Now
Career arc
Bowls and playoffs: 3-6
Maryland’73L’74L’75W’76L’77W’78L’80LKentucky’83L’84W
Show all 9 games
1973Peach BowlL 16-17
TEN1974Liberty BowlL 3-7UF1975Gator BowlW 13-0
1976Cotton Bowl ClassicL 21-30MINN1977Hall of Fame ClassicW 17-7
1978Sun BowlL 0-42
1980Tangerine BowlL 20-35Kentucky
1983Hall of Fame ClassicL 16-20
1984Hall of Fame ClassicW 20-19Stats
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.
5-5 against his rivals at Virginia Tech. Just 1-4 against Gene Corum.
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.
Winless in 8 tries 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.
1-7 against his rivals at Kentucky. Winless in 4 tries against Pat Dye.
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. Just 1-4 against Gene Corum.
Building the roster
Three numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.
Followed him here
Maryland→
Kentucky1982Players 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 (1982-1989) 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 10 — the draft class following his 1987 season is missing from this table entirely; and his 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | R3.02 | Oliver Barnett | Defensive End |  Atlanta Falcons | Estimated |
| 1990 | R7.06 | Donnie Gardner | Defensive End |  Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Estimated |
| 1990 | R7.19 | Andy Murray | Running Back |  Houston Oilers | Estimated |
| 1989 | R7.07 | D.J. Johnson | Defensive Back |  Pittsburgh Steelers | Estimated |
| 1989 | R7.15 | Ivy Joe Hunter | Running Back |  Indianapolis Colts | Estimated |
| 1987 | R5.18 | Marc Logan | Running Back | Cincinnati Bengals | Estimated |
| 1987 | R5.25 | Tony Mayes | Defensive Back | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Estimated |
| 1985 | R1.19 | George Adams | Running Back |  New York Giants | Estimated |
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | R5.24 | Cam Jacobs | Linebacker | Pittsburgh Steelers | Estimated |
| 1984 | R6.01 | John Grimsley | Linebacker | Houston Oilers | 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
8th-best Kentucky tenure of 16 by the numbers.
Followed Fran Curci (1973–1981) · succeeded by Bill Curry (1990–1996).
| Season | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||||
| Record | 0-10-1 | 6-5-1 | 9-3 | 5-6 | 5-5-1 | 5-6 | 5-6 | 6-5 | |
| 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 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
6th-best Maryland tenure of 21 by the numbers.
Followed Roy Lester (1969–1971) · succeeded by Bobby Ross (1982–1986).
| Season | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||||||
| Record | 5-5-1 | 8-4 | 8-4 | 9-2-1 | 11-1 | 8-4 | 9-3 | 7-4 | 8-4 | 4-6-1 | |
| Postseason | — | L bowl | L bowl | W bowl | L bowl | W bowl | L 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 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
17 NFL Draft picks: Bart Purvis (1974), Randy White (1975), Steve Mike-Mayer (1975), Louis Carter (1975), Walter White (1975), Stan Rogers (1975), Bob Avellini (1975), Joe Campbell (1977) + 9 more
8th-best Virginia Tech tenure of 16 by the numbers.
Followed Frank Moseley (1951–1960) · succeeded by Charles Coffey (1971–1973).
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.
1st all-time at Maryland
Was he good?
Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.
+27.7 pts at Maryland · #32 of 1290 · top quarter