List of Sam Houston Bearkats head football coaches
The Sam Houston Bearkats college football team represents Sam Houston State University as a member of Conference USA (C-USA). The Bearkats competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 15 head coaches since it began play during the 1912 season. Between 2014 and 2024, K. C. Keeler served as head coach at Sam Houston.[1] The team is currently lead by interim head coach Brad Cornelsen.
Since 1912, four coaches have led Sam Houston in postseason appearances: Paul Pierce, Ron Randleman, Willie Fritz, and Keeler. Four of those coaches also won conference championships: J. W. Jones captured one as a member of the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association; Pierce captured four as a member of the Lone Star Conference; Randleman captured two as a member of the Gulf Star Conference; and Randleman captured three, Fritz two, and Keeler four as a member of the Southland Conference. The Bearkats also won national championships under Pierce in 1964 (NAIA) and under Keeler in 2020–21 (FCS).
Randleman is the leader in seasons coached and games won, with 131 victories during his 23 years with the program. Fritz has the highest winning percentage with .727, and Billy Tidwell has the lowest winning percentage with .274.
Key
[edit]| 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]| No. | Name | Season(s) [A 6] |
GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | DC | CC | NC | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sheldon R. Warner | 1912–1913 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0.611 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 2 | Gene Berry | 1914–1917 1919 |
30 | 14 | 15 | 1 | 0.483 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 3 | Mutt Gee | 1920–1922 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 0.471 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 4 | J. W. Jones | 1923–1935 | 116 | 54 | 53 | 9 | 0.504 | 31 | 27 | 5 | 0.532 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 5 | Henry O. Crawford | 1936–1937 | 19 | 7 | 12 | 0 | 0.368 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0.125 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 6 | Puny Wilson | 1938–1942 1946–1951 |
105 | 50 | 49 | 6 | 0.505 | 18 | 27 | 3 | 0.406 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 7 | Paul Pierce | 1952–1967 | 153 | 94 | 52 | 7 | 0.637 | 57 | 41 | 4 | 0.578 | 3 | 1 | 1 | — | 4 | 1 – 1964 | — |
| 8 | Tom Page | 1968–1971 | 42 | 20 | 19 | 3 | 0.512 | 15 | 15 | 2 | 0.500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 9 | Allen Boren | 1972–1973 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0.333 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 0.353 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 10 | Billy Tidwell | 1974–1977 | 42 | 11 | 30 | 1 | 0.274 | 10 | 22 | 0 | 0.313 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 11 | Melvin Brown | 1978–1981 | 41 | 13 | 28 | 0 | 0.317 | 8 | 20 | 0 | 0.286 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 12 | Ron Randleman | 1982–2004 | 259 | 131 | 125 | 3 | 0.512 | 62 | 75 | 2 | 0.453 | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | — |
| 13 | Todd Whitten | 2005–2009 | 53 | 25 | 28 | — | 0.472 | 16 | 17 | — | 0.485 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 14 | Willie Fritz | 2010–2013 | 55 | 40 | 15 | — | 0.727 | 21 | 7 | — | 0.750 | 7 | 3 | — | — | 2 | 0 | AFCA FCS Coach of the Year (2011) Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award (2012) |
| 15 | K. C. Keeler | 2014–2024 | 136 | 97 | 39 | — | 0.713 | 65 | 21 | — | 0.756 | 14 | 5 | — | — | 4 | 1 – 2020–21 | Eddie Robinson Award (2016) |
Notes
[edit]- ^ 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.
- ^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.[3]
- ^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[4]
- ^ Statistics correct as of the end of the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season.
- ^ Sam Houston did not field teams in 1918 due to World War I and in 1943, 1944, and 1945 due to World War II.
References
[edit]- ^ Tresolini, Kevin (January 24, 2014). "Keeler heads to Texas". The News Journal. Retrieved February 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ 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.