Now
Career arc
Bowls and playoffs: 3-3
1976Sun BowlW 37-14
1977Astro-Bluebonnet BowlL 28-47
1978Hall of Fame ClassicW 28-12Mississippi State1980Sun BowlL 17-31
1981Hall of Fame ClassicW 10-0Stats
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.
4-7 against his rivals at Texas A&M. Just 1-2 against Bill Yeoman.
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.
2-5 against his rivals at Mississippi State. Winless in 3 tries against Bobby Collins.
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.
6-12 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Bobby Collins.
Building the roster
Three numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.
Followed him here
Texas A&M→
Mississippi State1979Players 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 (1979-1985) 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. 3 went in the first round.
At least 9 — his 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | R4.19 | George Wonsley | Running Back |  Indianapolis Colts | Estimated |
| 1983 | R1.08 | Michael Haddix | Running Back |  Philadelphia Eagles | Estimated |
| 1983 | R3.06 | Glen Young | Wide Receiver | Philadelphia Eagles | Estimated |
| 1982 | R1.02 | Johnie Cooks | Linebacker |  Baltimore Colts | Estimated |
| 1982 | R1.26 | Glen Collins | Defensive End |  Cincinnati Bengals | Estimated |
| 1981 | R2.11 | Mardye McDole | Wide Receiver |  Minnesota Vikings | Estimated |
| 1981 | R5.02 | Tyrone Keys | Defensive End |  New York Jets | Estimated |
| 1980 | R3.24 | James Jones | Running Back |  Dallas Cowboys | Estimated |
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | R5.27 | Kenny Johnson | Defensive Back |  Atlanta Falcons | 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
7th-best Mississippi State tenure of 20 by the numbers.
Followed Bob Tyler (1973–1978) · succeeded by Rockey Felker (1986–1990).
| Season | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | ||||||||
| Record | 3-8 | 9-3 | 8-4 | 5-6 | 3-8 | 4-7 | 5-6 | |
| Postseason | — | 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 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
12th-best Texas A&M tenure of 19 by the numbers.
Followed Gene Stallings (1965–1971) · succeeded by Tom Wilson (1979–1981).
| Season | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | ||||||||
| Record | 3-8 | 5-6 | 8-3 | 10-2 | 10-2 | 8-4 | 4-2 | |
| Postseason | — | — | — | L bowl | W 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 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
20 NFL Draft picks: Brad Dusek (1973), Tim Gray (1975), John McCrumbly (1975), James Daniels (1975), Bubba Bean (1976), Glenn Bujnoch (1976), Pat Thomas (1976), Ed Simonini (1976) + 12 more
Was he good?
Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.
+15.5 pts at Texas A&M · #111 of 1290 · top quarter