: Shafer Suggs (1976), Maurice Harvey (1978)
Was he good?
Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.
+10.6 pts at Wisconsin · #201 of 1290 · top quarter