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List of Oklahoma Sooners head football coaches

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Bob Stoops, head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners from 1999 to 2016 and interim head coach in 2021.

The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma. The team has had 23 head coaches since organized football began in 1895. The Sooners have played in more than 1,200 games in its 121 seasons. In those seasons, nine coaches have led the Sooners to postseason bowl games: Thomas E. Stidham, Jim Tatum, Bud Wilkinson, Gomer Jones, Chuck Fairbanks, Barry Switzer, Gary Gibbs, Bob Stoops and Lincoln Riley. Nine coaches have won conference championships with the Sooners: Bennie Owen, Stidham, Dewey Luster, Tatum, Wilkinson, Fairbanks, Switzer, Stoops and Riley. Wilkinson, Switzer and Stoops have also won national championships with the Sooners. Stoops is the all-time leader in games coached and won, Owen is the all-time leader in years coached, while Riley is the all-time leader in winning percentage. John Harts is, in terms of winning percentage, the worst coach the Sooners have had as he lost the only game he coached. John Blake has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game with .353 in his 34 games.

Of the 23 Sooner coaches, Owen, Lawrence Jones, Tatum, Wilkinson, Switzer and Stoops have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Wilkinson, Switzer, and Stoops have each received National Coach of the Year honors from at least one organization. The current head coach is Brent Venables, who was hired on December 5, 2021, replacing Lincoln Riley after his departure to become the head coach at the University of Southern California (USC) in November 2021.[1][2]

Key

[edit]

Head coaches

[edit]
Statistics correct as of the end of the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season
# Picture Name Term GC OW OL OT O% CW CL CT C% PW PL PT CCs NCs National awards
1 John A. Harts 1895 1 0 1 0 .000 — — — — — — — — — —
2 Vernon Parrington 1897–1900 12 9 2 1 .792 — — — — — — — — — —
3 Fred Roberts 1901 5 3 2 0 .600 — — — — — — — — — —
4 Mark McMahon 1902–1903 21 11 7 3 .595 — — — — — — — — — —
5 Fred Ewing 1904 8 4 3 1 .593 — — — — — — — — — —
6 Bennie Owen[6]† 1905–1926 192 122 54 16 .677 28 20 7 .573 — — — 3 — —
7 Adrian Lindsey 1927–1931 44 19 19 6 .500 11 12 2 .480 — — — — — —
8 Lewie Hardage 1932–1934 27 11 12 4 .481 8 6 1 .567 — — — — — —
9 Biff Jones[7]† 1935–1936 18 9 6 3 .583 4 4 2 .500 — — — — — —
10 Thomas E. Stidham 1937–1940 38 27 8 3 .750 15 4 1 .775 0 1 0 1 — —
11 Dewey Luster 1941–1945 48 27 18 3 .594 19 4 2 .800 — — — 2 — —
12 Jim Tatum[8]† 1946 11 8 3 0 .727 4 1 0 .800 1 0 0 1 — —
13
Bud Wilkinson[9]† 1947–1963 178 145 29 4 .826 93 9 3 .900 6 2 0 14 3 – 1950, 1955, 1956

AFCA Coach of the Year (1949)[10]
AP Coach of the Year (1950)[11]

14 Gomer Jones 1964–1965 21 9 11 1 .452 8 5 1 .607 0 1 0 — — —
15 Jim Mackenzie 1966 10 6 4 0 .600 4 3 0 .571 — — — — — —
16 Chuck Fairbanks 1967–1972 68 49 18 1 .728 34 8 0 .809 3 1 1 3 — —
17
Barry Switzer[12]† 1973–1988 190 157 29 4 .837 100 11 1 .897 8 5 0 12 3 – 1974, 1975, 1985

Walter Camp Coach of the Year (1974)[13]

18 Gary Gibbs 1989–1994 69 44 23 2 .652 26 14 2 .643 2 1 0 — — —
19 Howard Schnellenberger 1995 11 5 5 1 .500 2 5 0 .286 — — — — — —
20 John Blake 1996–1998 34 12 22 — .353 8 16 — .333 — — — — — —
21
Bob Stoops[14]† 1999–2016 238 190 48 — .798 121 29 — .807 9 9 — 10 1 – 2000

AFCA Coach of the Year (2000)[10] Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (2000)[15]
Home Depot Coach of the Year Award (2000)[15]
AP Coach of the Year (2000)[15][16]
Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (2000)[15]
Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award (2003)[17][18]
Walter Camp Coach of the Year (2000, 2003)[13][15][19]

22
Lincoln Riley 2017–2021 65 55 10 — .846 37 7 — .841 1 3 — 4 —

Broyles Award (2015)
Big 12 Coach of the Year (2018) AP Big 12 Coach of the Year (2018)

—
Bob Stoops (Interim) 2021 1 1 0 — 1.000 0 0 — .000 1 0 — 0 — —
23 Brent Venables 2022–present 27 17 10 — 0.630 10 8 — 0.556 0 2 — 0 — —

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ A running total of the number of coaches of the Sooners. Thus, any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is counted only once.
  2. ^ Oklahoma did not join a conference until 1915.[3]
  3. ^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.[4]
  4. ^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[5]

References

[edit]
General
  • "Football Coaches". SoonerStats.com. Archived from the original on September 25, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  • "OU Football Tradition: Head Coaches". SoonerSports.com. September 19, 2009. Archived from the original on May 23, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  • "Oklahoma Coaching Records". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on February 16, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  • Dozier, Ray (2006). The Oklahoma Football Encyclopedia. Champaign, Illinois: Sports Publishing L.L.C. ISBN 1-58261-699-X. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
Specific
  1. ^ "Venables named OU's 23rd head football coach". Oklahoma Sooners. December 5, 2021. Archived from the original on December 6, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
  2. ^ Jeyarajah, Shehan (December 5, 2021). "Oklahoma hires Brent Venables as coach: Clemson defensive coordinator to replace Lincoln Riley". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on December 6, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
  3. ^ "2009 OU Football Guide". University of Oklahoma Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Archived from the original on July 22, 2009. Retrieved October 10, 2009.
  4. ^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  5. ^ Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big Plays Help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  6. ^ Bennie Owen at the College Football Hall of Fame
  7. ^ Lawrence "Biff" Jones at the College Football Hall of Fame
  8. ^ Jim "Big Jim" Tatum at the College Football Hall of Fame
  9. ^ Bud Wilkinson at the College Football Hall of Fame
  10. ^ a b "AFCA Coach of the Year Award – Past Winners". American Football Coaches Association. January 15, 2008. Archived from the original on December 5, 2010. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
  11. ^ Carter, Bob (October 18, 2006). "Oklahoma makes turtle soup". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
  12. ^ Barry Switzer at the College Football Hall of Fame
  13. ^ a b "Walter Camp Football Foundation Awards". Walter Camp Football Foundation, Inc. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
  14. ^ "Bob Stoops".
  15. ^ a b c d e "Bob Stoops". SoonerSports.com. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
  16. ^ "Stoops Named AP National Coach Of The Year". SoonerSports.com. Archived from the original on June 17, 2011. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
  17. ^ "Stoops Presented With Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year Award". SoonerSports.com. Archived from the original on June 17, 2011. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
  18. ^ "Past Winners". Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year Award. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
  19. ^ "Stoops Named Walter Camp's 2003 Coach Of The Year". SoonerSports.com. Archived from the original on June 17, 2011. Retrieved September 26, 2009.

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