Two years ago we embarked on a daring, ground-breaking, never-before-seen project to catalogue a list of FBS coaches at (or near) their respective schools' all-time wins list. Despite countless warnings and doubts, we accomplished our goal.
And with all the moving and shaking within college football over the past two years, now feels like the right time to update the list. Whereas in 2013 seven coaches held their school's all-time wins record, one (Larry Blakeney) has retired, another (Mike Riley) has taken another job, and four more have won their way on to the list.
A total of 36 coaches* made the list, and by the end of the 2015 season nearly one in five coaches could hold the gold or silver medal for all-time victories. In a time where there's never been more pressure and volatility, that's a testament to the talents of these coaches and their staffs - and to 12-game regular seasons with an ever-expanding bowl schedule.
(*We decided to include all of FBS this year, leading to admittedly wonky results like Larry Coker beating a council of ghosts to hold the UTSA wins mark and Charlie Partridge making the list with all of three career victories.)
THE RECORD HOLDERS
KANSAS STATE
1. Bill Snyder - 187 wins
2. Mike Ahearn - 39 wins
Want to see Snyder's impact on Kansas State's football history? There you have it. An eight-win season in 2015 will allow Snyder to quintuple the second-winningest coach in K-State history.
MISSOURI
1. Gary Pinkel - 113 wins
2. Don Faurot - 101 wins
NAVY
1. Ken Niumatalolo - 57 wins
2. George Welsh - 55 wins
NORTHWESTERN
1. Pat Fitzgerald - 60 wins
2. Lynn Waldorf - 49 wins
OKLAHOMA
1. Bob Stoops - 168 wins
2. Barry Switzer - 157 wins
OKLAHOMA STATE
1. Mike Gundy - 84 wins
2. Pat Jones - 62 wins
SOUTH CAROLINA
1. Steve Spurrier - 84 wins
2. Rex Enright - 64 wins
TCU
1. Gary Patterson - 132 wins
2. Dutch Meyer - 109 wins
UTSA
1. Larry Coker - 23 wins
VIRGINIA TECH
1. Frank Beamer - 231 wins
2. Bill Dooley - 64 wins
ON THE MEDAL STAND (OR CLOSE TO IT)
AIR FORCE
1. Fisher DeBerry - 169 wins
2. Ben Martin - 96 wins
3. Troy Calhoun - 59 wins
ALABAMA
1. Paul "Bear" Bryant - 232 wins
2. Frank Thomas - 115 wins
3. Nick Saban - 86 wins
Saban will never pass the Bear, but he's only three seasons away from surpassing Frank "Not The Big Hurt" Thomas for No. 2 at one of college football's most storied programs... and that's after going 9-2 in one season at Toledo, posting a top-10 season at Michigan State, winning a national title and LSU and depositing two seasons leading the Miami Dolphins.
BAYLOR
1. Grant Teaff - 128 wins
2. Morley Jennings - 83 wins
3. John D. Bridgers - 49 wins
4. Art Briles - 44 wins
BYU
1. LaVell Edwards - 257 wins
2. Bronco Mendenhall - 90 wins
Like Saban, Mendenhall will never own his school's all-time record, but he is putting some distance between himself and No. 3 G. Ott Romney, who happens to be a distant relative of one-time presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.
CENTRAL FLORIDA
1. Gene McDowell - 86 wins
2. George O'Leary - 81 wins
CLEMSON
1. Frank Howard - 165 wins
2. Danny Ford - 96 wins
3. Dabo Swinney - 61 wins
FLORIDA ATLANTIC
1. Howard Schnellenberger - 58 wins
2. Carl Pelini - 5 wins
3. Brian Wright - 4 wins
4. Charlie Partridge - 3 wins
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL
1. Mario Cristobal - 27 wins
2. Don Strock - 15 wins
3. Ron Turner - 5 wins
FLORIDA STATE
1. Bobby Bowden - 315 wins
2. Bill Peterson - 62 wins
3. Jimbo Fisher - 58 wins
Even keeping up his insane 11.6-win average for the next two decades, Fisher would still be 25 wins behind Bowden at age 69.
GEORGIA
1. Vince Dooley - 201 wins
2. Wallace Butts - 140 wins
3. Mark Richt - 136 wins
At his current 9.71 win pace, Richt will pass Dooley sometime in 2021.
IOWA
1. Hayden Fry* - 143 wins
2. Kirk Ferentz - 115 wins
LOUISIANA-MONROE
1. Charlie Weatherbie - 31 wins
2. Todd Berry - 27 wins
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE
1. Nelson Stokey - 143 wins
2. Rickey Bustle - 106 wins
3. Mark Hudspeth - 52 wins
LOUISVILLE
1. Frank Camp - 118 wins
2. Howard Schnellenberger - 54 wins
3. Bobby Petrino - 50 wins
LSU
1. Charles McClendon - 137 wins
2. Les Miles - 103 wins
Perhaps a national title, two SEC titles and the school's all-time wins record would get LSU fans off The Hat's back. Eh, probably not.
MARSHALL
1. Bob Pruett - 79 wins
2. Doc Holliday - 40 wins
MICHIGAN STATE
1. Duffy Daugherty - 109 wins
2. Mark Dantonio - 75 wins
MIDDLE TENNESSEE
1. Charles Murphy – 155 wins
2. Boots Donnelly – 140 wins
3. Rick Stockstill - 57 wins
MISSISSIPPI STATE
1. Jackie Sherrill - 75 wins
2. Allyn McKeen - 65 wins
3. Dan Mullen - 46 wins
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
1. Joe Novak - 63 wins
2. Jerry Pettibone - 33 wins
3. Bill Mallory - 25 wins
Jerry Ippoliti - 25 wins
5. Dave Doeren - 23 wins
Rod Carey - 23 wins
Tied for fifth right now, another MAC title could have Carey in second place by turn of the year. A few more years like that would hand him the record by the next Women's World Cup.
OHIO
1. Don Peden – 129 wins
2. Bill Hess – 108 wins
3. Frank Solich - 72 wins
RICE
1. Jess Neely - 144 wins
2. Ken Hatfield - 55 wins
3. David Bailiff - 48 wins
SAN DIEGO STATE
1. Claude Gilbert - 61 wins
2. Ted Tollner - 43 wins
3. Don Coryell - 36 wins
4. Rocky Long - 32 wins
SOUTH FLORIDA
1. Jim Leavitt - 75 wins
2. Skip Holtz - 16 wins
3. Willie Taggart - 6 wins
STANFORD
1. Pop Warner - 71 wins
2. John Ralston - 55 wins
3. Tyrone Willingham - 44 wins
4. David Shaw - 42 wins
UTAH
1. Ike Armstrong – 141 wins
2. Ron McBride – 88 wins
3. Kyle Whittingham - 85 wins