Mike Houston
Mike Houston went 107–63 as a head coach, 2011–2024, at Lenoir-Rhyne, The Citadel, James Madison and East Carolina. Share
Eight seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 2011–13 at Lenoir-Rhyne; 2014–15 at The Citadel; 2016–18 at James Madison. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 107–63 career
- Seasons
- 14
- Schools
- 4
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Nov 14, 1971
- Alma mater
- Mars Hill
- Best season
- 2022 8–5
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Lenoir-Rhyne * | 7–3 | T–1st | |||
| 2012 | Lenoir-Rhyne * | 9–3 | 1st | NCAA Division II Second Round L | 20 | |
| 2013 | Lenoir-Rhyne * | 13–2 | 1st | NCAA Division II Championship L | 2 | |
| 2014 | The Citadel * | 5–7 | 5th | |||
| 2015 | The Citadel * | 9–4 | 1st | NCAA Division I Second Round L | 13 | |
| 2016 | James Madison * | 14–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I Championship W | 1 | |
| 2017 | James Madison * | 14–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I Championship L | 2 | |
| 2018 | James Madison * | 9–4 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Second Round L | 9 | |
| 2019 | East Carolina | 4–8 | 5th (East) | |||
| 2020 | East Carolina | 3–6 | T–8th | |||
| 2021 | East Carolina | 7–5 | T–3rd | Military (not played) | ||
| 2022 | East Carolina | 8–5 | T–6th | Birmingham Bowl W | ||
| 2023 | East Carolina | 2–10 | T–13th | |||
| 2024 | East Carolina coached seven of 13 games | 3–4 |
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. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 9 | 0–9 | 0% |
| Against top-10 teams | 3 | 0–3 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 8 | 2–6 | 25% |
| Conference games | 43 | 15–28 | 35% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 1 | 1–0 | 100% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 25 | 10–15 | 40% |
| At home | 32 | 14–18 | 44% |
| On the road | 31 | 11–20 | 35% |
| At neutral sites | 2 | 2–0 | 100% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 23 | 14–9 | 61% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 42 | 13–29 | 31% |
His own 65 games on file, 2019–2024, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ken Niumatalolo 2019–2022 | 1–3 | Navy | 4 | |
| Willie Fritz 2020–2023 | 1–3 | Tulane | 4 | |
| Luke Fickell 2019–2022 | 0–4 | Cincinnati | 4 | |
| Jeff Scott 2020–2022 | 3–0 | South Florida | 3 | |
| Rod Carey 2019–2021 | 2–1 | Temple | 3 | |
| Shawn Clark 2021–2024 | 0–3 | App State | 3 |
Mike Houston’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 |
|---|---|---|
| Navyseries | 5 | 1–4 |
| South Floridaseries | 4 | 3–1 |
| Templeseries | 4 | 3–1 |
| UCFseries | 4 | 1–3 |
| Tulaneseries | 4 | 1–3 |
| Cincinnatiseries | 4 | 0–4 |
| Old Dominionseries | 3 | 3–0 |
| SMUseries | 3 | 1–2 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994–95 | Forbush HS (NC) high school | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1996–2000 | T. C. Roberson HS (NC) high school | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2001–05 | T. C. Roberson HS (NC) high school | Head coach | |
| 2006 | Brevard | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2007–10 | Lenoir-Rhyne | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2011–13 | Lenoir-Rhyne | Head coach | |
| 2014–15 | The Citadel | Head coach | |
| 2016–18 | James Madison | Head coach | |
| 2019–24 | East Carolina | Head coach | |
| 2025–present | Clemson | Volunteer defensive assistant |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Fred GoldsmithLenoir Rhyne
- Dabo SwinneyClemson
Assistants who became head coaches
- Blake HarrellEast Carolina
- Brent ThompsonThe Citadel
- Lou ConteAmerican International, Westfield State
- Tripp MerrittDavidson
- Joel TaylorWest Georgia, Mercer
- Maurice DraytonThe Citadel
- Bryan StinespringVirginia Tech, Roanoke
- Donnie KirkpatrickChattanooga
- Shane MontgomeryMiami (OH), Massachusetts
Worked under (2)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fred Goldsmith | Lenoir Rhyne | 2007–10 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Dabo Swinney | Clemson | 2025–26 | Volunteer defensive assistant |
Coached under him, later head coaches (9)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blake Harrell | Lenoir Rhyne, 2011–13: defensive coordinator, special teams and linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator; The Citadel, 2014–15: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach; East Carolina, 2020–24: defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach | East Carolina | |
| Brent Thompson | Lenoir Rhyne, 2011–13: offensive coordinator; The Citadel, 2014–15: offensive coordinator | The Citadel | |
| Lou Conte | Lenoir Rhyne, 2011–13: running backs and special teams coach; The Citadel, 2014: running backs coach | American International, Westfield State | |
| Tripp Merritt | Lenoir Rhyne, 2013: wide receivers coach | Davidson | |
| Joel Taylor | The Citadel, 2014–15: safeties coach | West Georgia, Mercer | |
| Maurice Drayton | The Citadel, 2014–15: assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach | The Citadel | |
| Bryan Stinespring | James Madison, 2016: tight ends coach and running game coordinator; 2017: offensive line coach and running game coordinator | Virginia Tech, Roanoke | |
| Donnie Kirkpatrick | James Madison, 2016–18: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; East Carolina, 2019–23: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Chattanooga | |
| Shane Montgomery | East Carolina, 2023: offensive assistant | Miami (OH), Massachusetts |
Other assistants under him (5)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Matt Guerrieri | Lenoir Rhyne, 2011: graduate assistant | |
| Bob Trott | James Madison, 2016–18: defensive coordinator; East Carolina, 2019: defensive coordinator | |
| Re’quan Boyette | East Carolina, 2022: outside wide receivers; 2023: running backs coach | |
| John David Baker | East Carolina, 2024: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Matt Mattox | East Carolina, 2024: 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.
How he coached
Houston’s teams went for it on 23% of fourth downs and on 40% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 52% of plays and took 25.0 seconds a play, 2019–2023.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 12 g | 7 of 96 7% | 10% | 52% | 22.9 | +0.02 | |
| 2020 8 g | 16 of 72 22% | 42% | 50% | 24.0 | −0.07 | |
| 2021 12 g | 35 of 110 32% | 52% | 51% | 25.7 | +0.05 | |
| 2022 11 g | 25 of 81 31% | 49% | 55% | 26.2 | +0.15 | |
| 2023 12 g | 26 of 117 22% | 43% | 54% | 25.8 | −0.18 | |
| All 55 g | 109 of 476 23% | 40% | 52% | 25.0 | −0.01 |
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.