List of Oklahoma State Cowboys head football coaches

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A man wearing sunglasses and a gray suit with a patterned red tie looking over his right shoulder
Current head coach Mike Gundy

The Oklahoma State Cowboys football program is a college football team that represents Oklahoma State University–Stillwater as part of the Big 12 Conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The team has had 22 head coaches since organized football began in 1901[1] with the nickname Aggies. The team played without a head coach until 1906. The university, then known as Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College, was renamed Oklahoma State University in 1957 and its nickname was changed to Cowboys.[2][3] Oklahoma State was an original member of the Southwest Conference, joining in 1915. They later joined the Missouri Valley Conference in 1925 and the Big Eight Conference in 1960. The Cowboys became a charter member of the Big 12 in 1996.[4] The Cowboys have played in more than 1,000 games during their 108 seasons. In those seasons, eight coaches have led the Cowboys to postseason bowl games: Jim Lookabaugh, Cliff Speegle, Jim Stanley, Jimmy Johnson, Pat Jones, Bob Simmons, Les Miles and Mike Gundy. Six coaches have won conference championships with the Cowboys: John Maulbetsch, Lynn Waldorf, Lookabaugh, Jennings B. Whitworth, Stanley, and Gundy.

Gundy is the all-time leader in games coached (138), wins (94) and years coached (14), while Waldorf is the all-time leader in winning percentage (.735). Theodore Cox finished his career with a .250 winning percentage, the worst in team history. Of the 22 Cowboy coaches, Waldorf and Johnson have been inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame. Three coaches are also graduates of the university: Lookabaugh, Floyd Gass, and Gundy.[5] The first coach was F. A. McCoy, who serviced only one season, in 1905. The current coach, Mike Gundy, was hired in January 2005.[6]

A man wearing a white collared shirt with sunglasses around his neck. His head is cocked to his left looking to his right.
Les Miles, head coach of the Cowboys from 2001 to 2004

Coaches[edit]

Updated through 2023 season
# Name Term GC OW OL OT O% CW CL CT C% PW PL PT CCs Awards
1 F. A. McCoy 1905 7 1 4 2 .286
2 Boyd Hill 1906–1907 15 2 9 4 .267
3 Ed Parry 1908 8 4 4 0 .500
4 Paul J. Davis 1909–1914 45 28 16 1 .633
5 John G. Griffith 1915–1916 18 8 9 1 .472 0 6 0 .000
6 Earl A. Pritchard 1917–1918 15 8 7 0 .533 1 4 0 0.200
7 Jim Pixlee 1919–1920 16 3 10 3 .281 0 5 0 .000
8 John Maulbetsch 1921–1928 70 27 37 6 .429 10 13 3 0.442 1
9 Pappy Waldorf 1929–1933 51 34 10 7 .735 9 1 0 0.900 3
10 Albert Exendine 1934–1935 20 7 12 1 .375 1 4 0 0.200
11 Ted Cox 1936–1938 30 7 23 0 .233 3 8 0 0.273
12 Jim Lookabaugh 1939–1949 105 58 41 6 .581 19 10 1 0.650 2 1 0 3
13 Jennings B. Whitworth 1950–1954 51 22 27 2 .451 11 9 1 0.548 1
14 Cliff Speegle 1955–1962 81 36 42 3 .463 9 19 1 0.328 1 0 0
15 Phil Cutchin 1963–1968 59 19 38 2 .339 14 26 1 0.354
16 Floyd Gass 1969–1971 32 13 18 1 .422 7 14 0 0.333 1969 Big 8 Coach of the Year
17 Dave Smith 1972 11 7 4 0 .636 4 3 0 0.571
18 Jim Stanley 1973–1978 68 35 31 2 .529 19 21 2 0.476 1 1 0 1
19 Jimmy Johnson 1979–1983 57 29 25 3 .535 18 15 2 0.543 1 1 0
20 Pat Jones 1984–1994 125 62 60 3 .508 30 44 3 0.409 3 1 0
21 Bob Simmons 1995–2000 68 30 38 0 .441 16 31 0 0.340 0 1 0 Big 12 Coach of the Year (1997)[7]
22 Les Miles 2001–2004 49 28 21 .571 16 16 0.500 1 2
23 Mike Gundy 2005–present 245 166 77 .678 102 63 0.618 12 6 1 2010 Big 12 Coach of the Year
2011 Paul (Bear) Bryant Award
2011 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year

Key[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ A running total of the number of coaches of the Cowboys
  2. ^ Oklahoma State did not join a conference until 1915.[8]
  3. ^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.[9]
  4. ^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[10]

References[edit]

General
  • "2021 Oklahoma State Football Media Guide" (PDF). Oklahoma State University Athletics. 2021. p. 206. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  • "Oklahoma State Coaching Records". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on February 16, 2010. Retrieved November 24, 2009.
Specific
  1. ^ Rhoden, William (August 6, 1989). "Fatal attraction: Oklahoma and football". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved January 18, 2010.
  2. ^ "OSU History". Oklahoma State University–Stillwater. June 14, 2006. Archived from the original on May 27, 2010. Retrieved December 10, 2009.
  3. ^ "Battle of backcourts in East Rutherford". NBC Sports. The Associated Press. March 27, 2004. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012. Retrieved December 10, 2009.
  4. ^ "Oklahoma State Cowboys". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on January 3, 2010. Retrieved December 18, 2009.
  5. ^ "Mike Gundy – Profile". OKState.com. Archived from the original on January 6, 2010. Retrieved January 19, 2009. Gundy is just the third Oklahoma State graduate to assume the head coaching duties in Stillwater. Jim Lookabaugh (1939–49) and Floyd Gass (1969–71) were the others.
  6. ^ "Gundy to fill Miles' shoes at Oklahoma State". USA Today. The Associated Press. January 3, 2005. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved November 25, 2009. Oklahoma State promoted offensive coordinator Mike Gundy to head coach Monday...
  7. ^ "Willingham shakes up staff at Washington". USA Today. The Associated Press. December 18, 2007. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2010.
  8. ^ "Southwest Athletic Conference: An Inventory of Its Records, 1914–1996 and undated, at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library". Texas Archival Resources Online. Archived from the original on June 19, 2010. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
  9. ^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  10. ^ Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2009.