Now
Career arc
Bowls and playoffs: 0-1
1978Peach BowlL 21-41
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.
5-3 against his rivals at Kansas. Winless in 4 tries against Chuck Fairbanks.
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.
0-2 against his rivals at UCLA. Winless in 3 tries against John McKay.
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.
2-4 against his rivals at Georgia Tech. Just 1-4 against Mike McGee.
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.
7-9 against his rivals. Just 1-4 against Jim Carlen.
Building the roster
Three numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.
Followed him here
Kansas→
UCLA1971UCLA→
Georgia Tech1974Players 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 (1974-1979) 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. 2 went in the first round.
At least 10 — his 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | R7.09 | Henry Johnson | Linebacker |  Minnesota Vikings | Estimated |
| 1979 | R1.15 | Eddie Lee Ivery | Running Back |  Green Bay Packers | Estimated |
| 1979 | R1.26 | Kent Hill | Offensive Tackle |  Los Angeles Rams | Estimated |
| 1979 | R5.24 | Don Bessillieu | Defensive Back |  Miami Dolphins | Estimated |
| 1978 | R3.10 | Reggie Wilkes | Linebacker |  Philadelphia Eagles | Estimated |
| 1978 | R4.05 | Lucius Sanford | Linebacker |  Buffalo Bills | Estimated |
| 1978 | R6.09 | Randy Pass | Center |  New York Giants | Estimated |
| 1977 | R7.02 | David Sims | Running Back |  Seattle Seahawks | Estimated |
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | R2.31 | Steve Raible | Wide Receiver | Seattle Seahawks | Estimated |
| 1975 | R6.06 | Billy Shields | Offensive Tackle |  San Diego Chargers | 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
10th-best Georgia Tech tenure of 14 by the numbers.
Followed Bill Fulcher (1972–1973) · succeeded by Bill Curry (1980–1986).
| Season | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||
| Record | 6-5 | 7-4 | 4-6-1 | 6-5 | 7-5 | 4-6-1 | |
| 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 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
7th-best UCLA tenure of 20 by the numbers.
Followed Tommy Prothro (1965–1970) · succeeded by Dick Vermeil (1974–1975).
15 NFL Draft picks: Ed Galigher (1972), Dave Dalby (1972), Bob Christiansen (1972), Bob Pifferini (1972), Allan Ellis (1973), Bruce Walton (1973), Bill Sandifer (1974), Fred McNeill (1974) + 7 more
3rd-best Kansas tenure of 21 by the numbers.
Followed Jack Mitchell (1958–1966) · succeeded by Don Fambrough (1971–1974).
9 NFL Draft picks: Bobby Douglass (1969), Vernon Vanoy (1969), John Zook (1969), Keith Christensen (1969), Jim Bailey (1970), John Mosier (1970), John Riggins (1971), Steve Lawson (1971) + 1 more
Was he good?
Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.
+4.0 pts at Kansas · #437 of 1290 · middle half