List of Oklahoma Sooners head football coaches

The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma. The team has had 23 head coaches since organized football began in 1895. The Sooners have played in more than 1,200 games in its 121 seasons. In those seasons, nine coaches have led the Sooners to postseason bowl games: Thomas E. Stidham, Jim Tatum, Bud Wilkinson, Gomer Jones, Chuck Fairbanks, Barry Switzer, Gary Gibbs, Bob Stoops and Lincoln Riley. Nine coaches have won conference championships with the Sooners: Bennie Owen, Stidham, Dewey Luster, Tatum, Wilkinson, Fairbanks, Switzer, Stoops and Riley. 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 Riley 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.

A man jogs onto an American football field wearing a visor, polo and khaki pants, with several football players and fans in the background.
Bob Stoops, head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners from 1999 to 2016 and interim head coach in 2021.

Of the 23 Sooner coaches, Owen, Lawrence Jones, Tatum, Wilkinson, Switzer and Stoops 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 head coach is Brent Venables, who was hired on December 5, 2021, replacing Lincoln Riley after his departure to become the head coach at the University of Southern California (USC) in November 2021.[1][2]

Key

Overall games
GCGames coached
OWWins
OLLosses
OTTies[A 3]
O%Winning percentage[A 4]
Conference games
CWWins
CLLosses
CTTies
C%Winning percentage
Postseason games
PWWins
PLLosses
PTTies

Head coaches

Statistics correct as of the end of the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season
#PictureNameTermGCOWOLOTO%CWCLCTC%PWPLPTCCsNCsNational awards
1John A. Harts18951010.000
2Vernon Parrington1897–190012921.792
3Fred Roberts19015320.600
4Mark McMahon1902–1903211173.595
5Fred Ewing19048431.593
6Bennie Owen[6]1905–19261921225416.67728207.5733
7Adrian Lindsey1927–19314419196.50011122.480
8Lewie Hardage1932–19342711124.481861.567
9Biff Jones[7]1935–193618963.583442.500
10Thomas E. Stidham1937–1940382783.7501541.7750101
11Dewey Luster1941–19454827183.5941942.8002
12Jim Tatum[8]194611830.727410.8001001
13
Bud Wilkinson[9]1947–1963178145294.8269393.900620143 – 1950, 1955, 1956

AFCA Coach of the Year (1949)[10]
AP Coach of the Year (1950)[11]

14Gomer Jones1964–1965219111.452851.607010
15Jim Mackenzie196610640.600430.571
16Chuck Fairbanks1967–19726849181.7283480.8093113
17
Barry Switzer[12]1973–1988190157294.837100111.897850123 – 1974, 1975, 1985

Walter Camp Coach of the Year (1974)[13]

18Gary Gibbs1989–19946944232.65226142.643210
19Howard Schnellenberger199511551.500250.286
20John Blake1996–1998341222.353816.333
21
Bob Stoops[14]1999–201623819048.79812129.80799101 – 2000

AFCA Coach of the Year (2000)[10]Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (2000)[15]
Home Depot Coach of the Year Award (2000)[15]
AP Coach of the Year (2000)[15][16]
Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (2000)[15]
Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award (2003)[17][18]
Walter Camp Coach of the Year (2000, 2003)[13][15][19]

22
Lincoln Riley2017–2021655510.846377.841134

Broyles Award (2015)
Big 12 Coach of the Year (2018) AP Big 12 Coach of the Year (2018)

Bob Stoops (Interim)20211101.00000.000100
23Brent Venables2022–present2616100.6151080.556020

Notes

References

General
  • "Football Coaches". SoonerStats.com. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
  • "OU Football Tradition: Head Coaches". SoonerSports.com. 2009-09-19. Archived from the original on 2010-05-23. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
  • "Oklahoma Coaching Records". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on 2010-02-16. 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