The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Rod Rust

Followed Odus Mitchell. Rod Rust raised North Texas from Regional Program IV to National Program III.

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1967–1972 · 1 stint
North Texas
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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 careerNORTH TEXASNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelNorth Texas, 1967: 7-1, Regional Program III1967North Texas, 1968: 8-2, Regional Program I1968North Texas, 1969: 7-3, National Program III1969North Texas, 1970: 3-8, National Program III1970North Texas, 1971: 3-8, Regional Program I1971North Texas, 1972: 1-10, Regional Program II1972+13.8One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached National Program in his 3rd career season — faster than 25% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #454 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).

North Texas, 6 seasons
+13.8
Regional Program III → Regional 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.

Winless in 5 tries against Billy Murphy.

One-score games
8–6–1
53.3% · margin ≤8
The toughest matchup
vs. Billy Murphy0–5
5 meetings, 1967–1971
’67 L’68 L’69 L’70 L’71 L
0% win rate across a real, 5-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
Power Program
0–3 0.0%
National Program
4–10 28.6%
Regional Program
13–10 56.5%

Coaching career

1967–1972
North Texasbuilderborderline
Regional Program IV → National Program III
Rod Rust raised North Texas from Regional Program IV to National Program III.

1st-best North Texas tenure of 16 by the numbers.

Followed Odus Mitchell (1953–1966) · succeeded by Hayden Fry (1973–1978).

9 NFL Draft picks: Vidal Carlin (1967), John Love (1967), Joe Greene (1969), Charles Beatty (1969), Cedrick Hardman (1970), Ron Shanklin (1970), Steve Ramsey (1970), Leonard Dunlap (1971) + 1 more

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