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List of Kansas State Wildcats head football coaches

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Bill Snyder, winningest head coach at Kansas State

The Kansas State Wildcats football program is a college football team that represents Kansas State University in the Big 12 Conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The team has had 32 head coaches and one interim head coach since its first official football game in 1896. The current coach is Chris Klieman, who was hired prior to the 2019 season.

The university adopted the nickname "Wildcats" in 1915 after being previously known as the "Aggies." Head coach Zora G. Clevenger changed the team's nickname to the "Farmers" from 1916 to 1919, but it was changed back to "Wildcats" permanently in 1920 by coach Charlie Bachman.[1]

Kansas State joined the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1913. The school split away from the MVIAA with five others to create the Big Six Conference in 1928. Through the years that conference added two teams and eventually became the Big Eight Conference.[2] The Wildcats became a charter member of the Big 12 in 1996 when the Big Eight disbanded.[3]

Four coaches have led Kansas State to postseason bowl games: Jim Dickey, Bill Snyder, Ron Prince and Chris Klieman. Five coaches have won conference championships with the Wildcats: Mike Ahearn (1909, 1910); Guy Lowman (1912); Pappy Waldorf (1934); Snyder (2003, 2012) and Klieman (2023).[4][5]

Bill Snyder is the all-time leader in seasons coached at KSU with 27, more than triple the next highest. Snyder is also the leader in games coached (333, almost four times the next highest) and total wins (215, more than five times the next highest). Mike Ahearn has the highest overall winning percentage of any Wildcat coach, at .755 over his six seasons. Sam Francis is the worst coach in program history in terms of winning percentage, as he lost every one of the ten games he coached during his only season at Kansas State. Among coaches who served more than one season, Stan Parrish has the lowest winning percentage (.076) after completing three seasons with a record of 2–30–1. Bill Snyder, Charles Bachman and Pappy Waldorf have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as coaches. Coaches Zora G. Clevenger, Alvin "Bo" McMillin and Sam Francis were inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame as players. Snyder is the only coach to have won major post-season national coach of the year honors while at Kansas State.

Key

[edit]
Key to symbols in coaches list
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]
Statistics correct as of 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season.
No. Name Term GC OW OL OT O% CW CL CT C% PW PL CCs National Awards
1 Ira Pratt 1896 2 0 1 1 .250 — — — — — — — —
2 A. W. Ehrsam 1897 4 1 2 1 .375 — — — — — — — —
3 Billy P. Williamson 1898 4 1 1 2 .500 — — — — — — — —
4 Albert Hansen 1899 5 2 3 0 .400 — — — — — — — —
5 Fay Moulton 1900 6 2 4 0 .333 — — — — — — — —
6 Wade Moore 1901 8 3 4 1 .438 — — — — — — — —
7 Cyrus E. Dietz 1902 8 2 6 0 .250 — — — — — — — —
8 G. O. Dietz 1903 8 3 4 1 .438 — — — — — — — —
9 Reuben F. Booth 1904 7 1 6 0 .143 — — — — — — — —
10 Mike Ahearn 1905–1910 51 39 12 0 .765 — — — — — — 2[A 5] —
11 Guy Lowman 1911–1914 35 17 15 3 .529 0 5 0 .000 — — 1[A 5] —
12 John R. Bender 1915 8 3 4 1 .438 0 2 1 .167 — — — —
13 Zora G. Clevenger† 1916–1919 30 19 9 2 .667 3 6 2 .364 — — — —
14 Charlie Bachman†[9] 1920–1927 65 33 23 9 .577 17 21 6 .455 — — — —
15 Bo McMillin† 1928–1933 51 29 21 1 .578 15 15 0 .500 — — — —
16 Pappy Waldorf†[10] 1934 10 7 2 1 .750 5 0 0 1.000 — — 1 —
17 Wesley Fry 1935–1939 45 18 21 6 .467 6 14 5 .340 — — — —
18 Hobbs Adams 1940–41, 1946 27 4 21 2 .185 2 12 1 .167 — — — —
19 Ward Haylett 1942–1944 28 6 20 2 .250 3 12 0 .200 — — — —
20 Lud Fiser 1945 8 1 7 0 .125 0 5 0 .000 — — — —
21 Sam Francis† 1947 10 0 10 0 .000 0 5 0 .000 — — — —
22 Ralph Graham 1948–1950 31 4 26 1 .145 1 17 0 .056 — — — —
23 Bill Meek 1951–1954 39 14 24 1 .372 7 17 0 .304 — — — —
24 Bus Mertes 1955–1959 49 15 34 1 .310 10 20 0 .333 — — — —
25 Doug Weaver 1960–1966 69 8 60 1 .123 4 43 1 .094 — — — —
26 Vince Gibson 1967–1974 85 33 52 0 .388 16 40 0 .286 — — — —
27 Ellis Rainsberger 1975–1977 33 6 27 0 .182 0 21 0 .000 — — — —
28 Jim Dickey 1978–1985[A 6] 80 24 54 2 .313 12 35 2 .265 0 1 — —
Int Lee Moon 1985[A 6] 9 1 8 0 .111 1 6 0 .143 — — — —
29 Stan Parrish 1986–1988 33 2 30 1 .076 1 19 1 .071 — — — —
30 Bill Snyder† 1989–2005,
2009–2018 		333 215 117 1 .647 126 90 1 .583 9 10 2

AP Coach of the Year (1998)[12]
Bear Bryant Award (1998)[13]
Bobby Dodd COY (1998, 2012)[14]
Walter Camp COY (1998)[15]
Woody Hayes Trophy (2011)
Sporting News COY (2011)

31 Ron Prince 2006–2008 37 17 20 — .459 9 15 — .375 0 1 — —
32 Chris Klieman 2019–Present 63 39 24 — .619 26 19 — .578 2 2 1 —

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  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.[6]
  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.[7]
  4. ^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[8]
  5. ^ a b Kansas State was a member of the Kansas Intercollegiate Athletic Association prior to joining in the MVIAA in 1913.
  6. ^ a b Jim Dickey resigned at the beginning of the 1985 season, going 0–2. Lee Moon replaced him and finished the season 1–8 (1–6 in conference).[11]

References

[edit]
General
  • "Year-by-Year Results". Kansas State Athletics. 2010. Retrieved April 27, 2010. [dead link‍]
  • "Kansas State Bowl Game History". Kansas State Athletics. 2010. Retrieved April 28, 2010. [dead link‍]
  • "Kansas State Wildcats Football 2009 Media Guide" (PDF). Kansas State Athletics. Retrieved April 30, 2010.[dead link‍]
  • "Kansas State Coaching Records". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on February 16, 2010. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
Specific
  1. ^ "Kansas State Traditions". Kansas State Athletics. May 21, 2004. Archived from the original on August 22, 2009. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  2. ^ "Okla Aggies Accepted; Big Seven Becomes Big Eight as New Member Is Added". The New York Times. May 18, 1957. p. 15. Archived from the original on July 23, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  3. ^ "The Big 12 Conference – Outstanding Success". Big12Sports.com. July 18, 2008. Archived from the original on December 29, 2010. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  4. ^ "College Football Data Warehouse". Archived from the original (English) on September 26, 2012. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
  5. ^ "Aggie Championship", The Daily (Manhattan) Nationalist, November 29, 1912
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Charlie Bachman at the College Football Hall of Fame
  10. ^ Lynn "Pappy" Waldorf at the College Football Hall of Fame
  11. ^ "Kansas State's Dickey resigns under pressure". Lakeland Ledger. Lakeland, Florida. The Associated Press. September 16, 1985. p. 3D. Retrieved April 28, 2010. Jim Dickey, after losing his first two games in a self-described make-or-break season, resigned under pressure Sunday as Kansas State football coach and will be replaced by assistant athletic director Lee Moon.
  12. ^ "Kansas State's Snyder is top coach". Sun Journal. Lewiston, Maine. The Associated Press. December 15, 1998. p. C3. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
  13. ^ "Paul "Bear" Bryant College Football Coaching Awards" (PDF). American Heart Association. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 2, 2007. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
  14. ^ "Bill Snyder named coach of the year". The Tuscaloosa News. Tuscaloosa, Alabama. December 31, 1998. p. 4C. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
  15. ^ "Walter Camp Football Foundation Awards". Walter Camp Foundation. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved April 29, 2010.

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