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List of Western Kentucky Hilltoppers head football coaches

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Jack Harbaugh led the Hilltoppers to their lone national championship as head coach in 2002.

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers college football team represents Western Kentucky University in Conference USA (C-USA), as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 22 head coaches and two interim head coaches since it began play during the 1913 season. Since November 2018, Tyson Helton has served as head coach at Western Kentucky.

Eleven coaches have led Western Kentucky in postseason playoff or bowl games: Jack Clayton, Nick Denes, Jimmy Feix, Dave Roberts, Jack Harbaugh, David Elson, Lance Guidry, Jeff Brohm, Nick Holt, Mike Sanford Jr., and Helton. Six coaches have won conference championships: Ernest R. Miller won one as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association; Clayton, Denes, and Harbaugh each won one and Feix won six as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference; Harbaugh won one as a member of the Gateway Football Conference; and Brohm won two as a member of C-USA. Harbaugh also won an NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship in 2002.

Feix is the leader in seasons coached, with 16 years as head coach and in games coached (168) and won (106). Miller has the highest winning percentage of those who have coaced more than one game at 0.889. L. T. Smith has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with 0.313.

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

Coaches

List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards
No. Name Season(s) GC OW OL OT O% CW CL CT C% PW PL PT DC CC NC Awards
1 M. A. Leiper 1913 1 1 0 0 1.000 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
1 Roy C. Manchester 1913 1 1 0 0 1.000 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
2 J. L. Arthur 1914–1916 15 5 8 2 0.400 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
3 L. T. Smith 1920–1921 8 2 5 1 0.313 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
4 Edgar Diddle 1922–1928 64 38 24 2 0.609 7 3 0 0.700 — — — — 0 0 —
5 Carl Anderson 1929
1934–1937 		36 24 9 3 0.708 18 8 2 0.679 — — — — 0 0 —
6 James Elam 1930–1931 22 16 5 1 0.750 13 2 0 0.867 — — — — 0 0 —
7 Ernest R. Miller 1932 9 8 1 0 0.889 6 0 0 1.000 — — — — 1 0 —
8 Jesse Thomas 1933
1946–1947 		25 11 12 2 0.480 7 7 0 0.500 — — — — 0 0 —
9 Gander Terry 1938–1941 37 25 9 3 0.716 16 4 3 0.761 — — — — 0 0 —
10 Arnold Winkenhofer 1942 8 3 4 1 0.438 2 2 1 0.500 — — — — 0 0 —
11 Jack Clayton 1948–1956 85 50 33 2 0.600 21 24 2 0.468 1 0 0 — 1 0 —
12 Nick Denes 1957–1967 103 57 39 7 0.587 33 32 5 0.507 1 0 0 — 1 0 OVC Coach of the Year (1963)
13 Jimmy Feix 1968–1983 168 106 56 6 0.649 68 28 2 0.704 4 2 0 — 6 0 OVC Coach of the Year (1973, 1978, 1980)
14 Dave Roberts 1984–1988 57 26 30 1 0.465 — — — — 1 2 0 — — 0 —
15 Jack Harbaugh 1989–2002 159 91 68 0 0.572 22 6 0 0.786 6 3 0 — 2 1 – 2002 AFCA NCAA Division I-AA COY (2002)
OVC Coach of the Year (2000)
16 David Elson 2003–2009 82 39 43 — 0.476 19 17 — 0.528 1 2 — — 0 0 —
17 Willie Taggart 2010–2012 36 16 20 — 0.444 13 11 — 0.542 0 0 — — 0 0 —
Int Lance Guidry
 2012 1 0 1 — .000 0 0 — – 0 1 — — 0 0 —
18 Bobby Petrino 2013 12 8 4 — 0.667 4 3 — 0.571 0 0 — — 0 0 —
19 Jeff Brohm 2014–2016 40 30 10 — 0.750 19 5 — 0.792 2 0 — 2 2 0 —
Int Nick Holt
 2016 1 1 0 — 1.000 0 0 — – 1 0 — — 0 0 —
20 Mike Sanford Jr. 2017–2018 25 9 16 — 0.360 6 10 — 0.375 0 1 — 0 0 0 —
21 Tyson Helton 2019–present 66 40 26 — 0.606 28 11 — 0.718 4 1 — 1 0 0 —

Notes

  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.
  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.
  4. When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.
  5. Statistics correct as of the end of the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season.
  6. Western Kentucky did not field a team for their 1917–1919 and 1943–1945 seasons.
  7. After Willie Taggart resigned to take the head coaching position at South Florida, Guidry served as interim head coach for the 2012 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.
  8. After Jeff Brohm resigned to take the head coaching position at Purdue, Holt served as interim head coach for the 2016 Boca Raton Bowl.

References

  1. Low, Chris (November 26, 2018). "Tennessee's Tyson Helton agrees to coach Western Kentucky". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. "Central Michigan hangs on to win Little Caesars Pizza Bowl". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 27, 2012. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  6. "Western Kentucky beats Memphis in Boca Bowl, 51–31". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 20, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers head football coaches

# denotes interim coach

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