The Northwestern Wildcats college football team represents the Northwestern University in the Big Ten Conference. The Wildcats compete as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 29 head coaches since it began play during the 1876 season. Since July 2006, Pat Fitzgerald has served as head coach at Northwestern.[1]
Four coaches have led Northwestern in postseason bowl games: Bob Voigts, Gary Barnett, Randy Walker, and Fitzgerald. Six of those coaches also won conference championships: Walter McCornack captured one as a member of the Western Conference; and Dick Hanley and Barnett each captured two and Pappy Waldorf, Glenn Thistlethwaite, and Walker each captured one as a member of the Big Ten Conference.
Fitzgerald is the leader in overall wins and seasons coached with 110 wins during his 17 years as head coach. Walter McCornack has the highest winning percentage at 0.800. Rick Venturi has the lowest winning percentage at 0.045. Of the 29 different head coaches who have led the Orange, Charlie Bachman, Waldorf, Alex Agase, and Ara Parseghian have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
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[A 6] | Season(s)[A 7] | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | CC | NC | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Knowlton Ames | 1891–1892 | 17 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 0.559 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0.250 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 2 | Paul Noyes | 1893 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 0.350 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 3 | A. A. Ewing | 1894 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0.444 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | Alvin H. Culver | 1895–1896 | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 0.650 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.625 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 5 | Jesse Van Doozer | 1897 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0.625 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 6 | W. H. Bannard | 1898 | 14 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0.679 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 7 | Charles M. Hollister | 1899–1902 | 47 | 27 | 16 | 4 | 0.617 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 0.444 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 8 | Walter McCornack | 1903–1905 | 35 | 26 | 5 | 4 | 0.800 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0.375 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 9 | Alton Johnson | 1908 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.500 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 10 | Bill Horr | 1909 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0.300 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0.250 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 11 | Charles Hammett | 1910–1912 | 18 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 0.389 | 0 | 6 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 12 | Dennis Grady | 1913 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0.143 | 0 | 6 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 13 | Fred J. Murphy | 1914–1918 | 33 | 16 | 16 | 1 | 0.500 | 8 | 15 | 0 | 0.348 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 14 | Charlie Bachman† | 1919 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0.286 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0.200 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 15 | Elmer McDevitt | 1920–1921 | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0.286 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0.200 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 16 | Glenn Thistlethwaite | 1922–1926 | 39 | 21 | 17 | 1 | 0.551 | 10 | 13 | 1 | 0.438 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 17 | Dick Hanley | 1927–1934 | 66 | 36 | 26 | 4 | 0.576 | 22 | 19 | 2 | 0.535 | — | — | — | 2 | — | — |
| 18 | Pappy Waldorf† | 1935–1946 | 101 | 49 | 45 | 7 | 0.520 | 34 | 31 | 7 | 0.521 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 19 | Bob Voigts | 1947–1954 | 73 | 33 | 39 | 1 | 0.459 | 18 | 32 | 0 | 0.360 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 20 | Lou Saban | 1955 | 9 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0.056 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0.071 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 21 | Ara Parseghian† | 1956–1963 | 72 | 36 | 35 | 1 | 0.507 | 22 | 31 | 1 | 0.417 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 22 | Alex Agase† | 1964–1972 | 91 | 32 | 58 | 1 | 0.357 | 26 | 40 | 1 | 0.396 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 23 | John Pont | 1973–1977 | 55 | 12 | 43 | 0 | 0.218 | 10 | 31 | 0 | 0.244 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 24 | Rick Venturi | 1978–1980 | 33 | 1 | 31 | 1 | 0.045 | 0 | 26 | 1 | 0.019 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 25 | Dennis Green | 1981–1985 | 55 | 10 | 45 | 0 | 0.182 | 7 | 37 | 0 | 0.159 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 26 | Francis Peay | 1986–1991 | 66 | 13 | 51 | 2 | 0.212 | 9 | 38 | 1 | 0.198 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 27 | Gary Barnett | 1992–1998 | 81 | 35 | 45 | 1 | 0.438 | 23 | 33 | 0 | 0.411 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | — | — |
| 28 | Randy Walker | 1999–2005 | 83 | 37 | 46 | — | 0.446 | 24 | 32 | — | 0.429 | 0 | 3 | — | 1 | — | — |
| 29 | Pat Fitzgerald | 2006–2022 | 211 | 110 | 101 | — | 0.521 | 65 | 76 | — | 0.461 | 5 | 5 | — | 0 | — | Bobby Dodd COY (2020) |
| 30 | David Braun | 2023–present | 13 | 8 | 5 | — | 0.615 | 5 | 4 | — | 0.556 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
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.
- ^ Northwestern did not have a head coach for the 1876, 1882, 1886, 1882, and 1888–1890.
- ^ Northwestern did not field a team for the 1877–1881, 1883–1885, 1887, and 1906–1907 seasons.
References
edit- ^ "Fitzgerald becomes youngest coach in Division I-A". ESPN.com. July 7, 2006. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- ^ 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.