List of Vanderbilt Commodores head football coaches

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Sepia colored head portrait.
Dan McGugin has the most wins as Commodores' head coach with 198.

The Vanderbilt Commodores college football team represents Vanderbilt University in the East Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Commodores compete as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 28 head coaches since it began play during the 1890 season.[1]

The team has played 1,250 games over 126 seasons of Vanderbilt football.[1] In that time, six coaches have led the Commodores to postseason bowl games: Art Guepe, Steve Sloan, George MacIntyre, Bobby Johnson, James Franklin and Derek Mason.[2][3] Four other coaches won conference championships: R. G. Acton, Walter H. Watkins, James R. Henry and Dan McGugin. Between them, the coaches won eleven Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association championships; McGugin led the team to an additional two titles as a member of the Southern Conference.[4]

McGugin is the leader in seasons coached and games won, with 198 victories during his 30 years at Vanderbilt.[1] E. H. Alley has the highest winning percentage with 1.000.[1] Robbie Caldwell has the lowest winning percentage with .167.[1] Of the 28 different head coaches who have led the Commodores, McGugin,[5] Ray Morrison,[6] Red Sanders,[7] and Bill Edwards[8] have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana.

The current head coach is Clark Lea, who was hired on December 14, 2020.

Key[edit]

Key to symbols in coaches list
General Overall Conference Postseason[A 1]
No. Order of coaches[A 2] GC Games coached CW Conference wins PW Postseason wins
DC Division championships OW Overall wins CL Conference losses PL Postseason losses
CC Conference championships OL Overall losses CT Conference ties PT Postseason ties
NC National championships OT Overall ties[A 3] C% Conference winning percentage
† Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame O% Overall winning percentage[A 4]

Coaches[edit]

List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards[A 5]
No. Name Term GC OW OL OT O% CW CL CT C% PW PL PT DC
[A 6] 		CC NC Awards
1 Elliott Jones 1890–1892 13 8 5 0 0.615 — — — — — — — — 0 0 —
2 W. J. Keller 1893 7 6 1 0 0.857 — — — — — — — — 0 0 —
3 Henry Worth Thornton 1894 8 7 1 0 0.875 2 0 0 1.000 — — — — 0 0 —
4 Charles L. Upton 1895 9 5 3 1 0.611 3 1 0 0.750 — — — — 0 0 —
5 R. G. Acton 1896–1898 20 10 7 3 0.575 5 2 0 0.714 — — — — 1 0 —
6 James L. Crane 1899–1900 18 11 6 1 0.639 6 3 1 0.650 — — — — 0 0 —
7 Walter H. Watkins 1901–1902 17 14 2 1 0.853 8 1 1 0.850 — — — — 1 0 —
8 James R. Henry 1903 8 6 1 1 0.813 5 1 1 0.786 — — — — 1 0 —
9 Dan McGugin†[5] 1904–1917
1919–1934 		272 198 55 19 0.763 104 34 13 0.732 0 0 0 — 11 0 —
10 Ray Morrison†[6] 1918
1935–1939 		53 29 22 2 0.566 18 15 1 0.544 0 0 0 — 0 0 SEC Coach of the Year (1937)[13]
11 Red Sanders†[7] 1940–1942
1946–1948 		60 36 22 2 0.617 15 20 2 0.432 0 0 0 — 0 0 SEC Coach of the Year (1941)[13]
12 E. H. Alley 1943 5 5 0 0 1.000 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
13 Doby Bartling 1944–1945 13 6 6 1 0.500 2 4 0 0.333 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
14 Bill Edwards†[8] 1949–1952 42 21 19 2 0.524 11 17 1 0.397 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
15 Art Guepe 1953–1962 100 39 54 7 0.425 19 43 6 0.324 1 0 0 — 0 0 SEC Coach of the Year (1955)[13]
16 John Green 1963–1966 40 7 29 4 0.225 2 19 3 0.146 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
17 Bill Pace 1967–1972 63 22 38 3 0.373 5 27 1 0.167 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
18 Steve Sloan 1973–1974 23 12 9 2 0.565 3 8 1 0.292 0 0 1 — 0 0 —
19 Fred Pancoast 1975–1978 44 13 31 0 0.295 2 22 0 0.083 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
20 George MacIntyre 1979–1985 78 25 52 1 0.327 8 33 1 0.202 0 1 0 — 0 0 UPI SEC Coach of the Year (1982)[13]
SEC Coach of the Year (1982)[13]
21 Watson Brown 1986–1990 55 10 45 0 0.182 4 29 0 0.121 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
22 Gerry DiNardo 1991–1994 44 19 25 0 0.432 9 22 0 0.290 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
23 Rod Dowhower 1995–1996 22 4 18 0 0.182 1 15 0 0.063 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
24 Woody Widenhofer 1997–2001 55 15 40 — 0.273 4 36 — 0.100 0 0 — 0 0 0 —
25 Bobby Johnson 2002–2009 95 29 66 — 0.305 12 52 — 0.188 1 0 — 0 0 0 SEC Coach of the Year (2008)[13]
26 Robbie Caldwell 2010 12 2 10 — 0.167 1 7 — 0.125 0 0 — 0 0 0 —
27 James Franklin 2011–2013 39 24 15 — 0.615 11 13 — 0.458 2 1 — 0 0 0 —
28 Derek Mason 2014–2020 74 27 55 — 0.329 10 38 — 0.179 0 0 — 0 0 0 —
29 Clark Lea 2021–present 24 9 27 — 0.292 2 14 — 0.125 0 0 — 0 0 0 —

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played.[9]
  2. ^ A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.
  3. ^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.[10]
  4. ^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[11]
  5. ^ Statistics correct as of the end of the 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season.
  6. ^ Divisional champions have advanced to the SEC Championship Game since the institution of divisional play beginning in the 1992 season. Since that time, Vanderbilt has competed as a member of the East Division of the SEC.[12]

References[edit]

General

  • Staff (2015). "Vanderbilt Coaching Records". Vanderbilt History. College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on January 11, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2011.
  • "Commodore History" (PDF). 2011 Football Fact Book. Nashville, Tennessee: Vanderbilt Athletic Communications Office. Retrieved February 19, 2012.

Specific

  1. ^ a b c d e 2011 Football Fact Book, p. 109
  2. ^ 2011 Football Fact Book, pp. 128–129
  3. ^ "Kickoff return TD sparks Cincinnati past Vanderbilt in Liberty Bowl". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 31, 2011. Retrieved February 19, 2012.
  4. ^ 2011 Football Fact Book, pp. 110–117
  5. ^ a b "Member Biography: Dan McGugin". College Football Hall of Fame. National Football Foundation. Retrieved March 8, 2011.
  6. ^ a b "Member Biography: Ray Morrison". College Football Hall of Fame. National Football Foundation. Retrieved March 8, 2011.
  7. ^ a b "Member Biography: Red Sanders". College Football Hall of Fame. National Football Foundation. Retrieved March 8, 2011.
  8. ^ a b "Member Biography: Bill Edwards". College Football Hall of Fame. National Football Foundation. Retrieved March 8, 2011.
  9. ^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived from the original on August 22, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
  10. ^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on November 24, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  11. ^ Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on October 22, 2009. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  12. ^ Harwell, Hoyt (November 30, 1990). "SEC sets division lineups". The Tuscaloosa News. p. 1C. Retrieved March 8, 2011.
  13. ^ a b c d e f 2011 Football Fact Book, p. 129

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