List of Nebraska Cornhuskers head football coaches
This list of Nebraska Cornhuskers head football coaches shows the coaches who have led the University of Nebraska–Lincoln's football program in a permanent or interim capacity. Nebraska has had thirty-one head coaches in its history, with five others coaching at least one game on a non-permanent basis. Eight have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame: Edward N. Robinson, Fielding H. Yost, Dana X. Bible, Biff Jones, Pete Elliott,[a] Bob Devaney, Tom Osborne, and Frank Solich. Osborne is the program's leader in most categories and holds the fifth-highest career win percentage in major college football history.[1]
History
[edit]NU's earliest coaching history is unclear, as several men were appointed to assist or oversee the young program in an unofficial capacity. The school recognizes Frank Crawford, hired in 1893, as its first official head coach.[2] Early in the twentieth century, Nebraska became a regional power under Walter C. Booth – during a twenty-four-game win streak from 1901 to 1904, it was written that Booth could "weep with Alexander the Great because there are no more teams to conquer," given Nebraska's difficulty finding competitive and willing opposition in the Midwest.[3] Twenty-four-year-old Ewald O. "Jumbo" Stiehm was hired in 1911 as the school's first full-time coach. Stiehm lost just two games in five seasons and his 8–0 1915 team was retroactively awarded a national championship.[4]
Dana X. Bible and Biff Jones guided Nebraska to eight conference championships through the 1920s and 1930s, and Jones took the program to its first bowl game before being recalled to serve in World War II.[5] Seven head coaches had little success in the postwar years until Bob Devaney was hired in 1962. Devaney turned Nebraska into a national power by the end of the decade, winning national championships in 1970 and 1971.[6] Offensive coordinator Tom Osborne succeeded Devaney in 1973, beginning a twenty-five-year tenure that established him as one of college football's greatest coaches.[7] Despite remarkable consistency – Osborne's teams never won fewer than nine games and were nationally ranked for 304 of his 307 games – he did not break through and win a major-poll national championship until 1994. Osborne retired in 1997 after two more titles and turned the program over to longtime assistant Frank Solich.[8]
Solich took Nebraska to the 2002 BCS National Championship Game, but dropped to 7–7 the next year and was fired in 2003. After a lengthy coaching search, Nebraska settled on Bill Callahan, who overhauled the program in four turbulent years before being fired in 2007 and replaced by Bo Pelini. Pelini won at least nine games in each of his seven seasons, but frequent clashes with school administration (and some with program supporters) led to his firing.[9] Nebraska suffered its worst eight-year stretch in over sixty years under Mike Riley and Scott Frost before hiring Matt Rhule in 2023.
Coaching history
[edit]| College Football Hall of Fame inductee |
| No. | Coach[b] | Tenure | Overall | Conference | Accomplishments‡ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Langdon Frothingham | 1890 | 2–0 (1.000) | – | ||
| Theron Lyman | 1891 | 0–1 (.000) | – | ||
| J. S. Williams | 1892 | 1–0 (1.000) | 1–0 (1.000) | ||
| 1 | Frank Crawford | 1893–1894 | 9–4–1 (.679) | 3–3 (.500) | WIUFA champion (1894) |
| 2 | Charles Thomas | 1895 | 6–3 (.667) | 2–1 (.667) | WIUFA champion (1895) |
| 3 | Eddie N. Robinson | 1896–1897 | 11–4–1 (.719) | 4–1–1 (.750) | WIUFA champion (1897) |
| 4 | Fielding H. Yost | 1898 | 8–3–0 (.727) | – | |
| 5 | Alonzo Edwin Branch | 1899 | 1–7–1 (.167) | – | |
| 6 | Walter C. Booth | 1900–1905 | 46–8–1 (.845) | – | |
| 7 | Amos Foster | 1906 | 6–4 (.600) | – | |
| 8 | William C. Cole | 1907–1910 | 25–8–3 (.736) | 5–2–1 (.688) | MVIAA champion (1907, 1910) |
| 9 | Ewald O. Stiehm | 1911–1915 | 35–2–3 (.913) | 14–0–1 (.967) | National champion (1915) MVIAA champion (1911–1915) |
| 10 | E. J. Stewart | 1916–1917 | 11–4 (.733) | 5–1 (.833) | MVIAA champion (1916, 1917) |
| 11 | William G. Kline | 1918 | 2–3–1 (.417) | – | |
| 12 | Henry Schulte | 1919–1920 | 8–6–3 (.559) | – | |
| 13 | Fred Dawson | 1921–1924 | 23–7–2 (.750) | 14–1–2 (.882) | MVIAA champion (1921–1923) |
| 14 | Ernest Bearg | 1925–1928 | 23–7–3 (.742) | 16–4–1 (.786) | MVIAA champion (1928) |
| 15 | Dana X. Bible | 1929–1936 | 50–15–7 (.743) | 33–3–4 (.875) | MVIAA champion (1929, 1931–1933, 1935, 1936) |
| 16 | Biff Jones | 1937–1941 | 28–14–4 (.652) | 17–6–2 (.720) | MVIAA champion (1937, 1940) |
| 17 | Glenn Presnell | 1942 | 3–7 (.300) | 3–2 (.600) | |
| 18 | Adolph Lewandowski | 1943–1944 | 4–12 (.250) | 4–6 (.400) | |
| 19 | George Clark | 1945, 1948 | 6–13 (.316) | 4–7 (.364) | |
| 20 | Bernie Masterson | 1946–1947 | 5–13 (.278) | 5–5 (.500) | |
| 21 | Bill Glassford | 1949–1955 | 31–35–3 (.471) | 23–18–1 (.560) | |
| 22 | Pete Elliott[c] | 1956 | 4–6 (.400) | 3–3 (.500) | |
| 23 | Bill Jennings | 1957–1961 | 15–34–1 (.310) | 6–19 (.240) | |
| 24 | Bob Devaney | 1962–1972 | 101–20–2 (.829) | 62–14–1 (.812) | National champion (1970, 1971) Big Eight champion (1963–1966, 1969–1972) Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award (1971) Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (1971)[10] |
| 25 | Tom Osborne | 1973–1997 | 255–49–3 (.836) | 153–22–1 (.872) | National champion (1980–1984, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997) Big Eight champion (1975, 1978, 1981–1984, 1988, 1991–1995) Big 12 champion (1997) Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year (1978) AFCA Coach of the Year (1994)[11] |
| 26 | Frank Solich | 1998–2003 | 58–19 (.753) | 33–15 (.688) | Big 12 champion (1999) |
| 27 | Bill Callahan | 2004–2007 | 27–22 (.551) | 15–17 (.469) | |
| 28 | Bo Pelini[d] | 2003†, 2008–2014 | 67–27 (.713) | 38–17 (.691) | |
| Barney Cotton[e] | 2014† | 0–1 (.000) | – | ||
| 29 | Mike Riley | 2015–2017 | 19–19 (.500) | 12–14 (.462) | |
| 30 | Scott Frost | 2018–2022 | 16–31 (.340) | 10–26 (.286) | |
| Mickey Joseph[f] | 2022† | 3–6 (.333) | 3–5 (.375) | ||
| 31 | Matt Rhule | 2023–present | 12–13 (.480) | 6–12 (.333) |
† Interim head coach
‡ Claimed national titles in bold
Notes
[edit]- ^ Pete Elliott was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame for his playing career as a quarterback at Michigan.
- ^ This list only includes those who coached at least one game. Several others served in an interim capacity.
- ^ Elliott was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame for his playing career as a quarterback at Michigan
- ^ Pelini served as interim head coach for the 2003 Alamo Bowl
- ^ Cotton served as interim head coach for the 2014 Holiday Bowl
- ^ Joseph served as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2022 season
References
[edit]- ^ "Football Bowl Subdivision records" (PDF). NCAA. 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2025.
- ^ "2024–25 Football Record Book" (PDF). Nebraska Athletics. Retrieved February 13, 2025.
- ^ Walt Sehnert (September 13, 2010). "Bummy Booth and the first Cornhuskers". McCook Gazette. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
- ^ Mike Babcock (February 21, 2012). "How It Was: The first great coach". 247Sports. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
- ^ "Biff Jones Called to West Point Job". New York Times. January 24, 1942. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
- ^ John Underwood (September 13, 1971). "And this man is at the top". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved February 7, 2025.
- ^ "The 150 greatest coaches in college football's 150-year history". ESPN. December 10, 2019. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
- ^ Malcolm Moran (December 11, 1997). "After 25 Seasons, Osborne to Retire". The New York Times. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
- ^ "Bo Pelini apologizes for profane rant". ESPN. September 16, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
- ^ "Bob Devaney". College Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
- ^ "Tom Osborne". College Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 19, 2025.