Now
Career arc
Bowls and playoffs: 0-1
1981Holiday BowlL 36-38
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.
3-6 against his rivals at Washington State. Winless in 3 tries against Earle Bruce.
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.
0-8 against his rivals at Iowa State. Winless in 8 tries against Bill McCartney.
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.
3-14 against his rivals. Winless in 9 tries against Bill McCartney.
Building the roster
Three numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.
Followed him here
Washington State→
Iowa State1987Players 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 (1987-1994) 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.
At least 4 — the draft class following his 1987 season is missing from this table entirely; and his 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | R4.19 | Marcus Robertson | Defensive Back |  Houston Oilers | Estimated |
| 1991 | R5.10 | Gene Williams | Offensive Guard |  Miami Dolphins | Estimated |
| 1991 | R6.09 | Blaise Bryant | Running Back |  New York Jets | Estimated |
| 1990 | R2.14 | Keith Sims | Offensive Guard | 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.
Steady no large move in either direction on our stature ladder
13th-best Iowa State tenure of 19 by the numbers.
Followed Jim Criner (1983–1986) · succeeded by Dan McCarney (1995–2006).
11th-best Washington State tenure of 21 by the numbers.
Followed Warren Powers (1977) · succeeded by Dennis Erickson (1987–1988).
| Season | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | ||||||||||
| Record | 3-7-1 | 3-8 | 4-7 | 8-3-1 | 3-7-1 | 7-4 | 6-5 | 4-7 | 3-7-1 | |
| Postseason | — | — | — | 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 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
13 NFL Draft picks: Jack Thompson (1979), Bob Gregor (1980), Scott Pelluer (1981), Paul Sorensen (1982), Pat Beach (1982), Keith Millard (1984), Eric Williams (1984), Erik Howard (1986) + 5 more
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 Washington State
Was he good?
Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.
+6.0 pts at Washington State · #347 of 1290 · middle half