This is a list of college football coaches with 200 career wins. "College level" is defined as a four-year

college A college ( Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

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program in either the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stud ...

(NAIA) or the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athlete, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic sports, ...

(NCAA). If a team competed at a time before the official organization of either of the two groups but is generally accepted as a "college football program", it is included.

Historical overview

As of the end of the 2021 season, a total of 97 head football coaches have reached the milestone of 200 career coaching wins. In the 100 years after the first college football game in 1869, only eight coaches reached the 200-win milestone. The only two who reached the mark before 1950 were

Pop Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his in ...

, with 319 wins from 1895 to 1938 (mostly at

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

and

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

), and

Amos Alonzo Stagg Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfie ...

, with 314 wins from 1890 to 1946 (mostly at

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). (The NCAA Career Statistics database allows the viewer to obtain coaching records for all NCAA coaches by inputting the individual's name in the linked window.) By 1970, another six coaches had reached the milestone: Ace Mumford, with 233 wins from 1924 to 1961 (mostly at Southern); Fred T. Long, with 227 wins from 1921 to 1965 (mostly at Wiley);

Jess Neely Jesse Claiborne Neely (January 4, 1898 – April 9, 1983) was an American football player and a baseball and football coach. He was head football coach at Southwestern University (now Rhodes College) from 1924 to 1927, at Clemson University f ...

, with 207 wins from 1924 to 1966 (mostly at Clemson and

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly '' Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and ''Porteresia'', both wild and domestica ...

); Cleveland Abbott, with 203 wins at Tuskegee between 1923 and 1954; Jake Gaither, with 204 wins at Florida A&M from 1945 to 1969; and Eddie Anderson, with 201 wins from 1922 to 1964 (mostly at

Holy Cross Holy Cross or Saint Cross may refer to: * the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus * Christian cross, a frequently used religious symbol of Christianity * True Cross, supposed remnants of the actual cross upon which Jesus was crucified * Feast ...

). Though only eight coaches reached the milestone from 1869 to 1970, 89 coaches have reached the mark in the 49 seasons since then.

Leaders by category

In overall career wins, the all-time leader is John Gagliardi with 489 wins, mostly at the

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their ...

level. Gagliardi began his head coaching career at Carroll in

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the capital city of Montana, United States, and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold rush, and established on October 30, 1864. Due to the gold rush, Helena would b ...

in 1949 and moved in 1953 to Saint John's in Collegeville, Minnesota, where he served until retiring after the 2012 season.

Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions from 1966 to 20 ...

, the head coach at

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High ...

from 1966 until his 2011 firing in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal, is second with 409 wins. NCAA sanctions following the scandal had stripped him of all 111 Penn State wins between 1998 and 2011, but the NCAA restored those wins on January 16, 2015 as part of a settlement of a lawsuit by the state of Pennsylvania against the NCAA. Eddie Robinson, head coach at

Grambling State Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage ...

from 1941 to 1997 with a two-season hiatus during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in which Grambling did not field a team, is third with 408. (The linked document is a report published by the NCAA listing the winningest coaches based on data through the end of the 2012 season. Updated information on coaches active in subsequent seasons is available through the other sources listed in the "References" section.)

Bobby Bowden Robert Cleckler Bowden (; November 8, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was an American college football coach. Bowden coached the Florida State Seminoles of Florida State University (FSU) from 1976 to 2009 and is considered one of the greatest colle ...

is fourth with 377 wins. (The referenced page reflects the updated information on the Top 10 winningest coaches. Records for other coaches are available in the database in alphabetical order through links from the referenced page.) Among the coaches with 200 career wins, Larry Kehres has the highest winning percentage with in 27 seasons (1986–2012) as the head football coach at Mount Union in

Alliance, Ohio Alliance is a city in eastern Stark County, Ohio, United States. With a small district lying in adjacent Mahoning County, the city is approximately northeast of Canton, southwest of Youngstown and southeast of Cleveland. The population was 2 ...

. Six others finished their careers with 200 wins and a winning percentage of .800 or greater: Pete Fredenburg (.856) Jake Gaither (.844),

Tom Osborne Thomas William Osborne (born February 23, 1937) is a former American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and politician from Nebraska. He served as head football coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers from 1973 to 1997 (25 seaso ...

(.836), Mike Kelly (.819), Joe Fincham (.815), and Ron Schipper (.808). Two active coaches have 200 wins and a winning percentage of .800 or greater: Steve Ryan (.835) and

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. (; born October 31, 1951) is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007. Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins ...

(.800). Among coaches with at least 10 seasons in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...

and its predecessors, the all-time leaders in wins are Paterno (409), Robinson (408), Bowden (377),

Bear Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...

(323), and

(319). Considering wins in Division I FBS only—including wins with "major" programs before the 1978 split of Division I football, and wins in Division I-A/FBS after the split—the all-time leaders are Paterno (409), Bowden (377), Bryant (323), Warner (319), and

(314). The only coaches with 200

Division I FCS The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athlet ...

wins after the Division I split are Jimmye Laycock (242),

Roy Kidd Roy Kidd (born December 4, 1931) is a former collegiate football league player and coach. He served as the head coach at Eastern Kentucky University from 1964 to 2002, compiling a record of 314–124–8. Kidd's Eastern Kentucky Colonels won N ...

(223), Andy Talley (217), and Jerry Moore (215). The all-time win leaders in

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

are Danny Hale (Bloomsburg and West Chester), Gaither and

Chuck Broyles Charles Leroy Broyles (born February 5, 1947) is a former American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Pittsburg State University from 1990 to 2009, compiling a record of 198–47–2 in 20 se ...

, and the all-time win leaders in

are Gagliardi and Kehres. Among coaches expected to be active in 2022, the career win leaders are

Kevin Donley William Kevin Donley (born July 4, 1951) is an American football coach and former player. In the spring of 2021 (a delayed start to their 2020 season due to the COVID pandemic), Donley began his 42nd championship season as a head coach in addition ...

(338), Saban (269), and

Mack Brown William Mack Brown (born August 27, 1951) is an American college football coach. He is currently in his second stint as the head football coach for the North Carolina Tar Heels football, University of North Carolina, where he first coached fro ...

(265). The coaches with the most wins at one college are Gagliardi (465 at Saint John's), Paterno (409 at Penn State), Robinson (408 at Grambling), Kehres (332 at Mount Union), Ken Sparks (327 at Carson–Newman), Kidd (314 at Eastern Kentucky), Bowden (304 at Florida State) and

Tubby Raymond Harold R. "Tubby" Raymond (November 14, 1926 – December 8, 2017) was an American football and baseball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Delaware from 1966 to 2001, compiling a record of 300–119–3 ...

(300 at Delaware).

Key

Coaches with 200 career wins

:''Updated through 2021 season''

Active coaches nearing 200 career wins

:''This list identifies active coaches with at least 180 career wins; updated through 2021 season.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List of college football coaches with 200 career wins 200 career wins