List of Iowa State Cyclones head football coaches
Encyclopedia
The Iowa State Cyclones football
program is a college football
team that represents Iowa State University
in the North Division of the Big 12 Conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association
. The team has had 31 head coaches since organized football at the school began in 1892, and was officially sanctioned in 1894. Originally, the Iowa Agricultural College teams were known as the Cardinals. The name was changed after September 29, 1895, when under coach Glenn "Pop" Warner, the Cardinals defeated the Northwestern Wildcats
, 36–0. Inspired by an extremely active tornado (then known as a "cyclone") season, the next day, the Chicago Tribune
headline read: "Struck by a Cyclone." The article went on to say, "Northwestern might as well have tried to play football with an Iowa cyclone as with the Iowa team it met yesterday." Since then the Iowa State teams have been known as the Cyclones.
Iowa State has played in more than 1,000 games during its 117 seasons. In those seasons, four coaches have led the Cyclones to postseason bowl games: Johnny Majors
, Earle Bruce
, Dan McCarney
, and Paul Rhoads
. One coach, Clyde Williams
, has won a conference
championship with the Cyclones. McCarney is the all-time leader in games coached (141), years coached (11) and wins (56), while Bert German
is the all-time leader in winning percentage
(.833). W. F. Finney
is, in terms of winning percentage, the worst coach in the history of the Iowa State football program having never won a game.
Of the 31 coaches, Bruce is the only one that has been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
. Majors, Bruce and McCarney have each received coach of the year honors from their respective conference. The current coach is Paul Rhoads
, who was hired in December 2009.
Iowa State Cyclones football
The Iowa State Cyclones football team represents Iowa State University in college football. The Cyclones compete in the Big 12 Conference in the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. ISU started playing football in 1892, however, it did not become an official sport until 1894...
program is a college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
team that represents Iowa State University
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
in the North Division of the Big 12 Conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
. The team has had 31 head coaches since organized football at the school began in 1892, and was officially sanctioned in 1894. Originally, the Iowa Agricultural College teams were known as the Cardinals. The name was changed after September 29, 1895, when under coach Glenn "Pop" Warner, the Cardinals defeated the Northwestern Wildcats
Northwestern Wildcats
The Northwestern Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern University, a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and the only private university in the conference. Northwestern has eight men's and eleven women's Division I sports teams. The mascot is Willie the Wildcat...
, 36–0. Inspired by an extremely active tornado (then known as a "cyclone") season, the next day, the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
headline read: "Struck by a Cyclone." The article went on to say, "Northwestern might as well have tried to play football with an Iowa cyclone as with the Iowa team it met yesterday." Since then the Iowa State teams have been known as the Cyclones.
Iowa State has played in more than 1,000 games during its 117 seasons. In those seasons, four coaches have led the Cyclones to postseason bowl games: Johnny Majors
Johnny Majors
Johnny Majors is a former American football player and coach. A standout halfback at the University of Tennessee, he was an All-American in 1956 and a two-time winner of the Southeastern Conference Most Valuable Player award, in 1955 and 1956. He finished second to Paul Hornung in voting for...
, Earle Bruce
Earle Bruce
Earle Bruce is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Tampa , Iowa State University , Ohio State University , the University of Northern Iowa , and Colorado State University , compiling a career college football record of 154–90–2...
, Dan McCarney
Dan McCarney
-External links:* * * * *...
, and Paul Rhoads
Paul Rhoads
Paul Rhoads is an American college football head coach at Iowa State University. Rhoads was formerly the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach of the Auburn University football team before then-head coach Tommy Tuberville was forced to resign at the 2008 season's end...
. One coach, Clyde Williams
Clyde Williams (football)
Samuel Clyde Williams was an All-American football player at the University of Iowa, and a football, basketball, and baseball coach and athletic director at Iowa State University. He is a member of both schools' Halls of Fame.- College career :Clyde Williams was born in Shelby, Iowa...
, has won a conference
Athletic conference
An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams, playing competitively against each other at the professional, collegiate, or high school level. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller and smaller divisions, with the best teams competing at successively higher levels...
championship with the Cyclones. McCarney is the all-time leader in games coached (141), years coached (11) and wins (56), while Bert German
Bert German
Bert German was the third head football coach for the Iowa State University Cyclones located in Ames, Iowa and he held that position for five seasons, from 1894 until 1898. His career coaching record at Iowa state was 22 wins, 10 losses, and 0 ties. This ranks him ninth at Iowa state in total...
is the all-time leader in winning percentage
Winning percentage
In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. It is defined as wins divided by wins plus losses . Ties count as a ½ loss and a ½ win...
(.833). W. F. Finney
W. F. Finney
W. F. Finney was the second head football coach for the Iowa State University Cyclones located in Ames, Iowa and he held that position for the 1893 season. His career coaching record at Iowa state was 0 wins, 3 losses, and 0 ties. This ranks him 29th at Iowa state in total wins and 29th at Iowa...
is, in terms of winning percentage, the worst coach in the history of the Iowa State football program having never won a game.
Of the 31 coaches, Bruce is the only one that has been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
. Majors, Bruce and McCarney have each received coach of the year honors from their respective conference. The current coach is Paul Rhoads
Paul Rhoads
Paul Rhoads is an American college football head coach at Iowa State University. Rhoads was formerly the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach of the Auburn University football team before then-head coach Tommy Tuberville was forced to resign at the 2008 season's end...
, who was hired in December 2009.
Key
| # | A running total of the number of coaches |
| CCs | Conference championships |
| † | Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move... |
| GC | Games coached |
| OW | Wins |
| OL | Losses |
| OT | Ties |
| O% | Winning percentage Winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. It is defined as wins divided by wins plus losses . Ties count as a ½ loss and a ½ win... |
| CW | Wins |
| CL | Losses |
| CT | Ties |
| C% | Winning percentage |
| PW | Wins |
| PL | Losses |
| PT | Ties |
Coaches
- Statistics correct as of the end of the 2009–10 college football season2009 NCAA Division I FBS football seasonThe 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season, or the college football season, began on September 2, 2009, progressed through the regular season and bowl season, and concluded with the Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game in Pasadena, California on January 7, 2010, featuring the...
.
| # | Name | Term | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | CCs | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| 3 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| 4 | 26 | 18 | 8 | 0 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| 5 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| 6 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| 7 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| 8 | 47 | 36 | 10 | 1 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| 9 | 49 | 33 | 14 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 2; 1911, 1912 | 0— | ||||
| 10 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||||
| 11 | 34 | 21 | 11 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||||
| 12 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||||
| 13 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||||
| 14 | 32 | 14 | 15 | 3 | 11 | 10 | 2 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||||
| 15 | 41 | 11 | 27 | 3 | 8 | 17 | 2 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||||
| 16 | 51 | 21 | 22 | 8 | 7 | 18 | 4 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||||
| 17 | 36 | 16 | 19 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 1 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||||
| 18 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||||
| 19 | 39 | 18 | 18 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||||
| 20 | 65 | 24 | 38 | 3 | 12 | 28 | 1 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||||
| 21 | 28 | 6 | 21 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||||
| 22 | 99 | 42 | 53 | 4 | 22 | 43 | 2 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||||
| 23 | 55 | 24 | 30 | 1 | 9 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0— | |||||
| 24 | † | 68 | 36 | 32 | 0 | 18 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0— | ||||
| 25 | 44 | 18 | 24 | 2 | 7 | 19 | 2 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||||
| 26 | 42 | 16 | 24 | 2 | 8 | 16 | 2 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||||
| 27 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||||
| 28 | 88 | 28 | 57 | 3 | 16 | 37 | 3 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||||
| 29 | 141 | 56 | 85 | 0 | 27 | 68 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0— | |||||
| 30 | 24 | 5 | 19 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||||
| 31 | 28 | 15 | 13 | 0— | 6 | 10 | 0— | 1 | 0 | 0— | 0— | 0— |