Top 25
3-14-3
- Games
- 20
- Win rate
- 22.5%
Back to Coaches
Longevity CoachDefense-First
Coach Profile
Bill Peterson
1960-1971 • Florida State, Rice
2 schools coached, anchored by Florida State.
Bill Peterson coached 12 seasons, won 56.4%, and posted an average SRS of 8.5. Best season: 1964 Florida State. The profile was defense-first with a swing-heavy profile. 2 stints shaped the career arc.
- Career record
- 65-49-12
- Career win rate
- 56.4%
- Average SRS
- 8.5
- Peak SRS
- 17.9
Career Dossier
One glance at the full arc.
The profile below keeps the headline numbers visible, then moves into tenure shape, school impact, and full season detail.
- Seasons coached
- 12
- Career span
- 12 years
- Best finish
- —
- Consistency
- 49.5
Primary school anchor
Florida State
Defense-First profile with 2 program stops and a peak score of 80.3.
Career Arc
Track how the coach's season-to-season performance changed over time, where the peak landed, and where each school stint appears.
Focus on where peaks separate, where floors hold, and how the shape of each career changed over time.
Bill Peterson
EliteStrongAverageLean
Bill Peterson: 1971 Rice
1960Actual season year • SRS range -2.9 to 17.91971
Active comparison point
Bill Peterson • 1964
1964 Florida State
Best season9-1-1 • SRS 17.9 • SP Overall —
Win %
86.4%
YoY SRS
+7.9
SP Off / Def
— / —
Finish
Unranked
Comparison context
Focus a point to inspect how it stacks up against the rest of the field.
Ranked opponent record
Track career record against ranked opponents with switchable poll source and ranking timing.
Using AP Top 25 rankings at the time of each game; week-one games use the week-one ranking release when available.
Top 10
2-6-2
- Games
- 10
- Win rate
- 30.0%
Top 5
0-2
- Games
- 2
- Win rate
- 0.0%
View ranked game results20
| 1971 Regular Week 9 | Rice | Arkansas | #16 | T24-24 |
| 1971 Regular Week 7 | Rice | Texas | #16 | L10-39 |
| 1971 Regular Week 4 | Rice | LSU | #16 | L3-38 |
| 1971 Regular Week 2 | Rice | USC | #17 | L0-24 |
| 1970 Regular Week 14 | Florida State | Houston | #17 | L21-53 |
| 1970 Regular Week 4 | Florida State | Georgia Tech | #15 | L13-23 |
| 1969 Regular Week 12 | Florida State | Houston | #19 | L13-41 |
| 1969 Regular Week 4 | Florida State | Florida | #12 | L6-21 |
| 1968 Regular Week 12 | Florida State | Houston | #10 | W40-20 |
| 1968 Regular Week 4 | Florida State | Texas A&M | #17 | W20-14 |
| 1968 Regular Week 3 | Florida State | Florida | #5 | L3-9 |
| 1968 Postseason Week 1 | Florida State | LSU | #19 | L27-31 |
| 1967 Regular Week 3 | Florida State | Alabama | #9 | T37-37 |
| 1967 Postseason Week 1 | Florida State | Penn State | #10 | T17-17 |
| 1966 Regular Week 5 | Florida State | Florida | #8 | L19-22 |
| 1965 Regular Week 7 | Florida State | Alabama | #10 | L0-21 |
| 1965 Regular Week 6 | Florida State | Georgia | #10 | W10-3 |
| 1963 Regular Week 11 | Florida State | Auburn | #9 | L15-21 |
| 1961 Regular Week 4 | Florida State | Ole Miss | #1 | L0-33 |
| 1960 Regular Week 11 | Florida State | Auburn | #8 | L21-57 |
Tenure map
Each stint expands by seasons coached. Deeper color signals a stronger average SRS over that stretch.
Length = seasons coachedDeeper color = stronger stint
Rice
1971-1971 • 1 seasons
Avg SRS 0.6 • Win % 31.8%
Florida State
1960-1970 • 11 seasons
Avg SRS 9.2 • Win % 58.7%
- Longest tenure
- Florida State • 11 seasons
- Best tenure
- Florida State • 9.2 SRS
- Best tenure win rate
- Florida State • 58.7%
Style and Strength Profile
Compare strength, identity, steadiness, and ceiling through normalized bars with raw SP and SRS context underneath.
These bars are normalized against the full coach dataset. Raw SP and SRS values stay visible so the profile reads as evidence, not decoration.
Overall Strength
Start with total quality before splitting style and variance.
Bill Peterson sets the reference point in overall strength.
Overall Strength
Decisive edgeBill Peterson sets the reference point in overall strength.
Normalized score; raw SP overall stays underneath for reference.
Bill Peterson
Above average
- Raw avg SP Overall
- 3.8
- Percentile
- 69th pct
Above average
Normalized against the full tracked coach pool.
Impact by school
See how each stint compared with what that program usually looked like outside that same span.
Rice
1971-1971 • 3-7-1
Compared with this school's baseline outside that stint over the prior 5 seasons (5 baseline seasons found).
Avg SRS 0.6Win % 31.8%
Avg wins
Higher is better
3.0 during vs 2.8 baseline
+0.2
Avg SRS
Higher is better
0.6 during vs 2.6 baseline
-2.0
Avg SP Overall
Higher is better
-2.8 during vs 2.5 baseline
-5.3
Ranked finish rate
Higher is better
0.0% during vs 0.0% baseline
+0.0%
Florida State
1960-1970 • 62-42-11
Compared with this school's baseline outside that stint over the prior 5 seasons (5 baseline seasons found).
Avg SRS 9.2Win % 58.7%
Avg wins
Higher is better
5.6 during vs 5.0 baseline
+0.6
Avg SRS
Higher is better
9.2 during vs 0.0 baseline
+9.2
Avg SP Overall
Higher is better
10.3 during vs — baseline
—
Ranked finish rate
Higher is better
0.0% during vs 20.0% baseline
-20.0%
Career highs and lows
High Points
Best Season
Florida State 1964
9-1-1 • SRS 17.9
Biggest Improvement
Florida State 1962
4-3-3 • 13.2 SRS
Best Offensive Season
Florida State 1970
7-4 • SP Off 29.3
Best Defensive Season
Florida State 1970
7-4 • SP Def 19.8
Setbacks
Worst Season
Florida State 1960
3-6-1 • SRS -2.9
Biggest Drop
Florida State 1969
6-3-1 • -9.3 SRS
Season-by-season results
Full transparency into every season in the coaching record. Positive YoY values indicate improvement from the prior season.
| Rice | 1971 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 31.8% | — | — | 0.6 | -2.8 | 18.3 | 20.9 | -5.7 | -31.8% |
| Florida State | 1970 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 63.6% | — | — | 6.3 | 10.3 | 29.3 | 19.8 | +0.5 | -1.4% |
| Florida State | 1969 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 65.0% | — | — | 5.8 | — | — | — | -9.3 | -7.7% |
| Florida State | 1968 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 72.7% | — | — | 15.1 | — | — | — | -0.3 | 0.0% |
| Florida State | 1967 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 72.7% | — | — | 15.4 | — | — | — | +0.7 | +18.2% |
| Florida State | 1966 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 54.5% | — | — | 14.7 | — | — | — | +4.8 | +9.6% |
| Florida State | 1965 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 45.0% | — | — | 9.9 | — | — | — | -8.0 | -41.4% |
| Florida State | 1964 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 86.4% | — | — | 17.9 | — | — | — | +7.9 | +41.4% |
| Florida State | 1963 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 45.0% | — | — | 10.0 | — | — | — | -1.2 | -10.0% |
| Florida State | 1962 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 55.0% | — | — | 11.2 | — | — | — | +13.2 | +10.0% |
| Florida State | 1961 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 45.0% | — | — | -2.0 | — | — | — | +0.9 | +10.0% |
| Florida State | 1960 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 35.0% | — | — | -2.9 | — | — | — | — | — |
Similar coaches
Related profiles are matched by style, strength band, volatility band, peak range, and career length.
Fran Curci
same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 0.3
Avg SRS 8.2 • Peak SRS 21.8 • 11 seasons
Best finish #6 • Volatility 6.7
Open profile →Bobby Collins
same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 1.2
Avg SRS 7.3 • Peak SRS 16.6 • 12 seasons
Best finish #2 • Volatility 6.1
Open profile →George Perles
same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 1.6
Avg SRS 6.9 • Peak SRS 15.9 • 12 seasons
Best finish #8 • Volatility 7.0
Open profile →Billy Murphy
same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 0.9
Avg SRS 7.6 • Peak SRS 17.0 • 12 seasons
Best finish Unranked • Volatility 5.1
Open profile →Ralph Friedgen
same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 1.9
Avg SRS 6.6 • Peak SRS 17.7 • 10 seasons
Best finish #11 • Volatility 6.7
Open profile →Jim Carlen
same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 0.4
Avg SRS 8.1 • Peak SRS 20.0 • 16 seasons
Best finish #11 • Volatility 6.2
Open profile →