The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Tom Rossley

Followed Forrest Gregg. Tom Rossley slid SMU from Regional Program I to Regional Program II in 6 seasons.

15–48
1991–1996 · 1 stint
SMU
← all coaches

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 careerSMURegional Programthe building-block levelSMU, 1991: 1-10, Regional Program II1991SMU, 1992: 5-6, Regional Program III1992SMU, 1993: 2-7, Regional Program III1993SMU, 1994: 1-9, Regional Program III1994SMU, 1995: 1-10, Regional Program IV1995SMU, 1996: 5-6, Regional Program IV1996-9.0One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Regional Program in his 1st career season — faster than 20% of the 925 FBS coaches who have ever reached Regional Program (rank #1 of 925 by seasons-to-arrival).

SMU, 6 seasons
−9.0
Regional Program II → Regional Program IV.

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.

3–9 against his rivals. Winless in 5 tries against R.C. Slocum.

Rivalry record
3–9
25.0% · 2 rivals
One-score games
6–16–3
24.0% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–1
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
TCU3–350%
Rice0–60%
The toughest matchup
vs. R.C. Slocum0–4–1
5 meetings, 1991–1995
’91 L’92 L’93 L’94 T’95 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
Blue Blood
0–1 0.0%
Power Program
1–14 6.7%
National Program
2–18 10.0%
Regional Program
10–15 40.0%

Coaching career

1991–1996
SMUcaretaker
Regional Program I → Regional Program II
Tom Rossley slid SMU from Regional Program I to Regional Program II in 6 seasons.

15th-best SMU tenure of 18 by the numbers.

Followed Forrest Gregg (1989–1990) · succeeded by Mike Cavan (1997–2001).

1 NFL Draft pick: Marcello Simmons (1993)

15–48