List of Fort Hays State Tigers head football coaches

The Fort Hays State Tigers football program is a college football team that represents Fort Hays State University in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, a part of NCAA Division II. The team has had 23 head coaches since its first recorded football game in 1902. After it was announced that head coach Kevin Verdugo would not return for the 2011 season, Chris Brown was announced as the new head coach.

The coach with the most wins for the team was Bob Cortese with 55, and James J. Yeager had the highest winning percentage at .800 in 1935. Wayne J. McConnell coached the most games for the school, 155 games total from 1956 through 1968. One year coach Andrew Frank Schoeppel went on to become the 29th Governor of Kansas from 1943 to 1947 and a U.S. Senator from 1949 until his death. Jim Gilstrap went on to a successful coaching career in the Canadian Football League.

Key

Key to symbols in coaches list
General		Overall		Conference		Postseason
No.	Order of coaches	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	C%	Conference winning percentage
†	Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame	O%	Overall winning percentage

Statistics correct as of the end of the 2023 season.

No.	Name	Term	GC	OW	OL	OT	O%	CW	CL	CT	C%	PW	PL	CCs	Awards
0	No coach	1902–1912	28	11	10	7	.518	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1	Ira Van Cleave	1913–1914	13	9	4	0	.692	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2	W. G. Speer	1915–1918	24	18	6	0	.750	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	—
3	Alfred J. Robertson	1919	9	3	6	0	.333	3	4	0	.429	—	—	—	—
4	Ralph Archer	1920	8	2	5	1	.313	2	3	1	.417	—	—	—	—
5	George Woodward	1920–1922	22	10	10	2	.500	10	7	2	.579	—	—	1	—
6	William D. Weidein	1923–1928	49	19	24	6	.449	14	22	4	.400	—	—	—	—
7	Andrew Frank Schoeppel	1929	7	2	5	0	.286	2	4	0	.333	—	—	—	—
8	W. C. Riley	1930–1934	46	21	19	6	.522	11	14	1	.442	—	—	1	—
9	James J. Yeager	1935	10	8	2	0	.800	3	1	0	.750	—	—	1	—
10	Paul D. Waldorf	1936–1941	54	25	21	8	.537	11	13	1	.460	—	—	1	—
11	Bill Bearly	1942	9	1	8	0	.111	0	5	0	.000	—	—	—	—
12	Ralph Huffman	1946–1955	88	41	37	10	.523	20	20	10	.500	—	—	1	—
13	Wayne J. McConnell	1956–1968	115	45	67	3	.404	20	36	2	.362	—	—	1	—
14	Tom Stromgren	1969–1971	29	7	21	1	.259	3	12	1	.219	—	—	—	—
15	Bill Giles	1972–1978	71	24	44	3	.359	16	23	2	.415	—	—	1	—
16	Bobby Thompson	1979–1980, 1984	31	9	20	2	.323	6	13	2	.333	—	—	—	—
17	Jim Gilstrap	1981–1983	32	20	11	1	.641	11	9	1	.548	—	—	—	—
18	John Vincent	1985–1989	50	22	26	2	.460	16	15	0	.516	—	—	—	—
19	Bob Cortese	1990–1997	90	55	32	3	.628	35	12	2	.735	1	3	2	—
20	Jeff Leiker	1998–2000	32	13	19	0	.406	9	15	0	.375	—	—	—	—
21	Tim O'Connor	2001–2004	44	20	24	0	.455	15	17	0	.469	—	—	—	—
22	Kevin Verdugo	2005–2010	64	18	47	0	.277	11	42	0	.208	—	—	—	—
23	Chris Brown	2011–present	136	81	55	0	.596	75	51	0	.595	1	3	2	—

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.
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.
Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.
When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.

^ DeLassus, David. "Fort Hays State Coaching Records". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved March 20, 2011.
Clark, Kevin (November 10, 2010). "Fort Hays football coach Kevin Verdugo will not return in 2011". Pittsburg Morning Sun. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved November 17, 2010.
Nicholl, Connor (December 11, 2010). "Football: Fort Hays State introduces Brown". Salina Journal. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2009.

v t e Fort Hays State Tigers head football coaches
Unknown (1902–1907) Claude Bice (1908–1909) No team (1910–1911) Ira Van Cleave (1912–1914) W. G. Speer (1915–1918) Alfred J. Robertson (1919) George Woodward & Ralph Archer (1920) George Woodward (1921–1922) William D. Weidlein (1923–1928) Andrew Frank Schoeppel (1929) W. C. Riley (1930–1934) James J. Yeager (1935) Paul D. Waldorf (1936–1941) Bill Bearley (1942) No team (1943–1945) Ralph Huffman (1946–1955) Wayne J. McConnell (1956–1968) Tom Stromgren (1969–1971) Bill Giles (1972–1978) Bobby Thompson (1979–1980) Jim Gilstrap (1981–1983) Bobby Thompson (1984) John Vincent (1985–1989) Bob Cortese (1990–1997) Jeff Leiker (1998–2000) Tim O'Connor (2001–2004) Kevin Verdugo (2005–2010) Chris Brown (2011–2019) No team (2020) Chris Brown (2021– )

v t e Fort Hays State Tigers football
Venue	Lewis Field Stadium (1936–present)
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910–1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e Head football coaches of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association
Josh Lamberson (Central Missouri) Adam Dorrel (Central Oklahoma) Garin Higgins (Emporia State) Chris Brown (Fort Hays State) Atiba Bradley (Missouri Southern) Tyler Fenwick (Missouri Western) Ryan Held (Nebraska–Kearney) John McMenamin (Northwest Missouri) Tom Anthony (Pittsburg State) Zach Watkins (Washburn)