List Of Nebraska Cornhuskers Head Football Coaches
Six past Nebraska head coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame: Eddie N. Robinson, Fielding H. Yost, Dana X. Bible, Biff Jones, Bob Devaney, and Tom Osborne. Osborne is the program's all-time leader in most major categories; his .836 career winning percentage is fourth-highest in major college football history. Thirteen Nebraska coaches have won a conference championship at the school, and Devaney and Osborne combined to win five national titles.
The program's first extended period of success came under the leadership of W.C. Cole and Ewald O. Stiehm. Between 1900 and 1916, Nebraska had five undefeated seasons and completed a stretch of thirty-four consecutive games without a loss, still a program record. Despite a span of twenty-one conference championships in thirty-three seasons, the Cornhuskers did not experience major national success until Devaney was hired in 1962. In eleven seasons as head coach, Devaney won two national championships, eight conference titles, and coached twenty-two All-Americans, but perhaps his most lasting achievement was the hiring of Osborne as offensive coordinator in 1969. Osborne was named Devaney's successor in 1973, and over the next twenty-five years established himself as one of the best coaches in college football history with his trademark I-form offense and revolutionary strength, conditioning, and nutrition programs. Following Osborne's retirement in 1997, Nebraska cycled through five head coaches before hiring Matt Rhule in 2022.
Coaching history
| College Football Hall of Fame inductee |
| No. | Coach | 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) | Big Six champion (1928) |
| 15 | Dana X. Bible | 1929–1936 | 50–15–7 (.743) | 33–3–4 (.875) | Big Six champion (1929, 1931–1933, 1935, 1936) |
| 16 | Biff Jones | 1937–1941 | 28–14–4 (.652) | 17–6–2 (.720) | Big Six 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 | 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 (1971) Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (1971) |
| 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) |
| 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 | 2003, 2008–2014 | 67–27 (.713) | 38–17 (.691) | |
| Barney Cotton | 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 | 2022 | 3–6 (.333) | 3–5 (.375) | ||
| 31 | Matt Rhule | 2023–present | 11–13 (.458) | 6–12 (.333) |
Interim head coach
Claimed national titles in bold
Notes
- ^ Nebraska's earliest coaching history is unclear. Many were nominal in their roles and likely only coached single games, if any. Nebraska played with no official coach until Frank Crawford was hired in 1893
- ^ Osborne, then interim athletic director, appointed himself interim head coach following the firing of Bill Callahan in 2007. This was only for recruiting purposes, and Osborne did not coach any games
- ^ Pelini served as interim head coach for the 2003 Alamo Bowl
- ^ Cotton served as interim head coach for the 2014 Holiday Bowl
- ^ Trent Bray briefly served as interim head coach after Riley was fired in 2017, but did not coach any games
- ^ Joseph served as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2022 season
References
- ^ "Matt Rhule to Lead Nebraska Football Program". Archived from the original on November 26, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
- ^ "NCAA Coaching Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2008. pp. 189, 192. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
- ^ "Nebraska Football Schedules 1910–1919". HuskerMax. Archived from the original on June 3, 2012. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
- ^ "Tom's Time: Devaney Selects His Successor". HuskerMax. October 3, 2017. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ "The 150 greatest coaches in college football's 150-year history". December 10, 2019. Archived from the original on December 16, 2019. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
- ^ "The Greatest Coaches in College Football History". Archived from the original on June 4, 2020. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
- ^ "Epley leaving Huskers". Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ "Husker Football History: Over a Century of Winning Tradition" (PDF). Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "The Walter Camp Coach of the Year". Archived from the original on July 31, 2020. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
- ^ "ALL-TIME EDDIE ROBINSON AWARD WINNERS". Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
- ^ "Recruiting Tool: Osborne Names Himself Interim Coach". Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 1, 2018. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
- ^ "Previous Winners". Retrieved May 31, 2020.
- ^ "Awards". Archived from the original on May 29, 2020. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
- ^ "Nebraska updates coaching web site with Trent Bray as interim head coach, no other assistants listed". Omaha World Herald. Archived from the original on January 8, 2018. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
- General
- "Nebraska Coaching Records". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on February 16, 2010. Retrieved November 24, 2009.
- "Year-by-Year Results (1890–2008)" (PDF). Huskers.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 7, 2009. Retrieved January 27, 2010.