Mike Sanford Sr.
Mike Sanford Sr. went 34–73 as a head coach, 2005–2016, at UNLV and Indiana State. Share
Four seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 2013–16 at Indiana State. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 34–73 career
- Seasons
- 9
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 2008 5–7
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | UNLV | 2–9 | 9th | |||
| 2006 | UNLV | 2–10 | T–8th | |||
| 2007 | UNLV | 2–10 | 9th | |||
| 2008 | UNLV | 5–7 | T–6th | |||
| 2009 | UNLV | 5–7 | 6th | |||
| 2010–12: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2013 | Indiana State * | 1–11 | 9th | |||
| 2014 | Indiana State * | 8–6 | T–5th | NCAA Division I Second Round | 18 | |
| 2015 | Indiana State * | 5–6 | T–6th | |||
| 2016 | Indiana State * | 4–7 | T–8th | |||
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 | 10 | 1–9 | 10% |
| Against top-10 teams | 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 8 | 1–7 | 13% |
| Conference games | 40 | 8–32 | 20% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 25 | 10–15 | 40% |
| At home | 31 | 13–18 | 42% |
| On the road | 28 | 3–25 | 11% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 9 | 7–2 | 78% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 50 | 9–41 | 18% |
His own 59 games on file, 2005–2009, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Whittingham 2005–2009 | 1–4 | Utah | 5 | |
| Bronco Mendenhall 2005–2009 | 0–5 | BYU | 5 | |
| Chris Ault 2005–2009 | 0–5 | Nevada | 5 | |
| Gary Patterson 2005–2009 | 0–5 | TCU | 5 | |
| Joe Glenn 2005–2008 | 1–3 | Wyoming | 4 | |
| Rocky Long 2005–2008 | 1–3 | New Mexico | 4 | |
| Brent Guy 2005–2008 | 2–1 | Utah State | 3 | |
| Sonny Lubick 2005–2007 | 0–3 | Colorado State | 3 | |
| Chuck Long 2006–2008 | 0–3 | San Diego State | 3 | |
| Troy Calhoun 2007–2009 | 0–3 | Air Force | 3 |
Mike Sanford Sr.’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 |
|---|---|---|
| San Diego Stateseries | 5 | 2–3 |
| New Mexicoseries | 5 | 2–3 |
| Colorado Stateseries | 5 | 1–4 |
| Utahseries | 5 | 1–4 |
| Air Forceseries | 5 | 1–4 |
| Wyomingseries | 5 | 1–4 |
| BYUseries | 5 | 0–5 |
| Nevadaseries | 5 | 0–5 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | USC | Graduate assistant | |
| 1978 | San Diego City | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1979–80 | Army | Wide receivers and tight ends coach | |
| 1981–82 | VMI | Quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends coach | |
| 1983–84 | Long Beach State | Quarterbacks and wide receivers coach | |
| 1985–86 | Long Beach State | Offensive coordinator | |
| 1987–88 | Purdue | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 1989–96 | USC | Wide receivers coach | |
| 1997–98 | Notre Dame | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 1999–2001 | San Diego Chargers NFL | Wide receivers coach | |
| 2002 | Stanford | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2003–04 | Utah | Offensive coordinator and running backs coach | |
| 2005–09 | UNLV | Head coach | |
| 2010–11 | Louisville | Assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and tight ends coach | |
| 2012 | Utah State | Assistant head coach and running backs and tight ends coach | |
| 2013–16 | Indiana State | Head coach | |
| 2017–18 | Western Kentucky | Running backs and special teams coach | |
| 2019 | Utah State | Consultant | |
| 2020–present | Faith Lutheran HS (NV) high school | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- John RobinsonUSC
- Lou SabanArmy
- Ed CavanaughArmy
- Bob ThalmanVMI
- Dave CurreyLong Beach State
- Mike SheppardLong Beach State
- Fred AkersPurdue
- Larry SmithUSC
- Bob DavieNotre Dame
- Mike RileySan Diego Chargers
- Buddy TeevensStanford
- Urban MeyerUtah
- and 4 more
Assistants who became head coaches
- Mike Sanford Jr.Western Kentucky, Colorado
- Vic ShealyAzusa Pacific, Houston Christian
- Dennis TherrellLock Haven, Auburn
- Todd BerryArmy, UL Monroe, Illinois State
- Andre PattersonCal Poly
- Brian CabralColorado
- Mike LucasSE Louisiana
- Jeff MillsNew Mexico Highlands
Worked under (16)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Robinson | USC | 1977–96 | 1977: graduate assistant; 1993–96: wide receivers coach | |
| Lou Saban | Army | 1979 | Wide receivers and tight ends coach | |
| Ed Cavanaugh | Army | 1980 | Wide receivers and tight ends coach | |
| Bob Thalman | VMI | 1981 | Quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends coach | |
| Dave Currey | Long Beach State | 1983 | Quarterbacks and wide receivers coach | |
| Mike Sheppard | Long Beach State | 1984–86 | 1984: quarterbacks and wide receivers coach; 1985–86: offensive coordinator | |
| Fred Akers | Purdue | 1987–88 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Larry Smith | USC | 1989–92 | Wide receivers coach | |
| Bob Davie | Notre Dame | 1997–98 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Mike Riley | San Diego Chargers NFL | 1999–2001 | Wide receivers coach | |
| Buddy Teevens | Stanford | 2002 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Urban Meyer | Utah | 2003–04 | Offensive coordinator and running backs coach | |
| Kyle Whittingham | Utah | 2004 | Offensive coordinator and running backs coach | |
| Charlie Strong | Louisville | 2010–11 | Assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and tight ends coach | |
| Gary Andersen | Utah State | 2012–19 | 2012: assistant head coach and running backs and tight ends coach; 2019: consultant | |
| Mike Sanford Jr. | Western Kentucky | 2017–18 | Running backs and special teams coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (8)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Sanford Jr. | UNLV, 2005–06: graduate assistant | Western Kentucky, Colorado | |
| Vic Shealy | UNLV, 2005–08: defensive coordinator | Azusa Pacific, Houston Christian | |
| Dennis Therrell | UNLV, 2007: linebackers coach; 2008: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach; 2009: defensive coordinator and safeties coach | Lock Haven, Auburn | |
| Todd Berry | UNLV, 2007–09: assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Army, UL Monroe, Illinois State | |
| Andre Patterson | UNLV, 2008–09: assistant head coach and defensive line coach | Cal Poly | |
| Brian Cabral | Indiana State, 2013–16: assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Colorado | |
| Mike Lucas | Indiana State, 2013: defensive line coach | SE Louisiana | |
| Jeff Mills | Indiana State, 2014: defensive line coach | New Mexico Highlands |
Other assistants under him (3)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Kurt Barber | UNLV, 2005: linebackers coach and special teams coordinator; 2006: defensive line coach and special teams coordinator; 2007: co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach | |
| Noah Brindise | UNLV, 2005–06: offensive coordinator | |
| Maurice Crum Jr. | Indiana State, 2016: defensive backs 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
Sanford’s teams went for it on 22% of fourth downs and on 36% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 54% of plays and took 24.1 seconds a play, 2005–2009.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 10 g | 22 of 95 23% | 36% | 59% | 23.5 | −0.13 | |
| 2006 11 g | 28 of 88 32% | 51% | 57% | 25.0 | −0.13 | |
| 2007 11 g | 16 of 89 18% | 26% | 51% | 23.7 | −0.07 | |
| 2008 12 g | 16 of 96 17% | 30% | 51% | 25.5 | +0.01 | |
| 2009 12 g | 17 of 85 20% | 37% | 54% | 22.7 | −0.03 | |
| All 56 g | 99 of 453 22% | 36% | 54% | 24.1 | −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.