Dana Holgorsen
Dana Holgorsen went 92–69 as a head coach, 2011–2023, at West Virginia and Houston. Share
- Record
- 92–69 career
- Seasons
- 13
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Jun 21, 1971
- Alma mater
- Iowa Wesleyan 1993
- Best season
- 2021 12–2, No. 17
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | West Virginia | 10–3 | T–1st | Orange Bowl W | 17 | |
| 2012 | West Virginia | 7–6 | T–5th | Pinstripe Bowl L | ||
| 2013 | West Virginia | 4–8 | T–7th | |||
| 2014 | West Virginia | 7–6 | T–4th | Liberty Bowl L | ||
| 2015 | West Virginia | 8–5 | T–5th | Cactus Bowl W | ||
| 2016 | West Virginia | 10–3 | T–2nd | Russell Athletic Bowl L | 18 | |
| 2017 | West Virginia | 7–6 | T–4th | Heart of Dallas Bowl L | ||
| 2018 | West Virginia | 8–4 | T–3rd | Camping World Bowl L | 22 | |
| 2019 | Houston | 4–8 | T–5th (West) | |||
| 2020 | Houston | 3–5 | 6th | New Mexico Bowl L | ||
| 2021 | Houston | 12–2 | T–1st | Birmingham Bowl W | 17 | |
| 2022 | Houston | 8–5 | T–4th | Independence Bowl W | ||
| 2023 | Houston | 4–8 | T–11th |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Marcus JonesConsensus All‑American, 2021
Kevin WhiteNo. 7 pick, 2015- Bruce IrvinNo. 15 pick, 2012
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 43 | 11–32 | 26% |
| Against top-10 teams | 16 | 1–15 | 6% |
| Against rivals | 23 | 12–11 | 52% |
| Conference games | 109 | 58–51 | 53% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 10 | 4–6 | 40% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 58 | 35–23 | 60% |
| At home | 79 | 50–29 | 63% |
| On the road | 65 | 35–30 | 54% |
| At neutral sites | 17 | 7–10 | 41% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 93 | 69–24 | 74% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 68 | 23–45 | 34% |
His own 161 games on file, 2011–2023, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Gundy 2012–2023 | 2–6 | Oklahoma State | 8 | |
| Bill Snyder 2012–2018 | 3–4 | Kansas State | 7 | |
| Gary Patterson 2012–2018 | 3–4 | TCU | 7 | |
| Randy Edsall 2011–2019 | 5–1 | Maryland, UConn | 6 | |
| Kliff Kingsbury 2013–2018 | 5–1 | Texas Tech | 6 | |
| Willie Fritz 2015–2022 | 3–2 | Georgia Southern, Tulane | 5 | |
| Bob Stoops 2012–2016 | 0–5 | Oklahoma | 5 | |
| David Beaty 2015–2018 | 4–0 | Kansas | 4 | |
| Paul Rhoads 2012–2015 | 3–1 | Iowa State | 4 | |
| Ken Niumatalolo 2019–2022 | 3–1 | Navy | 4 |
Dana Holgorsen’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Texas Techseries | 10 | 5–5 |
| Baylorseries | 8 | 6–2 |
| Kansasseries | 8 | 6–2 |
| Texasseries | 8 | 4–4 |
| Kansas Stateseries | 8 | 3–5 |
| TCUseries | 8 | 3–5 |
| Oklahoma Stateseries | 8 | 2–6 |
| Oklahomaseries | 8 | 0–8 |
How he was hired
- Hired by Houston for the 2019 season from West Virginia, where he was head coach. He had a prior connection to the school.
Power-conference head-coaching hires since 2010, with each coach’s previous job and ties to the school as collected by hand from Wikipedia: Hiring facts: M. Schuckers, cfb_coach_analytics.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993–95 | Valdosta State | Quarterbacks, wide receivers and special teams coach | |
| 1996–98 | Mississippi College | Quarterbacks, wide receivers and special teams coach | |
| 1999 | Wingate | Quarterbacks and wide receivers coach | |
| 2000–04 | Texas Tech | Inside receivers coach | |
| 2005–06 | Texas Tech | Co-offensive coordinator and inside receivers coach | |
| 2007 | Texas Tech | Offensive coordinator and inside receivers coach | |
| 2008–09 | Houston | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2010 | Oklahoma State | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2011–18 | West Virginia | Head coach | |
| 2019–23 | Houston | Head coach | |
| 2024 | TCU | Defensive assistant | |
| 2024–present | Nebraska | Offensive coordinator |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Hal MummeValdosta State
- Bob BrushWingate
- Mike LeachTexas Tech
- Kevin SumlinHouston
- Mike GundyOklahoma State
- Sonny DykesTCU
- Matt RhuleNebraska
Assistants who became head coaches
- Jake SpavitalTexas State
- Joe DeForestRice, Duke, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma State (assoc. HC/ST/S), West Virginia, Kansas, USC, NC State
- Keith PattersonPittsburgh, Abilene Christian
- Tony GibsonMarshall
- Mike JinksBowling Green
Worked under (7)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hal Mumme | Valdosta State | 1993–95 | Quarterbacks, wide receivers and special teams coach | |
| Bob Brush | Wingate | 1999 | Quarterbacks and wide receivers coach | |
| Mike Leach | Texas Tech | 2000–07 | 2000–04: inside receivers coach; 2005–06: co-offensive coordinator and inside receivers coach; 2007: offensive coordinator and inside receivers coach | |
| Kevin Sumlin | Houston | 2008–09 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Mike Gundy | Oklahoma State | 2010 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Sonny Dykes | TCU | 2024 | Defensive assistant | |
| Matt Rhule | Nebraska | 2024–26 | Offensive coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (5)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jake Spavital | West Virginia, 2011–12: quarterbacks coach; 2017–18: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Texas State | |
| Joe DeForest | West Virginia, 2012: defensive coordinator | Rice, Duke, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma State (assoc. HC/ST/S), West Virginia, Kansas, USC, NC State | |
| Keith Patterson | West Virginia, 2012: co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach; 2013: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Pittsburgh, Abilene Christian | |
| Tony Gibson | West Virginia, 2013: safeties coach; 2014–18: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Marshall | |
| Mike Jinks | Houston, 2022–23: running backs coach | Bowling Green |
Other assistants under him (14)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Bill Bedenbaugh | West Virginia, 2011–12: offensive line coach | |
| Jeff Casteel | West Virginia, 2011: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Shannon Dawson | West Virginia, 2011: inside receivers coach; 2012: offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach; 2013–14: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Houston, 2019: tight ends coach; 2020: passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2021–22: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Steve Dunlap | West Virginia, 2011–12: assistant head coach | |
| Brian Mitchell | West Virginia, 2013–15: cornerbacks coach | |
| Ja’Juan Seider | West Virginia, 2013–16: running backs coach | |
| Tom Bradley | West Virginia, 2014: assistant head coach and defensive line coach | |
| Matt Caponi | West Virginia, 2016–18: defensive backs coach | |
| Doug Belk | West Virginia, 2017–18: cornerbacks coach; Houston, 2019: co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach; 2020: assistant head coach, co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach; 2021–23: assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| Marquel Blackwell | West Virginia, 2018: running backs coach; Houston, 2019: co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2020–21: running backs coach | |
| Blake Gideon | Houston, 2019: special teams and safeties coach | |
| Brandon Jones | Houston, 2019–22: co-offensive coordinator | |
| Joe Cauthen | Houston, 2019–20: defensive coordinator | |
| Eman Naghavi | Houston, 2023: offensive coordinator and offensive line coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | West Virginia | head coachbonuses up to $750,000; $185,000 in bonuses paid; buyout $10,141,667 | $3,505,000 USA Today | |
| 2016 | West Virginia | head coachbonuses up to $600,000; $60,000 in bonuses paid | $2,980,000 USA Today | |
| 2015 | West Virginia | head coachbonuses up to $600,000; $35,000 in bonuses paid | $2,880,000 USA Today | |
| 2014 | West Virginia | head coachbonuses up to $600,000 | $3,080,000 USA Today | |
| 2013 | West Virginia | head coach | $2,630,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2012 | West Virginia | head coachbonuses up to $600,000 | $2,380,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2011 | West Virginia | head coachbonuses up to $600,000 | $1,490,000 USA Today via Leeds |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
The same USA Today database for 2006–16, from Michael Leeds’ replication data on Harvard Dataverse (CC0): the season’s contract pay.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Holgorsen’s teams went for it on 22% of fourth downs and on 37% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 52% of plays and took 23.7 seconds a play, 2011–2023.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 13 g | West Virginia | 18 of 94 19% | 32% | 59% | 22.6 | +0.06 | |
| 2012 13 g | West Virginia | 34 of 95 36% | 54% | 55% | 22.3 | +0.13 | |
| 2013 12 g | West Virginia | 14 of 109 13% | 19% | 53% | 21.5 | −0.08 | |
| 2014 13 g | West Virginia | 22 of 115 19% | 36% | 52% | 20.4 | +0.02 | |
| 2015 13 g | West Virginia | 19 of 114 17% | 29% | 44% | 21.1 | +0.03 | |
| 2016 13 g | West Virginia | 16 of 95 17% | 34% | 44% | 22.4 | +0.09 | |
| 2017 13 g | West Virginia | 21 of 108 19% | 35% | 53% | 22.1 | +0.10 | |
| 2018 12 g | West Virginia | 16 of 77 21% | 33% | 55% | 23.3 | +0.17 | |
| 2019 12 g | Houston | 17 of 92 18% | 30% | 45% | 27.8 | +0.03 | |
| 2020 8 g | Houston | 19 of 67 28% | 43% | 53% | 24.9 | +0.05 | |
| 2021 14 g | Houston | 24 of 106 23% | 45% | 51% | 27.4 | +0.07 | |
| 2022 13 g | Houston | 27 of 89 30% | 46% | 59% | 25.9 | +0.20 | |
| 2023 12 g | Houston | 28 of 96 29% | 48% | 58% | 26.1 | 0.00 | |
| All 161 g | 275 of 1257 22% | 37% | 52% | 23.7 | +0.07 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.