Now
Career arc
Bowls and playoffs: 4-9
West Virginia’81W’82L’83W’84W’87L’88L’89L’93L’94L’96L’97L’98L’00W
Show all 13 games
1981Peach BowlW 26-6
1982Gator BowlL 12-31
1983Hall of Fame ClassicW 20-16
1984Astro-Bluebonnet BowlW 31-14
1987Sun BowlL 33-35
1988Fiesta BowlL 21-34
1989Gator BowlL 7-27
1993Sugar BowlL 7-41
1994Carquest BowlL 21-24
1996Gator BowlL 13-20
1997Carquest BowlL 30-35
1998Insight.com BowlL 31-34
2000Music City BowlW 49-38
Stats
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.
4-4 against his rivals at Bowling Green. Winless in 3 tries against Dick Crum.
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.
12-8 against his rivals at West Virginia. Just 2-11 against Joe Paterno.
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.
16-12 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Frank Lauterbur.
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 (1980-2000) 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. 3 went in the first round.
At least 35 — the draft class following his 1987, 1995 seasons are missing from this table entirely; and his 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | R1.27 | Anthony Becht | Tight End |  New York Jets | Estimated |
| 2000 | R2.16 | Jerry Porter | Wide Receiver |  Oakland Raiders | Estimated |
| 2000 | R2.19 | Barrett Green | Linebacker |  Detroit Lions | Estimated |
| 2000 | R6.02 | Marc Bulger | Quarterback |  New Orleans Saints | Estimated |
| 1999 | R2.02 | Charles Fisher | Defensive Back |  Cincinnati Bengals | Estimated |
| 1999 | R2.21 | John Thornton | Defensive Tackle |  Tennessee Titans | Estimated |
| 1999 | R2.24 | Solomon Page | Offensive Tackle |  Dallas Cowboys | Estimated |
| 1999 | R3.14 | Gary Stills | Linebacker |  Kansas City Chiefs | Estimated |
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | R3.34 | Amos Zereoue | Running Back |  Pittsburgh Steelers | Estimated |
| 1999 | R4.26 | Kevin Landolt | Defensive Tackle |  Jacksonville Jaguars | Estimated |
| 1998 | R7.14 | Henry Slay | Defensive Tackle |  Atlanta Falcons | Estimated |
| 1997 | R2.20 | Mike Logan | Defensive Back | Jacksonville Jaguars | Estimated |
| 1997 | R6.13 | Canute Curtis | Linebacker | Cincinnati Bengals | Estimated |
| 1995 | R2.24 | Todd Sauerbrun | Punter |  Chicago Bears | Estimated |
| 1994 | R3.11 | Rich Braham | Offensive Guard |  Arizona Cardinals | Estimated |
| 1994 | R6.08 | Jay Kearney | Wide Receiver |  Green Bay Packers | Estimated |
| 1994 | R6.30 | Darren Studstill | Defensive Back |  Dallas Cowboys | Estimated |
| 1993 | R3.12 | Mike Compton | Center |  Detroit Lions | Estimated |
| 1993 | R5.08 | Adrian Murrell | Running Back |  New York Jets | Estimated |
| 1992 | R7.26 | Jim Gray | Defensive Tackle | New England Patriots | Estimated |
| 1990 | R1.14 | Renaldo Turnbull | Defensive End |  New Orleans Saints | Estimated |
| 1990 | R2.03 | Reggie Rembert | Wide Receiver | New York Jets | Estimated |
| 1990 | R2.26 | Mike Fox | Defensive Tackle |  New York Giants | Estimated |
| 1990 | R7.03 | Basil Proctor | Linebacker | New York Jets | Estimated |
| 1989 | R6.18 | Bo Orlando | Defensive Back |  Houston Oilers | Estimated |
| 1989 | R6.27 | Craig Taylor | Running Back | Cincinnati Bengals | Estimated |
| 1989 | R7.05 | Undra Johnson | Running Back | Atlanta Falcons | Estimated |
| 1986 | R1.07 | Brian Jozwiak | Offensive Guard | Kansas City Chiefs | Estimated |
| 1986 | R7.16 | Fred Smalls | Linebacker |  San Diego Chargers | Estimated |
| 1985 | R4.20 | Ron Wolfley | Running Back |  St. Louis Cardinals | Estimated |
| 1984 | R3.03 | Jeff Hostetler | Quarterback | New York Giants | Estimated |
| 1983 | R2.11 | Darryl Talley | Linebacker |  Buffalo Bills | Estimated |
| 1982 | R2.17 | Oliver Luck | Quarterback | Houston Oilers | Estimated |
| 1981 | R5.22 | Delbert Fowler | Linebacker | Houston Oilers | Estimated |
| 1981 | R6.16 | Fulton Walker | Defensive Back |  Miami Dolphins | 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 · Steady no large move in either direction on our stature ladder
4th-best West Virginia tenure of 16 by the numbers.
Followed Frank Cignetti (1976–1979) · succeeded by Rich Rodriguez (2001–2007).
| Season | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Record | 6-6 | 9-3 | 9-3 | 9-3 | 8-4 | 7-3-1 | 4-7 | 6-6 | 11-1 | 8-3-1 | 4-7 | 6-5 | 5-4-2 | 11-1 | 7-6 | 5-6 | 8-4 | 7-5 | 8-4 | 4-7 | 7-5 | |
| Postseason | — | W bowl | L bowl | W bowl | W bowl | — | — | L bowl | L bowl | L bowl | — | — | — | L bowl | L bowl | — | L bowl | L bowl | L 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 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
3rd-best Bowling Green tenure of 14 by the numbers.
Followed Bob Gibson (1965–1967) · succeeded by Dennis Stolz (1977–1985).
4 NFL Draft picks: Tom Lloyd (1970), Phil Villapiano (1971), Fred Sturt (1973), Tony Bell (1974)
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.
tied for 3rd-most wins by a Big East coach
Was he good?
Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.
+20.3 pts at West Virginia · #65 of 1290 · top quarter