A Division II coach reached an incredibly rare milestone on Saturday

On Saturday, the University of Texas-Permian Basin's 11th-ranked football team scored a 37-15 win over Midwestern State that was far more than just a 22-point win over a Lone Star Conference rival. It was head coach Kris McCullough's 30th career victory, two weeks to the day before his 30th birthday.

According to UTPB, a Division II school in Odessa, Texas, McCullough is the fourth coach in college football history to win at least 30 games before his 30th birthday.

This, of course, begs not just one question, but two: who were the other three, and how does UTPB know only those three coaches beat McCullough to the 30-by-30 milestone?

Aware of McCullough's career record and his approaching 30th birthday, UTPB's communications staff looked into see if he was about to create the 30-30 club. This was more difficult than a simple Google search. After all, college football is an old game with a long, storied, and eclectic history. For decades, college football coaches were nothing more than glorified gym teachers (and still are, some might argue). It was a job for a 23-year-old recent grad to take before he figured out what he really wanted to do in his life; the money just wasn't there to turn it into a profession. Who's to say Slappy McGillicudy didn't rack up 35 wins in his 20s while coaching at some defunct university back in the 1880s?

To begin finding the answer, UTPB reached out to the AFCA, Wayne Cavadi -- the leading media expert on all things Division II -- and the NCAA. Only the NCAA had an answer, and even they weren't sure sure. As far as anyone knows, these were the first three members of the 30-30 club:

Pop Warner
Eddie Robinson
Chris Hatcher

Warner, born in 1871, was so successful in the game's early years that he became the namesake of an entire level of football. He won his 30th game as a 28-year-old at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, his third job.

Robinson retired in 1997 as college football's all-time winningest coach at 408, a record since surpassed by John Gagliardi and Joe Paterno. But no one is likely to break the record he and Warner share of 37 wins before their 30th birthday -- and Robinson's record is all the more impressive considering he missed the opportunity to coach two full seasons due to World War II.

Hatcher, now in his 11th season at Samford, won 36 games as a 27-, 28-, and 29-year old at Valdosta State from 2000-02. Hatcher won three conference titles in his 20s and a D2 national championship at age 31. Now 52, he's now on the hunt for win No. 200.

There was some question at UTPB as to whether current St. Thomas head coach Glenn Caruso, with 165 wins at age 51, was a potential fourth member of the 30-30 club ahead of McCullough. I reached out to Caruso, who responded with the most typical coach answer possible: "I haven't the slightest idea, to be honest with you."

After some thought (and since confirmed by research) Caruso could not possibly be in the 30-30 club because he didn't take his first coaching job until age 32. He is in the 150-under-50 club, though. The Greenville News published a list in 2019 that claimed only six coaches at the Division I-A/FBS level reached 150 wins before their 50th birthday. How many did so at the sub-FBS level is unknown. 

McCullough -- who went 9-3 in one season at East Central (OK) and is now 21-7 in his third year at UTPB -- has 20 years and two weeks to win another 120 games and join the 150-by-50 club. That climb begins Saturday at No. 6 Angelo State. 

"I want to say thank you to all of the players, coaches and admin that I've worked with here and at East Central University," McCullough said. "We are successful because of them. And my wife for being my rock even when we are working 16 hours a day, seven days a week."