The Zeitgeist List · coaching

John Vaught

Followed Red Drew. John Vaught took Ole Miss from National Program III to Power Program I.

190–61
1947–1973 · 1 stint
Ole Miss
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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 careerOLE MISSDynastythe sport's summitBlue Bloodpermanent top tierPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyOle Miss, 1947: 9-2, National Program II1947Ole Miss, 1948: 8-1, National Program IIOle Miss, 1949: 4-5, National Program IIOle Miss, 1950: 5-5, National Program IIOle Miss, 1951: 6-3, National Program IIOle Miss, 1952: 8-1, National Program IOle Miss, 1953: 7-2, Power Program IIIOle Miss, 1954: 9-2, Power Program IIIOle Miss, 1955: 10-1, Power Program IIOle Miss, 1956: 7-3, Power Program IIOle Miss, 1957: 9-1, Power Program IIOle Miss, 1958: 9-2, Power Program IIOle Miss, 1959: 10-1, Power Program IOle Miss, 1960: 10-0, Power Program IOle Miss, 1961: 9-2, Power Program IOle Miss, 1962: 10-0, Power Program IOle Miss, 1963: 7-1, Power Program IOle Miss, 1964: 5-5, Power Program IOle Miss, 1965: 7-4, Power Program IOle Miss, 1966: 8-3, Power Program IOle Miss, 1967: 6-4, Power Program IOle Miss, 1968: 7-3, Power Program IOle Miss, 1969: 8-3, Power Program IOle Miss, 1970: 7-4, Power Program IOle Miss, 1973: 5-3, Power Program II1973+43.5One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Power Program in his 7th career season — faster than 21% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #297 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).

Ole Miss, 25 seasons
+43.5
National Program II → Power Program II.

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.

42–12 against his rivals. Winless in 4 tries against Bill Edwards.

Rivalry record
42–12–8
67.7% · 3 rivals
One-score games
38–28–12
48.7% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–3
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
LSU15–8–358%
Mississippi State19–2–476%
Memphis8–2–173%
The toughest matchup
vs. Bill Edwards0–3–1
4 meetings, 1949–1952
’49 L’50 L’51 L’52 T
0% win rate across a real, 4-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.
Performance by opponent class
Dynasty
0–3 0.0%
Blue Blood
8–8 50.0%
Power Program
44–26 62.9%
National Program
84–23 78.5%
Regional Program
26–3 89.7%

Coaching career

1947–1973
Ole Misstransformer
National Program III → Power Program I
John Vaught took Ole Miss from National Program III to Power Program I.

1st-best Ole Miss tenure of 17 by the numbers.

Followed Red Drew (1946–1946) · succeeded by Ken Cooper (1974–1977).

190–61