List of Nebraska Cornhuskers head football coaches

The Nebraska Cornhuskers football program is a college football team that represents the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the West Division of the Big Ten Conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The team has had 31 head coaches since organized football began in 1890. The university adopted the nickname Cornhuskers in 1900. Prior to that, the team was also known as the Old Gold Knights, Antelopes, Rattlesnake Boys and Bugeaters.^[1][2] The Cornhuskers have played 1,219 games during their 120 seasons. In those seasons, seven coaches have led the Cornhuskers to postseason bowl games: Biff Jones, Bill Glassford, Bob Devaney, Tom Osborne, Frank Solich, Bill Callahan, and Bo Pelini. Twelve coaches have won conference championships with the Cornhuskers: Frank Crawford, Charles Thomas, Robbie Robinson, W. C. Cole, Ewald O. Stiehm, E. J. Stewart, Fred Dawson, Ernest Bearg, Dana X. Bible, Jones, Devaney, Osborne, and Frank Solich

Osborne is the all-time leader in games coached (307), years coached (25) and wins (255). Williams and Langdon Frothingham are tied with the highest winning percentage. Williams won his only game as head coach and Frothingham won his two games. Among coaches with at least a full season of coaching, Stiehm's winning percentage of .913 is the highest. Adolph J. Lewandowski and A. Edwin Branch each have a winning percentage of .250, the lowest of all Nebraska coaches. Of the 31 Cornhusker coaches, six have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame: Robinson, Fielding H. Yost, Bible, Jones, Devaney, and Osborne. Bo Pelini, hired in December 2007, was fired at the end of the 2014 regular season.^[3]

On December 4, 2014 Oregon State coach Mike Riley was announced as the next head coach of the Nebraska football program.

Key

General # A running total of the number of coaches CCs Conference championships[A 1] NCs National championships † Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame

Overall games GC Games coached OW Wins OL Losses OT Ties[A 2] O% Winning percentage[A 3]

Conference games CW Wins CL Losses CT Ties C% Winning percentage

Postseason games PW Wins PL Losses

Coaches

Statistics correct as of the end of week #1 of the 2013–14 college football season

#	Name	Term	GC	OW	OL	OT	O%	CW	CL	CT	C%	PW	PL	CCs	NCs	Awards
1	Frothingham, LangdonLangdon Frothingham	1890	2	2	0	0	1.000	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2	Lyman, T. U.T. U. Lyman	1891	2	1	1	0	.500	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3	Williams, J. S.J. S. Williams	1892	1	1	0	0	1.000	1	1	1	.500	—		—	—	—
4	Crawford, FrankFrank Crawford	1893–1894	15	10	4	1	.700	3	3	0	.500	—	—	1	—	—
5	Thomas, CharlesCharles Thomas	1895	9	6	3	0	.667	2	1	0	.667	—	—	1	—	—
6	Robinson, Eddie N.Eddie N. Robinson^†	1896–1897	16	11	4	1	.719	4	1	1	.750	—	—	1	—	—
7	Yost, Fielding H.Fielding H. Yost^†	1898	11	8	3	0	.727	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
8	Branch, Alonzo EdwinAlonzo Edwin Branch	1899	10	2	7	1	.250	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
9	Booth, Walter C.Walter C. Booth	1900–1905	63	53	8	2	.857	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
10	Foster, AmosAmos Foster	1906	10	6	4	0	.600	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
11	Cole, W. C.W. C. Cole	1907–1910	36	25	8	3	.736	5	2	1	.688	—	—	2	—	—
12	Stiehm, Ewald O.Ewald O. Stiehm	1911–1915	40	35	2	3	.913	14	0	1	.967	—	—	5	—	—
13	Stewart, E. J.E. J. Stewart	1916–1917	15	11	4	0	.733	5	1	0	.833	—	—	2	—	—
14	Kline, William G.William G. Kline	1918	6	2	3	1	.500	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
15	Schulte, HenryHenry Schulte	1919–1920	17	8	6	3	.559	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
16	Dawson, FredFred Dawson	1921–1924	32	23	7	2	.750	14	1	2	.882	—	—	3	—	—
17	Bearg, ErnestErnest Bearg	1925–1928	33	23	7	3	.742	16	4	1	.786	—	—	1	—	—
18	Bible, Dana X.Dana X. Bible^†	1929–1936	72	50	15	7	.743	33	3	4	.875	—	—	6	—	—
19	Jones, BiffBiff Jones^†	1937–1941	46	28	14	4	.652	17	6	2	.720	0	1	2	—	—
20	Presnell, GlennGlenn Presnell	1942	10	3	7	0	.300	3	2	0	.600	—	—	—	—	—
21	Lewandowski, Adolph J.Adolph J. Lewandowski	1943–1944	16	4	12	0	.250	4	6	0	.400	—	—	—	—	—
22	Clark, GeorgeGeorge Clark	1945, 1948	19	6	13	0	.316	4	7	0	.364	—	—	—	—	—
23	Masterson, BernardBernard Masterson	1946–1947	18	5	13	0	.278	5	5	0	.500	—	—	—	—	—
24	Glassford, BillBill Glassford	1949–1955	68	31	35	3	.471	23	18	1	.560	0	1	—	—	—
25	Elliott, PetePete Elliott	1956	10	4	6	0	.400	3	3	0	.500	—	—	—	—	—
26	Jennings, BillBill Jennings	1957–1961	50	15	34	1	.310	6	19	0	.240	—	—	—	—	—
27	Devaney, BobBob Devaney^†	1962–1972	123	101	20	2	.829	62	14	1	.812	6	3	8	2 – 1970, 1971	Walter Camp Coach of the Year (1971)[6] Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (1971)[7]
28	Osborne, TomTom Osborne^†	1973–1997	307	255	49	3	.836	153	22	1	.872	12	13	13	3 – 1994, 1995, 1997	Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award (1978)[8] AFCA Coach of the Year (1994)[9]
29	Solich, FrankFrank Solich	1998–2003	77	58	19	—	.753	33	15	—	.688	3	3	1	—	—
30	Callahan, BillBill Callahan	2004–2007	49	27	22	—	.551	15	17	—	.469	1	1	—	—	—
31	Pelini, BoBo Pelini[A 4]	2008–2014	93	66	27	—	.710	38	17	—	.691	4	3	—	—	—
32	Cotton, BarneyBarney Cotton[A 5]	2014	1	0	1	0	.000	0	0	0	.000	0	1	—	—	—
33	Riley, MikeMike Riley	2015-present	13	6	7	—	.462	3	5	—	.375	1	0	—	—	—

Notes

1. Nebraska was a member of the Western Interstate University Football Association from 1892 until 1897. They remained independent until joining the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1907. During World War I in 1918, the school left the conference, but rejoined in 1921. The conference was renamed the Big Six Conference in 1928, the Big Seven Conference in 1948, and the Big Eight Conference in 1960. The membership of the Big Eight Conference, along with four teams formerly of the Southwest Conference, were absorbed into the new Big 12 Conference in 1996. Following the 2010 season, the Cornhuskers joined the Big Ten Conference.
2. Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.^[4]
3. When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.^[5]
4. Pelini also served as an interim head coach in 2003 winning the Alamo Bowl, the final game of the season. This win is reflected in his statistics.
5. Cotton served as the interim head coach in 2014 for the Holiday Bowl, the final game of the season.

References

General

• "Nebraska Coaching Records". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
• "Year-by-Year Results (1890–2008)". Huskers.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-01-27. Retrieved 2010-01-27.

Specific

1. "Origin of the Cornhusker Nickname". Huskers.com. NU Media Relations. 2009-07-26.
2. Wojciechowski, Gene (2001-11-26). "Spurrier Misses the Point, Even If He Has One". ESPN the Magazine. Archived from the original on 2010-01-28.
3. Christopherson, Brian (2007-12-01). "Pelini returns to NU as head coach". Lincoln Journal Star. Archived from the original on 2010-01-28. Retrieved 2010-01-28.
4. Whiteside, Kelly (2006-08-25). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2009-11-24. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
5. Finder, Chuck (1987-09-06). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2009-10-22. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
6. "Walter Camp Football Foundation Awards". Walter Camp Football Foundation, Inc. Archived from the original on 2010-02-04. Retrieved 2010-02-03.
7. "Football Writers Name Devaney Coach Of Year". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. 1972-01-05. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
8. "Past Winners". Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year Award. Archived from the original on 2009-12-09. Retrieved 2010-02-03.
9. "AFCA Coach of the Year Award - Past Winners". American Football Coaches Association. 2008-01-15. Retrieved 2010-02-03.