Now
Career arc
Bowls and playoffs: 3-1-1
1985Cherry BowlL 18-35
1987Sugar BowlT 16-16
1988Hall of Fame BowlW 23-10
1989Peach BowlW 19-18
1990Aloha BowlW 28-0
Stats
Big games
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.
Just 2-8 against Joe Paterno.
Building the roster
Two numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.
Roster ownership
Roster ownership
This coach's entire tenure (1981-1990) 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. 1 went in the first round.
At least 18 — the draft class following his 1987 season is missing from this table entirely; and his 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | R2.17 | John Flannery | Center |  Houston Oilers | Estimated |
| 1991 | R4.26 | Rob Carpenter | Wide Receiver |  Cincinnati Bengals | Estimated |
| 1990 | R2.04 | Terry Wooden | Linebacker |  Seattle Seahawks | Estimated |
| 1990 | R5.20 | Rob Burnett | Defensive End |  Cleveland Browns | Estimated |
| 1990 | R7.16 | Fred DeRiggi | Defensive Tackle |  Buffalo Bills | Estimated |
| 1989 | R2.11 | Daryl Johnston | Running Back |  Dallas Cowboys | Estimated |
| 1989 | R3.20 | Robert Drummond | Running Back |  Philadelphia Eagles | Estimated |
| 1989 | R4.08 | David Holmes | Defensive Back |  Miami Dolphins | Estimated |
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | R4.11 | Markus Paul | Defensive Back |  Chicago Bears | Estimated |
| 1987 | R2.28 | Scott Schwedes | Wide Receiver | Miami Dolphins | Estimated |
| 1986 | R1.17 | Tim Green | Linebacker |  Atlanta Falcons | Estimated |
| 1986 | R6.26 | Doug Marrone | Offensive Tackle |  Los Angeles Raiders | Estimated |
| 1985 | R4.23 | Jamie Kimmel | Linebacker | Los Angeles Raiders | Estimated |
| 1984 | R2.07 | Blaise Winter | Defensive Tackle |  Indianapolis Colts | Estimated |
| 1983 | R2.27 | Mike Charles | Defensive Tackle | Miami Dolphins | Estimated |
| 1982 | R2.18 | Joe Morris | Running Back |  New York Giants | Estimated |
| 1982 | R6.28 | Craig Bingham | Linebacker |  Pittsburgh Steelers | Estimated |
| 1982 | R7.04 | Gary Anderson | Place Kicker | Buffalo Bills | 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.
Builder meaningfully raised a program that wasn't one
3rd-best Syracuse tenure of 14 by the numbers.
Followed Frank Maloney (1974–1980) · succeeded by Paul Pasqualoni (1991–2004).
| Season | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||||||
| Record | 4-6-1 | 2-9 | 6-5 | 6-5 | 7-5 | 5-6 | 11-0-1 | 10-2 | 8-4 | 7-4-2 | |
| Postseason | — | — | — | — | L bowl | — | L bowl | W bowl | W bowl | W 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 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
All-time wins
Wins at programs this site tracks, 1936–present — one consistent count for every coach, not each program’s own historically reported total.
3rd all-time at Syracuse
Was he good?
Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.
+13.9 pts at Syracuse · #135 of 1290 · top quarter