Now
Career arc
Bowls and playoffs: 0-1
1980Holiday BowlL 45-46
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.
11-1 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Emory Bellard.
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 (1976-1981) 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 6 — his 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | R5.05 | Perry Hartnett | Offensive Guard |  Chicago Bears | Estimated |
| 1982 | R7.23 | Harvey Armstrong | Defensive Tackle |  Philadelphia Eagles | Estimated |
| 1981 | R3.08 | John Simmons | Defensive Back |  Cincinnati Bengals | Estimated |
| 1981 | R7.16 | Lee Spivey | Offensive Tackle |  Detroit Lions | Estimated |
| 1980 | R7.18 | Emanuel Tolbert | Wide Receiver | Chicago Bears | Estimated |
| 1978 | R7.10 | Arthur Whittington | Running Back |  Oakland Raiders | 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
8th-best SMU tenure of 18 by the numbers.
Followed Dave Smith (1973–1975) · succeeded by Bobby Collins (1982–1986).
| Season | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||
| Record | 3-8 | 4-7 | 4-6-1 | 5-6 | 8-4 | 10-1 | |
| 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 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Was he good?
Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.
+2.6 pts at SMU · #518 of 1290 · middle half