List of Oklahoma Sooners head football coaches

Bob Stoops, current head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners

The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma. The team has had 21 head coaches since organized football began in 1895. The Sooners have played in more than 1,200 games in its 120 seasons. In those seasons, eight coaches have led the Sooners to postseason bowl games: Tom Stidham, Jim Tatum, Bud Wilkinson, Gomer Jones, Chuck Fairbanks, Barry Switzer, Gary Gibbs, and Bob Stoops. Eight coaches have won conference championships with the Sooners: Bennie Owen, Stidham, Dewey Luster, Tatum, Wilkinson, Fairbanks, Switzer, and Stoops. Wilkinson, Switzer and Stoops have also won national championships with the Sooners. Stoops is the all-time leader in games coached and won, Owen is the all-time leader in years coached, while Switzer is the all-time leader in winning percentage. John Harts is, in terms of winning percentage, the worst coach the Sooners have had as he lost the only game he coached. John Blake has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game with .353 in his 34 games.

Of the 21 Sooner coaches, Owen, Lawrence Jones, Tatum, Wilkinson, and Switzer have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Wilkinson, Switzer, and Stoops have each received National Coach of the Year honors from at least one organization. The current coach is Bob Stoops, who was hired in December 1998.^[1]

Key

General # Number of coaches[A 1] CCs Conference championships[A 2] NCs National championships † Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame

Overall games GC Games coached OW Wins OL Losses OT Ties[A 3] O% Winning percentage[A 4]

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

Postseason games PW Wins PL Losses PT Ties

Coaches

Statistics correct as of the end of the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season

#	Name	Term	GC	OW	OL	OT	O%	CW	CL	CT	C%	PW	PL	PT	CCs	NCs	National awards
1	Harts, John A.John A. Harts	1895	1	0	1	0	.000	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2	Parrington, VernonVernon Parrington	1897–1900	12	9	2	1	.792	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3	Roberts, FredFred Roberts	1901	5	3	2	0	.600	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4	McMahon, MarkMark McMahon	1902–1903	21	11	7	3	.595	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
5	Ewing, FredFred Ewing	1904	8	4	3	1	.593	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
6	Owen, BennieBennie Owen[5]†	1905–1926	192	122	54	16	.677	28	20	7	.573	—	—	—	3	—	—
7	Lindsey, AdrianAdrian Lindsey	1927–1931	44	19	19	6	.500	11	12	2	.480	—	—	—	—	—	—
8	Hardage, LewieLewie Hardage	1932–1934	27	11	12	4	.481	8	6	1	.567	—	—	—	—	—	—
9	Jones, BiffBiff Jones[6]†	1935–1936	18	9	6	3	.583	4	4	2	.500	—	—	—	—	—	—
10	Stidham, TomTom Stidham	1937–1940	38	27	8	3	.750	15	4	1	.775	0	1	0	1	—	—
11	Luster, DeweyDewey Luster	1941–1945	48	27	18	3	.594	19	4	2	.800	—	—	—	2	—	—
12	Tatum, JimJim Tatum[7]†	1946	11	8	3	0	.727	4	1	0	.800	1	0	0	1	—	—
13	Wilkinson, BudBud Wilkinson[8]†	1947–1963	178	145	29	4	.826	93	9	3	.900	6	2	0	14	3 – 1950, 1955, 1956	AFCA Coach of the Year (1949)[9] AP Coach of the Year (1950)[10]
14	Jones, GomerGomer Jones	1964–1965	21	9	11	1	.452	8	5	1	.607	0	1	0	—	—	—
15	Mackenzie, JimJim Mackenzie	1966	10	6	4	0	.600	4	3	0	.571	—	—	—	—	—	—
16	Fairbanks, ChuckChuck Fairbanks	1967–1972	68	49	18	1	.728	34	8	0	.809	3	1	1	3	—	—
17	Switzer, BarryBarry Switzer[11]†	1973–1988	190	157	29	4	.837	100	11	1	.897	8	5	0	12	3 – 1974, 1975, 1985	Walter Camp Coach of the Year (1974)[12]
18	Gibbs, GaryGary Gibbs	1989–1994	69	44	23	2	.652	26	14	2	.643	2	1	0	—	—	—
19	Schnellenberger, HowardHoward Schnellenberger	1995	11	5	5	1	.500	2	5	0	.286	—	—	—	—	—	—
20	Blake, JohnJohn Blake	1996–1998	34	12	22	—	.353	8	16	—	.333	—	—	—	—	—	—
21	Stoops, BobBob Stoops	1999–present	212	168	44	—	.792	104	28	—	.788	8	8	—	8	1 – 2000	Walter Camp Coach of the Year (2000, 2003)[12][13][14] Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (2000)[13] Home Depot Coach of the Year Award (2000)[13] AP Coach of the Year (2000)[13][15] Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (2000)[13] Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award (2003)[16][17] AFCA Coach of the Year (2000)[9]

Notes

1. A running total of the number of coaches of the Sooners. Thus, any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is counted only once.
2. Oklahoma did not join a conference until 1915.^[2]
3. Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.^[3]
4. When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.^[4]

References

General

• "Football Coaches". SoonerStats.com. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
• "OU Football Tradition: Head Coaches". SoonerSports.com. 2009-09-19. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
• "Oklahoma Coaching Records". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
• Dozier, Ray (2006). The Oklahoma Football Encyclopedia. Champaign, Illinois: Sports Publishing L.L.C. ISBN 1-58261-699-X. Retrieved 2010-05-04.

Specific

1. Canfield, Owen (1998-12-02). "Stoops Signs 5-Year Deal With Sooners". The Ledger (Lakeland, Florida). The Associated Press. p. C1. Retrieved 2009-09-28.
2. "2009 OU Football Guide". University of Oklahoma Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
3. Whiteside, Kelly (2006-08-25). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2009-11-24. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
4. 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.
5. "Hall of Famers: Bennie Owen". National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2009-09-28.
6. "Hall of Famers: Lawrence "Biff" Jones". National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2009-09-28.
7. "Hall of Famers: Jim "Big Jim" Tatum". National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2009-09-28.
8. "Hall of Famers: Bud Wilkinson". National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2009-09-28.
9. "AFCA Coach of the Year Award - Past Winners". American Football Coaches Association. 2008-01-15. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
10. Carter, Bob (2006-10-18). "Oklahoma makes turtle soup". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 2009-09-27. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
11. "Hall of Famers: Barry Switzer". National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2009-09-28.
12. "Walter Camp Football Foundation Awards". Walter Camp Football Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
13. "Bob Stoops". SoonerSports.com. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
14. "Stoops Named Walter Camp's 2003 Coach Of The Year". SoonerSports.com. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
15. "Stoops Named AP National Coach Of The Year". SoonerSports.com. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
16. "Stoops Presented With Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year Award". SoonerSports.com. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
17. "Past Winners". Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year Award. Archived from the original on 2009-12-09. Retrieved 2009-09-26.