The 20 Greatest College Football Coaches Of All Time

Affiliation: Yale University, Stanford University

Years active: 1888-1895

Claim to fame: Hailed as the “Father of American Football,” Walter Camp only spent eight seasons as head coach at Yale and Stanford in the late 19th century. In that time, though, he still managed to revolutionize the game like no other, with the system of downs and line of scrimmage just two of his major innovations. He also won three national championships with Yale and remained involved in shaping its athletic program until his death in 1925.

Affiliation: University of Tennessee

Years active: 1926-1952

Claim to fame: Widely regarded as one of the all-time greatest defensive coaches, Bob Neyland transformed the Tennessee Volunteers into a footballing powerhouse. He won two national titles during a 21-season career which was interrupted by his military duties as a brigadier general during the Second World War. Like Camp, he also helped to shape the sport as one of the first coaches to utilize game footage and sideline telephones.

Affiliation: University of Southern California

Years active: 1960-1975

Claim to fame: USC didn’t have a single national title to its name when John McKay took over in 1960. By the time he left to chase NFL glory with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1976, they’d lifted four. He also helped guide Mike Garrett and O.J. Simpson to the Heisman Trophy, led his teams to eight Rose Bowl appearances, and in 1988 was made a Hall of Famer.

Affiliation: Bowling Green State, University of Utah, University of Florida, Ohio State University

Years active: 2001-2018

Claim to fame: Urban Meyer’s glittering career since 2001 has included spells at the Bowling Green Falcons, Utah Utes, Florida Gators, and Ohio State Buckeyes. He’s one of just three coaches to have steered two different universities to a major college football national title and boasts an impressive winning percentage of .854. And there's still the chance that Meyer could easily climb even higher in the list of greats. Just try to forget his disastrous NFL stint.

Affiliation: University of Georgia, Iowa State University, Cornell University, Carlisle Indian Industrial School, University of Pittsburgh, Stanford University, Temple University

Years active: 1895-1938

Claim to fame: Pop Warner is credited with introducing the single and the double wing formations, the body-blocking technique, and the three-point stance into the game. The coach also won four national titles during the early years of the 20th century – three with Pitt, one with Stanford. But he’s perhaps most famous for founding the hugely popular youth football program known as Pop Warner Little Scholars.

Affiliation: University of Montana, Mississippi State University, Tulane University, University of Minnesota, Iowa Pre-Flight

Years active: 1919-1950

Claim to fame: Underrated coach Bernie Bierman (center) enjoyed stints at Montana, Mississippi State, and Tulane during the 1920s and 1930s. But he established himself in the pantheon of greats when he guided Minnesota to five national titles in just eight years. And he would no doubt have added to that tally if his career not been interrupted by the Second World War, in which he served as a colonel.

Affiliation: University of Oklahoma

Years active: 1973-1988

Claim to fame: Barry Switzer is one of just three coaches to have won both a college football national title and a Super Bowl in the 1970s and 1980s. Renowned for his offensive style of play, Switzer earned his ring with the Dallas Cowboys and three NCAA crowns with Oklahoma. He also boasts one of the highest winning percentages in college football history and coached nine top three-placed teams.

Affiliation: Pennsylvania State University

Years active: 1966-2011

Claim to fame: His conduct off the field has no doubt tainted his legacy, but Joe Paterno remains the college football coach with the most ever wins. He began his seven-decade career at Penn State as assistant to Rip Engle, and after being promoted to head coach in 1966, he went on to claim 409 victories and two national championships. Paterno also boasts a .749 winning percentage.

Affiliation: Grambling State University

Years active: 1941-1997

Claim to fame: Eddie Robinson is second only to Paterno when it comes to NCAA Division I victories. Robinson is best known for developing small college Grambling State into a major footballing force, having coached more than 200 future NFL players during his stint there from the 1940s to 1997. As a result, he’s also credited with bringing racial awareness to segregated Louisiana.

Affiliation: University of Oklahoma

Years active: 1947-1963

Claim to fame: Bud Wilkinson would no doubt have finished much higher up this list if he hadn’t retired at the relatively young age of 47. The coach single-handedly transformed the fortunes of the Oklahoma Sooners in the post-war era, claiming three national titles in the 1950s alone. Wilkinson also achieved a record-breaking winning streak before swapping the football stadium for the political arena.

Affiliation: South Georgia State College, West Virginia University, Florida State University

Years active: 1956-2009

Claim to fame: Bobby Bowden started his head coaching career at South Georgia State in 1956, but it was 20 years later that he began to truly make his mark. After taking over at underperforming Florida State, Bowden led the Seminoles to two national titles and 14 consecutive top-five seasons. He also coached two Heisman Trophy winners before retiring in 2009 at age 80.

Affiliation: Denison University, Ohio State University

Years active: 1946-1978

Claim to fame: Woody Hayes’ career may have ended in disgrace – he was dismissed from Ohio State after punching a Clemson player during the Gator Bowl in 1978 – but that doesn’t take away from his prior achievements with the Buckeyes. Using his military background to great effect, Hayes won five national titles and 13 Big Ten championships at Ohio in a 28-year stint. What’s more, despite his transgressions, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983.

Affiliation: University of Chicago

Years active: 1892-1932

Claim to fame: Amos Alonzo Stagg certainly earned his nickname as the “Grand Old Man of Football.” Having begun his career as a player when the sport was still in its infancy in the 1880s, he achieved true greatness when he took on a coaching role at the University of Chicago in 1892. He spent over four decades with the Maroons, creating a wide range of innovations in the game and winning two national titles before retiring aged 96.

Affiliation: University of Nebraska

Years active: 1973-1997

Claim to fame: Tom Osborne served three terms as the U.S. Representative for Nebraska’s 3rd District, but he really made his name as the state’s all-time greatest college football coach. The Republican guided sleeping giants the Cornhuskers to three national titles and 13 conference championships. He also ended his football career in style, winning 60 of his last 63 games.

Affiliation: Ohio Wesleyan University, University of Nebraska, University of Kansas, Stanford University, San Jose State University, University of Michigan

Years active: 1897-1926

Claim to fame: Fielding Yost had a huge influence in popularizing college football across America. The one-time player coached six teams over a 29-year career, including Ohio Wesleyan, Stanford, and San Jose State. But it was his lengthy stint at the University of Michigan which was to transform the game. Indeed, under Yost, the Wolverines won six national titles, ending the dominance of the East Coast teams.

Affiliation: Carroll College, St. John's University

Years active: 1949-2012

Claim to fame: It’s unlikely that anyone will ever break John Gagliardi’s record of 489 wins. The coach amassed his colossal tally of triumphs over a career that lasted over six decades, though he never led an NCAA Division I program. Gagliardi is best known for more than half a century at Saint John’s University, where he picked up four national titles in the process.

Affiliation: Boston College, University of Notre Dame

Years active: 1939-1953

Claim to fame: Frank Leahy turned Notre Dame into America’s ultimate college football team in the 1940s, winning four national championships. And he’d surely have guided them to more had his career not been interrupted by a two-year Navy stint during World War II. Leahy also won a national title with Boston, coached four Heisman Trophy winners, and boasted the second-highest winning percentage in NCAA Division I history.

Affiliation: University of Notre Dame

Years active: 1918–1930

Claim to fame: Responsible for popularizing the forward pass while playing for Notre Dame, Knute Rockne proved to be just as influential when he became the school’s head coach. Not only did he guide the Fighting Irish to three national titles, but he also coached the Four Horsemen backfield and lost just 12 games in a 13-year career. Only a fatal plane crash prevented him from achieving even greater things.

Affiliation: University of Toledo, Michigan State University, Louisiana State University, University of Alabama

Years active: 1990-present

Claim to fame: Dubbed “the most powerful coach in sports” by Forbes, Nick Saban is in fact the only man ever to have won a national championship with two different FBS schools. His victorious streak began with the LSU Tigers in 2003 before he led the University of Alabama to four national titles. And with no end in sight, Saban has plenty of time to extend his legacy even further.

Affiliation: University of Maryland, University of Kentucky, Texas A&M University, University of Alabama

Years active: 1945-1982

Claim to fame: Of course, Saban still has some way to go to eclipse Bear Bryant, who is frequently cited as college football’s all-time greatest. During his 25-year spell with the Crimson Tide at the University of Alabama, Bryant won 13 conference championships and six national titles. Famed for his deep voice, houndstooth hat, and casual stance, Bryant had a personality that was just as remarkable as his professional dominance. Apparently, he did ponder leaving for the NFL at one point, though perhaps it's a good thing he didn't...

Many legendary college coaches crash and burn at the professional level. Just look at Nick Saban. He may arguably be the best college football coach of all time, but he was far from legendary at the pro level. Despite a promising 9-7 record in his first year, the Dolphins whiffed by trading for the injury-riddled Daunte Culpepper instead of signing future Hall of Famer Drew Brees. That ultimately led to a quarterback carousel and Saban's very first losing season at 6-10. And no sooner did the 2006 campaign end than Saban accepted the head coaching job at Alabama. The rest is history.

If you want to become a legendary head coach, you have to win games. Jeff Fisher? He's remembered for doing the opposite. While he did manage to amass 173 regular season wins over his 22 years in the league, he also finished with 165 losses, tied for the most all-time. And following six consecutive losing seasons — five of which made up his entire stint with the St. Louis Rams — Fisher was canned 13 games into the 2016 campaign.

In 1942 Walt Kiesling led the Steelers to a 7-4 record, the first winning season in the team's nine-year history. Too bad he went 4-15-4 in the three seasons prior... Then, following stints as co-coach of the Steagles and Card-Pitt — temporary teams made up of the men who didn't go off to fight in World War II — Kiesling returned to Pittsburgh and ended his coaching career with a record of 30-55-5. He also famously released NFL legend Johnny Unitas before he'd even played a snap for the team.

It may seem strange to see a Hall of Famer and two-time NFL Coach of the Year winner on this list, but Iron Mike's three seasons with the New Orleans Saints were nothing short of disastrous. Ditka's tenure in the Big Easy was marred by his quick temper and questionable personnel choices, and after posting a 15-33 record, he was unceremoniously fired. Afterward, Ditka declared he'd never coach again.

In Bobby Petrino's defense, he couldn't have known that Michael Vick was about to be indicted on dogfighting charges when he accepted the Atlanta Falcons head coaching gig. What he can be blamed for, however, is the way he skipped town after going 3-10 in his first season, ditching the Falcons to become the head coach at Arkansas. Instead of meeting with his players face-to-face to deliver the news, Petrino left letters at each of their lockers. Talk about classless.

Mike Singletary may have been feared on the football field — but not so much behind the coach's clipboard. Taking over for Mike Nolan after he was fired nine games into the 2008 season, Singletary made an immediate statement in his debut. Outrageously, he dropped his pants at halftime to let his team know what he thought of their play. The Hall of Famer then went on to amass an 18-22 record over two and a half seasons before being fired in December 2010.

Romeo Crennel finds himself on this list more as a victim of circumstance, as the veteran coach was beloved by his players while in Cleveland. He even managed a 10-6 season in 2007 and developed a number of Pro Bowlers during his Browns tenure, though his 14 wins and 34 losses across his other three seasons ultimately led to his firing in 2008. And considering Crennel only managed an 8-23 record during his later stints with the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs, it's clear he wasn't cut out for head coaching duties.

For a franchise as celebrated as the Cowboys, losing isn't taken too lightly. Still, Dave Campo managed to hang on for three consecutive 5-11 seasons before earning a one-way ticket out of Jerry World. Even today, Campo is still the only Cowboys head coach to never have a winning season or reach the playoffs.

To be fair, John McKay took the reigns of the Bucs when they were just entering the league as an expansion team — though the fact he went 0-26 to start his pro career wasn't exactly encouraging. McKay managed to somewhat right the ship with three playoff berths and a conference championship appearance at the turn of the decade. Still, after compiling a 44-88-1 record over nine years, he opted to step down after the 1984 season.

Richie Petitbon's rapid fall from grace is yet another reminder that good coordinators don't always make good coaches. Elevated from defensive coordinator following Joe Gibbs' retirement and just two years removed from a Super Bowl win, Petitbon floundered as his aging squad posted a 4-12 record. He was fired after just one season, and the formerly promising coaching prospect was never hired in the league again.

Considering Leeman Bennett was selling RVs before the Bucs hired him, most of us could've seen this one coming. Sure, he'd had success with the Atlanta Falcons, leading them to three playoff berths between 1979 and 1982, but as John McKay's successor in Tampa, he continued the franchise's losing ways. After posting back-to-back 2-14 seasons, Bennett was canned in December 1986.

After leading the newly founded Carolina Panthers to a 12-4 record and the NFC Championship Game in just his second season as head coach, Dom Capers seemed primed for a long and illustrious career. Then the wheels fell off. Capers proceeded to post an 11-21 record over the next two seasons and was fired in 1998, though he was handed the reigns of yet another expansion team, the Houston Texans, three years later. With Houston, Capers only managed 18 wins to 46 losses over four seasons, proving that head coaching just wasn't for him.

The NFL has seen plenty of one-and-done coaches, but you have to admire the way Les Steckel went out. After taking over from the newly retired Bud Grant in 1984, Steckel led the Vikings to a 3-13 record — tied for the worst in franchise history — before general manager Mike Lynn asked for his resignation. Steckel refused to resign, however, leading him and his entire staff to be fired outright.

Yes, he did have the unfortunate privilege of coaching Ryan Leaf for a season, but Kevin Gilbride's short tenure in the Golden State was the definition of underperformance. Known in the past for his offensive prowess, Gilbride coached the team to a 6-16 record, with his Chargers consistently ranking at the bottom of the league in offense. Having produced just 22 scores over 22 games, Gilbride was fired during the 1998 season.

Marion Campbell's pedigree as a player was likely the only thing that kept him employed, yet the fact that the Swamp Fox managed to hold down a head coaching gig for nine seasons is straight-up embarrassing. Over two stints with the Falcons and three years with the Eagles, Campbell managed to post a 34-80-1 record and never had a winning season. By the time he stepped down following the 1989 campaign, Campbell had the worst record among coaches with at least 100 games in league history.

It's no surprise Washington has made some personnel blunders over the years — especially when you consider who owns the team — but the Steve Spurrier era was a particularly rocky one. The former Florida Gators head coach surrounded himself with inexperienced college personnel, and frequent clashes with owner Dan Snyder led him to lose control over which athletes were playing in games. Following the 2003 season, Spurrier resigned after just two years, posting a 12-20 record.

Mike Tice's time in Minnesota was unspectacular, with a 33-34 record and a two-game playoff run to show for it. But that's not why he's on this list. The head coach was involved in two separate scandals while with the Vikings, the first being a Super Bowl ticket-scalping operation that ultimately cost him $100,000. His second blunder came when, under his watch, several Vikings players were charged with hosting a sex party on houseboats during the team's bye week. Not a great look.

While the Bill Belichick coaching tree has produced a number of quality head coaches, Josh McDaniels is one of several exceptions. His time with the Broncos was rocky from the start, with the tensions between him and starting quarterback Jay Cutler leading the budding star to be traded. But McDaniels' biggest offense came in November 2010, when his director of video operations was caught illegally filming a San Francisco 49ers practice. McDaniels was fired shortly after with a record of 11-17 over less than two seasons.

Son of legendary Hall of Famer Don, Dave Shula was named Cincy's head coach in 1992 and quickly proved to be in way over his head. Over four and a half seasons, he compiled a 19-52 record and set the mark for the fastest coach to 50 losses in NFL history. Unsurprisingly, he hasn't found a job in the league since then.

Both the Giants and the Jets have been cursed with some bad coaches over the last decade, and Pat Shurmur is certainly near the top of the list. With his mismanagement of personnel and poor playcalling, Big Blue won nine games and dropped 23. At 19-46 — he also coached the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles — Shurmur's .292 career win percentage is the seventh-lowest of all time.

True, having Blake Bortles as your starting quarterback isn't exactly a recipe for success, but Gus Bradley was far from able to make lemonade out of lemons. From 2013 to 2016, Bradley never won more than five games in a season. He finished his time in Jacksonville with a paltry 14-48 record and a .226 win percentage — the worst for coaches who've seen at least 50 games since 1967.

Despite a successful college coaching career, Frank Kush's NFL tenure will forever be tied to two things: John Elway and losing. Following an 0-8-1 record in his debut season, he and the Colts selected Elway with the first-overall pick in the 1983 NFL Draft. However, Elway never took a snap for the Colts, as he refused to play under Kush's strict coaching style. After reaching an 11-28-1 career record, Kush quit the league in 1984.

Fresh off a 12-4 season, the defensive mastermind behind the Giants' legendary Super Bowl XLII upset was rewarded with the Rams head coaching gig in 2009. That turned out to be a big mistake. Spags went 1-15 in his first year — the worst season in franchise history — before improving to 7-9 in 2010. Unfortunately, he resumed his losing ways the following season, posting a 2-14 record. Spagnuolo was ultimately fired with a total of 10 wins and 38 losses during his Rams tenure.

Ray Handley had some pretty big shoes to fill in the wake of Bill Parcells' retirement, and he rose to the occasion by taking a team that'd just won the Super Bowl and dragging them down to a 14-18 record over two seasons. Along the way, Handley benched starting quarterback Phil Simms, clashed with both the media and fans, and hired Rod Rust to run his defense. Following his firing in December 1992, Handley never coached again.

History will forever remember Bert Bell as the man who made football the most popular and profitable sport in America. And he should be thankful, as otherwise he would've been regarded as one of the worst coaches of all time. Back in the days when coaches and owners were almost always one and the same, Bell compiled a horrid 10-46-2 record between stretches with the Eagles and the Steelers. Clearly, he was better suited to be behind a desk than on a football field.

It's hard to find a fanbase more unforgiving than in New York, but Adam Gase certainly deserved every bit of criticism he got. Taking the reigns of the franchise in January 2019, Gase led Gang Green to a 7-9 record before posting a 2-14 record in 2020. That began with 13 straight losses, and it was just shy of the worst season in Jets history. Gase was let go just three days into 2021.

The 2007 New England Patriots were the first team in history to win all 16 regular-season games. Then, a year later, Rod Marinelli pulled off a feat that was just as impressive: he became the first head coach to lose every single game. Unsurprisingly, Marinelli was fired after his 0-16 campaign, having compiled a 10-38 record with the Lions and one of the worst winning percentages in history at .208.

When the owner of a franchise publicly says that a head coach has "disgraced" the organization, it's safe to say that'll probably be their last job in the NFL. Such was the case for Lane Kiffin, whose pathetic 5-15 record with the Raiders was overshadowed by clashes with his own personnel as well as team owner Al Davis. After his firing in September 2008, Kiffin filed a grievance against the Raiders, though the team was found to have cause for the termination. Just a mess all around.

Helming an expansion franchise in its inaugural season is never an easy task for a coach, but Chris Palmer made it seem a heck of a lot harder when he became head coach of the newly reestablished Cleveland Browns in 1999. The inexperienced Palmer went 5-27, with his poor coaching style and a lack of roster talent dooming him after just two seasons. Palmer was also responsible for drafting quarterback Tim Couch — a decision that led the Browns to change QBs a staggering 29 more times over the next 19 years.

Dennis Allen's hiring as head coach of the Raiders was about as questionable as could be. Having only spent one year as the coordinator of a porous Denver Broncos defense, Allen was brought to Oakland and subsequently posted an 8-24 record in his first two seasons. Then, after starting the 2014 campaign at 0-4, he was unceremoniously sacked. Clearly, he was far too green for the job.

The early '00s were rough for the Detroit Lions, and many of those struggles had to do with terrible coaching. Marty Mornhinweg seemed to have all the tools to succeed when he inherited a 9-7 Lions team in 2001, yet he managed to start his tenure in Detroit 0-12. He followed that up with a 3-13 season the next year. And after compiling a 5-27 record — including 0-16 on the road — Mornhinweg was given his walking papers.

Making the jump from college football to the NFL may not seem like a big deal, but Lou Holtz was completely out of his element. Taking the helm of the Jets in 1976, the North Carolina State coach attempted to introduce college gimmicks to his regime, which ultimately resulted in a 3-13 start to the season. He resigned shortly after, claiming, "God did not put Lou Holtz on this earth to coach in the pros."

If the best record you can pull off at the college level is a mediocre 5-5-1, then chances are you're not meant for the big leagues. Yet Rod Dowhower made the leap from Stanford to the NFL in 1980 — first as an offensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos and then as the head coach of the Colts in '85. After beginning his tenure with a 5-11 record, Dowhower followed up by losing the first 13 games of the 1986 season. That got him booted out of Indianapolis.

In the wake of Nick Saban's abrupt exit from Miami, Cam Cameron was called upon to turn the franchise around. Instead, he ran it into the ground. The offensive guru began his Dolphins tenure by dropping 13 straight games, finishing the season with a horrendous 1-15 result. And after Bill Parcels took over as vice president of football operations and Jeff Ireland was selected as general manager, Cameron was kicked to the curb after just one season.

As one of college football's most decorated head coaches, Urban Meyer seemed a no-brainer choice to develop rookie Trevor Lawrence into an NFL star and return the Jacksonville Jaguars to relevance. Well, those expectations faded fast. Between an abysmal 2-11 record, allegations of abuse by his players, and an infamous video of him groping a woman at a bar, Meyer was out the door faster than he walked in.

Adam Gase may have given the Jets their second-worst season in franchise history, but Rich Kotite had the privilege of being the mastermind behind a 1-15 nightmare in 1996. This was on the heels of a 3-13 record the year prior, so it came as no surprise when Kotite stepped down after just two seasons. Ultimately, he had a 4-28 record and a measly .125 winning percentage.

These days, it's hard to picture the Patriots having a bad season. But during Rod Rust's single year in New England, the Pats went 1-15 — the worst record in franchise history. The team lost 14 consecutive games — including 11 by double digits — and their abysmal -265 point differential still ranks as the third-worst of all time. Rust was promptly fired after the 1990 season.

Remember Rod Marinelli's 0-16 campaign? Hue Jackson must've seen it and said, "Hold my beer." After a 1-15 start to his Browns tenure in 2016, Jackson proceeded to lose all 16 games of the 2017 season and was subsequently fired after a 2-5-1 start the following year. All told, Jackson posted a 3-36-1 record with the Browns, which still stands as the worst single-team head coaching record of all time for a coach who's seen at least 40 games.

Bill Peterson is remembered for his innovations in college football, but even he couldn't help but sputter when he made the leap to the NFL in 1972. His one and a half seasons with the Oilers were straight-up embarrassing, with his squad posting just one win and 18 losses. His .053 winning percentage stands as the worst among coaches who held the job for at least a season since the NFL and AFL merged in 1970. That's a historic level of bad.

They say one man's trash is another man's treasure, and that was pretty much the case with Ray McLean and the 1958 Packers. Elevated after the firing of Lisle Blackburn, McLean sank the team to the worst record in franchise history despite having six future Hall of Famers on the roster. But his time in Green Bay ultimately proved to be a godsend. With the Packers teetering on the edge of collapse, the franchise extended near-complete control of the team to Vince Lombardi. He, of course, is one of the all-time greats, but there is one area in which Lombardi pales in comparison to modern coaches...