There are now exactly 100 days until the first games of the 2018 college football season kickoff. What better way to celebrate that than to countdown all of the college head football coaches who have 100 or more wins? Now, to clarify only active coaches are counted and only wins at FBS schools are counted.
So for example, Brian Kelly’s wins at Grand Valley State are not counted, Jim Harbaugh’s wins at San Diego would not be counted (not that he’s even close to 100 wins) and Paul Johnson’s wins at Georgia Southern are not counted (they did not become an FBS member until 2014, long after Johnson had left). Coaches will be ranked going from the fewest wins to the most wins. Here we go.
College Football’s best coaches
Knocking on the Door
Skip Holtz – Louisiana Tech: 92 wins
Jeff Tedford – Fresno State: 92 wins
Randy Edsall – UConn: 99 wins
Now on to the actual countdown.
T-18 – Brian Kelly – Notre Dame
Central Michigan: 19-16
Cincinnati: 34-6
Notre Dame: 48-34
Overall: 101-56
Win Pct: 64%
National Championships: 0
NY6 Bowl wins: 0
Conference Championships: 3 (2006, 2008, 2009)
T-18 – Dabo Swinney – Clemson
Clemson: 101-30
Overall: 101-30
Win Pct: 77%
National Championships: 1 (2016)
NY6 Bowl wins: 4 (2012, 2013, 2015, 2016)
Conference Championships: 4 (2011, 2015, 2016, 2017)
17 – David Cutcliffe – Duke
Ole Miss: 44-29
Duke: 59-67
Overall: 103-96
Win Pct: 51%
National Championships: 0
NY6 Bowl wins: 1 (2003)
Conference Championships: 0
16 – Bronco Mendenhall – Virginia
BYU: 99-43
Virginia: 8-17
Overall: 107-60
Win Pct: 64%
National Championships: 0
NY6 Bowl wins: 0
Conference Championships: 2 (2006, 2007)
15 – Kyle Whittingham – Utah
Utah: 111-56
Overall: 111-56
Win Pct: 66%
National Championships: 0
NY6 Bowl wins: 2 (2004, 2008)
Conference Championships: 1 (2008)
14 – Mike Gundy – Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State: 114-53
Overall: 114-53
Win Pct: 68%
National Championships: 0
NY6 Bowl wins: 1 (2011)
Conference Championships: 1 (2011)
13 – Bobby Petrino – Louisville
Louisville: 75-27
Arkansas: 34-17
Western Kentucky: 8-4
Overall: 117-48
Win Pct: 70%
National Championships: 0
NY6 Bowl wins: 2 (2006, 2011)
Conference Championships: 2 (2004, 2006)
12 – Mark Dantonio – Michigan State
Cincinnati: 18-17
Michigan State: 100-45
Overall: 118-62
Win Pct: 64%
National Championships: 0
NY6 Bowl wins: 2 (2013, 2014)
Conference Championships: 3 (2010, 2013, 2015)
11 – Paul Johnson – Georgia Tech
Navy: 45-29
Georgia Tech: 75-54
Overall: 120-83
Win Pct: 59%
National Championships: 0
NY6 Bowl wins: 1 (2014)
Conference Championships: 1 (2009)
10 – Mike Leach – Washington State
Texas Tech: 84-43
Washington State: 38-38
Overall: 122-81
60%
National Championships: 0
NY6 Bowl wins: 0
Conference Championships: 0
T-8 – Rocky Long – San Diego State
New Mexico: 65-69
San Diego State: 64-29
Overall: 129-98
Win Pct: 56%
National Championships: 0
NY6 Bowl wins: 0
Conference Championships: 3 (2012, 2015, 2016)
T-8 – Chris Petersen – Washington
Boise State: 92-12
Washington: 37-17
Overall: 129-29
Win Pct: 81%
National Championships: 0
NY6 Bowl wins: 2 (2006, 2009)
Conference Championships: 6 (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2016)
7 – Kirk Ferentz – Iowa
Iowa: 143-97
Overall: 143-97
Win Pct: 59%
National Championships: 0
NY6 Bowl wins: 1 (2009)
Conference Championships: 2 (2002, 2004)
6 – Frank Solich – Ohio
Nebraska: 58-19
Ohio: 97-71
Overall: 155-90
Win Pct: 63%
National Championships: 0
NY6 Bowl wins: 1 (1999)
Conference Championships: 1 (1999)
5 – Gary Patterson – TCU
TCU: 160-57
Overall: 160-57
Win Pct: 73%
National Championships: 0
NY6 Bowl wins: 2 (2010, 2014)
Conference Championships: 6 (2002, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014)
4 – Mark Richt – Miami (FL)
Georgia: 145-51
Miami (FL): 19-7
Overall: 164-58
Win Pct: 73%
National Championships: 0
NY6 Bowl wins: 3 (2002, 2006, 2007)
Conference Championships: 2 (2002, 2005)
3 – Urban Meyer – Ohio State
Bowling Green: 17-6
Utah: 22-2
Florida: 65-15
Ohio State: 73-8
Overall: 177-31
Win Pct: 85%
National Championships: 3 (2006, 2008, 2014)
NY6 Bowl wins: 5 (2004, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2017)
Conference Championships: 6 (2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2014, 2017)
2 – Bill Snyder – Kansas State
Kansas State: 210-110-1
Overall: 210-110-1
Win Pct: 65%
National Championships: 0
NY6 Bowl wins: 1 (2000)
Conference Championships: 2 (2003, 2012)
1 – Nick Saban – Alabama
Toledo: 9-2
Michigan State: 34-24-1
LSU: 48-16
Alabama: 127-20
Overall: 218-62-1
Win Pct: 77%
National Championships: 6 (2003, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017)
NY6 Bowl wins: 6 (2000, 2001, 2003, 2015, 2016, 2017)
Conference Championships: 8 (1990, 2001, 2003, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016)
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