List of Arizona Wildcats head football coaches
The Arizona Wildcats football program is a college football team representing the University of Arizona that is a member of the Big 12 Conference. The team has had 31 head coaches and two interim head coaches since its founding in 1899. The Wildcats have played in more than 1,100 games in 113 seasons. Arizona's most recent head coach is Brent Brennan, who became the 31st head coach in 2024.[1]
Nine coaches have led Arizona in postseason bowl games: Pop McKale, Mike Casteel, Darrell Mudra, Tony Mason, Larry Smith, Dick Tomey, Mike Stoops, Rich Rodriguez and Jedd Fisch. Four of those coaches also won conference championships: Tex Oliver captured two and Casteel one as a member of the Border Conference; and LaRue and Young captured one as a member of the Western Athletic Conference.
McKale is the leader in seasons coached with sixteen. Tomey is the leader in games won with 90. Leslie Gillett is the leader in winning percentage with a perfect 1.00. Mike Hankwitz has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with 0.143. Of the 14 different head coaches who have led the Wildcats, Mudra has been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Key
| General | Overall | Conference | Postseason[A 1] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Order of coaches[A 2] | GC | Games coached | CW | Conference wins | PW | Postseason wins |
| DC | Division championships | OW | Overall wins | CL | Conference losses | PL | Postseason losses |
| CC | Conference championships | OL | Overall losses | CT | Conference ties | PT | Postseason ties |
| NC | National championships | OT | Overall ties[A 3] | C% | Conference winning percentage | ||
| † | Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame | O% | Overall winning percentage[A 4] | ||||
Coaches
| No. | Name | Season(s) [A 6] |
GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | CC | NC | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stuart Forbes | 1899 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | William W. Skinner | 1900–1901 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0.778 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | Leslie Gillett | 1902 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | Orin A. Kates | 1903–1904 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0.750 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | William M. Ruthrauff | 1905 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0.714 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 6 | H. B. Galbraith | 1908–1909 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0.889 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 7 | Frank Shipp | 1910–1911 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0.850 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 8 | Raymond L. Quigley | 1912 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0.667 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 9 | Frank A. King | 1913 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.500 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 10 | Pop McKale | 1914–1930 | 118 | 80 | 32 | 6 | 0.703 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 11 | Fred Enke | 1931 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0.389 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 12 | August W. Farwick | 1932 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0.444 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0.600 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 13 | Tex Oliver | 1933–1937 | 47 | 32 | 11 | 4 | 0.723 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 0.762 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — |
| 14 | Orian Landreth | 1938 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0.333 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 15 | Mike Casteel | 1939–1948 | 75 | 46 | 26 | 3 | 0.633 | 21 | 11 | 1 | 0.652 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | — | — |
| 16 | Bob Winslow | 1949–1951 | 31 | 12 | 18 | 1 | 0.403 | 8 | 11 | 0 | 0.421 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 17 | Warren B. Woodson | 1952–1956 | 50 | 26 | 22 | 2 | 0.540 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 0.523 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 18 | Ed Doherty | 1957–1958 | 20 | 4 | 15 | 1 | 0.225 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0.286 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 19 | Jim LaRue | 1959–1966 | 80 | 41 | 37 | 2 | 0.525 | 14 | 13 | 0 | 0.519 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — | — |
| 20 | Darrell Mudra† | 1967–1968 | 21 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 0.548 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0.545 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 21 | Bob Weber | 1969–1972 | 42 | 16 | 26 | 0 | 0.381 | 12 | 13 | 0 | 0.480 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 22 | Jim Young | 1973–1976 | 44 | 31 | 13 | 0 | 0.705 | 20 | 8 | 0 | 0.714 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — | — |
| 23 | Tony Mason | 1977–1979 | 35 | 16 | 18 | 1 | 0.471 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 0.476 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 24 | Larry Smith | 1980–1986 | 79 | 48 | 28 | 3 | 0.627 | 30 | 21 | 2 | 0.585 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — |
| 25 | Dick Tomey | 1987–2000 | 163 | 95 | 64 | 4 | 0.595 | 60 | 49 | 4 | 0.549 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 26 | John Mackovic | 2001–2003 | 28 | 10 | 18 | — | 0.357 | 3 | 14 | — | 0.176 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Int. | Mike Hankwitz | 2003 | 7 | 1 | 6 | — | 0.143 | 1 | 6 | — | 0.143 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| 27 | Mike Stoops | 2004–2011 | 91 | 41 | 50 | — | 0.451 | 27 | 38 | — | 0.415 | 1 | 2 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Int. | Tim Kish | 2011 | 6 | 3 | 3 | — | 0.500 | 2 | 3 | — | 0.400 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| 28 | Rich Rodriguez | 2012–2017 | 78 | 43 | 35 | — | 0.551 | 24 | 30 | — | 0.444 | 3 | 2 | — | 0 | — | — |
| 29 | Kevin Sumlin | 2018–2020 | 29 | 9 | 20 | — | 0.310 | 6 | 17 | — | 0.261 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| 30 | Jedd Fisch | 2021–2023 | 24 | 16 | 21 | — | 0.432 | 11 | 16 | — | 0.407 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| 31 | Brent Brennan | 2024–present | 12 | 4 | 8 | — | 0.333 | 2 | 7 | — | 0.222 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
Statistical leaders
- Updated as of January 2024
|
Most overall wins
Most Pac-12 wins
Highest overall winning percentage (min. 20 games)
Highest Pac-12 winning percentage (min. 20 games)
|
Lowest overall winning percentage (min. 20 games)
Lowest Pac-12 winning percentage (min. 20 games)
Pac-12 championships
National championships
|
Notes
- ^ Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played.[2]
- ^ A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.
- ^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.[3]
- ^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[4]
- ^ Statistics correct as of the end of the 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season.
- ^ Arizona did not field teams in 1906, 1907, 1918, 1943, and 1944.
References
- General
- "Arizona Coaching Records". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on April 20, 2015. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
- Pacific Coast Conference Records Book 1916–1948. Los Angeles, CA: Pacific Coast Conference. 1949.
- ^ "Arizona hires San Jose State's Brent Brennan as head football coach".
- ^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
- ^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
- ^ Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2009.