The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Dirk Koetter

Followed Bruce Snyder. Dirk Koetter held Arizona State at Power Program III for 6 seasons.

The ascent
66–44
1998–2006 · 2 stints
Boise StateArizona State
← all coaches

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 careerBOISE STATEARIZONA STATEPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelBoise State, 1998: 6-5, Regional Program IV1998Boise State, 1999: 10-3, Regional Program III1999Boise State, 2000: 10-2, Regional Program I2000+7.9Arizona State, 2001: 4-7, Power Program III2001Arizona State, 2002: 8-6, Power Program III2002Arizona State, 2003: 5-7, National Program I2003Arizona State, 2004: 9-3, National Program I2004Arizona State, 2005: 7-5, National Program I2005Arizona State, 2006: 7-6, National Program I2006-4.8One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Power Program in his 4th career season — faster than 37% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #215 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).

Boise State, 3 seasons
+7.9
Regional Program IV → Regional Program I.
Arizona State, 6 seasons
−4.8
Power Program III → National Program I.

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.

5–3 against his rivals. Just 1–4 against Mike Price.

Rivalry record
5–3
62.5% · 2 rivals
One-score games
16–12
57.1% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–2
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
Arizona4–267%
Idaho1–150%
The toughest matchupNemesis
vs. Mike Price1–4
5 meetings, 1998–2004
’98 L’00 L’01 L’02 L’04 W
Performance by opponent class
Dynasty
0–2 0.0%
Blue Blood
0–4 0.0%
Power Program
8–14 36.4%
National Program
21–19 52.5%
Regional Program
26–5 83.9%

Coaching career

2001–2006
Arizona Statecaretaker
Power Program III → Power Program III
Dirk Koetter held Arizona State at Power Program III for 6 seasons.

8th-best Arizona State tenure of 19 by the numbers.

Followed Bruce Snyder (1992–2000) · succeeded by Dennis Erickson (2007–2011).

19 NFL Draft picks: Adam Archuleta (2001), Todd Heap (2001), Victor Leyva (2001), Levi Jones (2002), Scott Peters (2002), Travis Scott (2002), Kyle Kosier (2002), Terrell Suggs (2003) + 11 more

40–34
1998–2000
Boise Statecaretaker
Regional Program III → Regional Program I
Dirk Koetter moved Boise State from Regional Program III to Regional Program I in 3 seasons.

6th-best Boise State tenure of 9 by the numbers.

Followed Houston Nutt (1997–1997) · succeeded by Dan Hawkins (2001–2005).

2 NFL Draft picks: Dave Stachelski (2000), Shaunard Harts (2001)

26–10