Now
Career arc
Stats
Big games
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.
8-9 against his rivals. Winless in 4 tries against Jack Mollenkopf.
Building the roster
Two numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.
Roster ownership
Roster ownership
This coach's entire tenure (1942-1959) 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 17 — his 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | R5.45 | Estimated | |||
| 1959 | R1.10 | Estimated | |||
| 1958 | R3.35 | Estimated | |||
| 1958 | R7.78 | Estimated | |||
| 1957 | R2.15 | Estimated | |||
| 1957 | R5.56 | Estimated | |||
| 1956 | R7.75 | Estimated | |||
| 1954 | R1.06 | Estimated |
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | R1.12 | Estimated | |||
| 1954 | R2.20 | Estimated | |||
| 1953 | R5.58 | Estimated | |||
| 1952 | R2.13 | Estimated | |||
| 1952 | R4.35 | Estimated | |||
| 1951 | R5.45 | Estimated | |||
| 1948 | R3.13 | Estimated | |||
| 1946 | R2.10 | Estimated | |||
| 1946 | R2.13 | 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
1st-best Illinois tenure of 16 by the numbers.
Followed Robert Zuppke (1936–1941) · succeeded by Pete Elliott (1960–1966).
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 Illinois
Was he good?
Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.
+24.0 pts at Illinois · #47 of 1290 · top quarter