As the Official Website of Record for College Football Coaching History (trademark pending), we did a piece awhile ago tracking which coaches are their respective schools' all-time wins leaders, and which ones were close. That was a while ago, so it's time for a fresh look.
We count 11 coaches who are the gold medalists at their institutions, six more who hold the silver medal, and another six on the medal stand.
RECORD HOLDERS
Clemson
1. Dabo Swinney -- 181
2. Frank Howard* -- 165
Howard needed 295 games to establish his record; Swinney broke it in 209.
Iowa
1. Kirk Ferentz -- 205
2. Hayden Fry* -- 143
The last Iowa football game not coached by Hayden Fry or Kirk Ferentz came on Nov. 24, 1978. The Hawkeyes lost that day, 42-7 to Michigan State, wrapping up a 2-9 season and an 18-37, 5-year run under Bob Commings. Those '78 Hawkeyes also lost by multiple scores to Iowa State, Arizona, Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan and Indiana. But they did beat Wisconsin.
Iowa State
1. Matt Campbell -- 67
2. Dan McCarney -- 56
Campbell's winning percentage is .568; McCarney's was .397. Other than Campbell, the only post-World War II ISU coach to leave the Ames with a winning record was College Football Hall of Famer Earle Bruce, who accomplished the Herculean task of going 36-32 from 1973-78. Bruce peaked with a tie for second in the Big 8 and went 18-24 in conference play, and Ohio State was so impressed by that they hired him to replace Woody Hayes, where his 81-26-1 record was enough to get him in the Hall. That's right, folks: Going above .500 at Iowa State should be enough to get a coach in the Hall of Fame.
Kentucky
1. Mark Stoops -- 78
2. Bear Bryant* -- 60
The Bear established his record over 88 games. Saturday will be Game No. 153 for Stoops. That's right, folks: Mark Stoops is not quite as good a coach as Paul "Bear" Bryant.
Miami (Ohio)
1. Chuck Martin -- 65
2. Randy Walker -- 58
Ara Parseghian, Bo Schembechler, and Woody Hayes all went on to Hall of Fame careers at Notre Dame, Michigan and Ohio State after learning the trade at Miami (Ohio), but Martin -- 74-7 with a D2 national title at Grand Valley State -- has built his Hall of Fame case in Oxford.
NC State
1. Dave Doeren -- 89
2. Earle Edwards -- 77
In perhaps the perfect encapsulation of NC State football, Edwards established his record over 17 seasons and 173 games. That means he left as NC State's winningest coach with a .468 winning percentage. Doeren is at .578 over 154 games.
Oklahoma State
1. Mike Gundy -- 170
2. Pat Jones -- 62
The only Oklahoma State coach besides Mike Gundy to win more than 60 percent of their games are Pappy Waldorf and Paul Davis. Davis coached only the 1914 season, and Waldorf went 34-10-7 from 1929-33.
Rutgers
1. Greg Schiano -- 96
2. Frank Burns -- 78
Believe it or not, Rutgers has six all-time coaches who spent at least four seasons with the program and won over half their games, and Schiano isn't one of them. Still, his 7-year run from 2005-11 changed the trajectory of the university, and his 4-5 B1G mark last season is a high-water mark of the Scarlet Knights' 11-year run in the league thus far.
Toledo
1. Jason Candle -- 74
2. Gary Pinkel* -- 73
With two conference championships and a .643 winning percentage, it's time to consider the possibility of Jason Candle one day becoming a College Football Hall of Famer.
Utah
1. Kyle Whittingham -- 169
2. Ike Armstrong* -- 141
Where would the University of Utah be today if Kyle Whittingham hadn't come aboard in 1994? In Utah, sure, but would the Utes have sustained the success of Ron McBride and built upon the flash-in-the-pan dominance in Urban Meyer's two seasons? Do the Utes ever get into the Pac-12, or are they still in the Mountain West with Nevada, Wyoming and Colorado State, looking up at BYU? Either way, former BYU Cougar Kyle Whittingham is one of the most important figures in the University of Utah's history, and is a shoe-in College Football Hall of Famer.
UTSA
1. Jeff Traylor -- 46
2. Larry Coker -- 22
The playing facility at Gilmer (Texas) High School is named Jeff Traylor Stadium. At 57, Traylor can set the UTSA wins record out of reach to the point where, if the school ever builds its own on-campus stadium, it would also be named Jeff Traylor Stadium.
SILVER MEDALISTS
Air Force
1. Fisher DeBerry* -- 169
2. Troy Calhoun -- 136
As I've always said, Air Force is the Iowa of the Mountain West. DeBerry coached Air Force from 1984-2006, and Calhoun replaced DeBerry in 2007. That's 42 seasons and counting under two head coaches.
Army
1. Red Blaik* -- 121
2. Jeff Monken -- 83
The four coaches Army hired in the 2000s before Monken combined to win 35 games from 2000-13.
Eastern Michigan
1. Elton Rynearson -- 114
2. Chris Creighton -- 57
Kansas State
1. Bill Snyder* -- 215
2. Chris Klieman -- 49
The most successful K-State head coach pre-Bill Snyder was a man by the name of Mike Ahearn, who went 39-12 from 1905-10. I think they had settled on 11 men on the field at one time by then, but it's hard to be sure.
Pitt
1. Jock Sutherland* -- 111
2. Pat Narduzzi -- 74
West Virginia
1. Don Nehlen* -- 149
2. Rich Rodriguez, Dana Holgorsen -- 61
Rich Rod can pass Holgo with a win over Pitt on Saturday. Nehlen won 202 games between WVU and Bowling Green; Rodriguez is at 191 wins spread across seven tenures at six universities.
ON THE MEDAL STAND
BYU
1. LaVell Edwards* -- 257
2. Bronco Mendenhall -- 99
3. Kalani Sitake -- 74
Memphis
1. Billy Murphy -- 81
2. Tommy West -- 49
3. Ryan Silverfield -- 44
Northern Illinois
1. Joe Novak -- 63
2. Rod Carey -- 52
3. Jerry Pettibone, Thomas Hammock -- 33
Hammock can move into sole possession of third place at Mississippi State on Sept. 20.
Old Dominion
1. Tommy Scott -- 41
2. Bobby Wilder -- 31
3. Ricky Rahne -- 21
Ole Miss
1. Johnny Vaught* -- 190
2. Billy Brewer -- 66
3. Lane Kiffin -- 46
At his current pace, Kiffin would need to coach 14-15 more seasons at Ole Miss to pass Johnny Vaught. What kind of odds you think FanDuel would give us on that happening?
Penn State
1. Joe Paterno* -- 409
2. Rip Engle* -- 104
3. James Franklin -- 103
At his current rate of 9.9 wins per season (2020 excluded), Franklin simply needs to coach 30 more seasons -- past his 83rd birthday -- to pass Paterno.
* - College Football Hall of Famer