List of Akron Zips head football coaches

John Heisman, namesake of the Heisman Trophy award, led Buchtel College to a 6–2 record in 1893–94.

The University of Akron Zips football program is a college football team that represents the University of Akron. The team has had 26 head coaches since organized football began in 1895. It was also in 1895 that they adopted the nickname Zips.^{[note 1]} The Zips have played in nearly 1,000 games during its 109 seasons. In those seasons, only J.D. Brookhart has led the Zips to a postseason bowl game: the 2005 Motor City Bowl. Brookhart is also the only coach to win a conference championship with the Zips, he won the Mid-American Conference in 2005. Jim Dennison is the all-time leader in games coached and years coached, while John Heisman is the all-time leader in wins and winning percentage. Alfred W. Place and Harry Wilson are, in terms of winning percentage, the worst coaches the Zips have had.

Key

General # Number of coaches[note 2] CCs Conference championships[note 3] NCs National Championships † Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame

Overall GC Games coached OW Wins OL Losses OT Ties[note 4] O% Winning percentage[note 5]

Conference CW Wins CL Losses CT Ties C% Winning percentage

Post-season PW Wins PL Losses PT Ties P% Winning percentage

Coaches

List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards^{[A 1]}

#	Name	Term	GC	OW	OL	OT	O%	CW	CL	CT	C%	PW	PL	PT	CCs	NCs	National awards
0—	No coach	1891–1900	16	6	9	1	.406	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1	Cook, FrankFrank Cook	1892	7	3	4	0	.429	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2	Heisman, JohnJohn Heisman[ref 1]†	1893–1894	8	6	2	0	.750	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3	Wilson, HarryHarry Wilson	1896	1	0	1	0	.000	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4	Eves, ArchieArchie Eves	1899	3	2	1	0	.667	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
5	Firestone, ForestForest Firestone	1902	7	2	5	0	.286	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
6	Place, Alfred W.Alfred W. Place	1903	2	0	2	0	.000	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
7	Bradley, DwightDwight Bradley	1908	7	3	4	0	.429	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
8	Weed, ClarenceClarence Weed	1909	8	3	4	1	.438	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
9	Haggerty, FrankFrank Haggerty	1910–1914	41	22	16	3	.573	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
10	Sefton, FredFred Sefton	1915–1923	71	34	33	4	.507	25	27	3	.482	—	—	—	0	—
11	Coleman, James W.James W. Coleman	1924–1925	16	6	10	0	.375	4	8	0	.333	—	—	—	0	—
12	Babcock, GeorgeGeorge Babcock	1926	9	5	2	2	.667	4	2	2	.625	—	—	—	0	—
13	Blair, RedRed Blair	1927–1935	78	43	30	5	.583	34	28	4	.545	—	—	—	0	—
14	Aiken, JimJim Aiken	1936–1938	27	19	7	1	.722	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
15	Dowler, ThomasThomas Dowler	1939–1940	18	7	9	2	.444	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
16	Douglas, OtisOtis Douglas	1941–1942	18	5	10	3	.361	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
17	Baldacci, PaulPaul Baldacci	1946–1947	17	7	10	0	.412	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
18	Houghton, WilliamWilliam Houghton	1948–1951	35	7	27	1	.214	3	13	1	.206	—	—	—	0	—
19	Cochrane, KennethKenneth Cochrane	1952–1953	18	8	9	1	.472	6	4	1	.591	—	—	—	0	—
20	McMullen, JoeJoe McMullen	1954–1960	61	30	28	3	.516	28	23	2	.547	—	—	—	0	—
21	Larson, Gordon K.Gordon K. Larson	1961–1972	112	74	33	5	.683	26	8	0	.765	—	—	—	0	—
22	Dennison, JimJim Dennison	1973–1985	144	80	62	2	.563	30	22	1	.575	2	1	0	0	—
23	Faust, GerryGerry Faust	1986–1994	99	43	53	3	.449	14	18	0	.438	—	—	—	0	—
24	Owens, LeeLee Owens	1995–2003	101	40	61	0	.396	31	39	0	.443	—	—	—	0	—
25	Brookhart, J. D.J. D. Brookhart	2004–2009	72	30	42	0	.417	22	26	0	.458	0	1	0	1	—
26	Ianello, RobRob Ianello	2010–2011	24	2	22	0	.083	1	15	0	.063	0	0	0	0	—
27	Bowden, TerryTerry Bowden	2012–	36	11	25	0	.306	7	17	0	.292	0	0	0	0	—

Notes

1. The Zips did not field a team in the following seasons: 1897–1898, 1901, 1904–1907, 1943–1945.
2. A running total of the number of coaches of the Zips. Thus, any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is counted only once.
3. Akron competed as an independent team in the following seasons: 1891–1896, 1899–1914, 1937–1942, and 1966–1977
4. Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.
5. When computing the win-loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.

References

1. "John Heisman". College Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2010-04-09.

1. Statistics correct as of the end of the 2012 college football season.