List of Washington Huskies head football coaches

The Washington Huskies college football team represents the University of Washington in the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference (Pac-12). The Huskies compete as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 29 head coaches since it began play during the 1889 season.[1] Hired in December 2019 after the departure of Chris Petersen, Jimmy Lake is Washington's current head coach.

Chris Petersen in 2010

The Huskies have played more than 1,100 games over 122 seasons.[1] In that time, eight coaches have led the Huskies in postseason bowl games: Enoch Bagshaw, James Phelan, Ralph Welch, Jim Owens, Don James, Jim Lambright, Rick Neuheisel, and Steve Sarkisian.[2] Eight of those coaches also won conference championships: Gil Dobie, Claude J. Hunt, Phelan and Bradshaw captured a combined four as a member of the Pacific Coast Conference and Owens, James, Lambright, and Neuheisel won a combined 11 as a member of the Pac-10.[3] During his tenure James won a national championships with the Huskies.[4]

James is the leader in seasons coached and games won, with 153 victories during his 18 years with the program.[1] Dobie has the highest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with .975.[1] Stub Allison has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with .167.[1] Of the 29 different head coaches who have led the Huskies, Dobie,[5] Phelan,[6] Darrell Royal,[7] Owens,[8] and James[9] have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana.

Key

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

List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards[A 5]

No.	Name	Season(s)	GC	OW	OL	OT	O%	CW	CL	CT	C%	PW	PL	PT	DC [A 6]	CC	NC	Awards
1	W. B. Goodwin	1892–1893	7	2	4	1	0.357	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
2	Charles Cobb	1894	3	1	1	1	0.500	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
3	Ralph Nichols	1895–1896 1898	12	7	4	1	0.625	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
4	Carl L. Clemans	1897	3	1	2	0	0.333	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
5	A. S. Jeffs	1899	6	4	1	1	0.750	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
6	J. S. Dodge	1900	5	1	2	2	0.400	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
7	Jack Wright	1901	6	3	3	0	0.500	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
8	James Knight	1902–1904	20	15	4	1	0.775	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
9	Oliver Cutts	1905	9	5	2	2	0.667	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
10	Victor M. Place	1906–1907	19	8	5	6	0.579	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
11	Gil Dobie	1908–1916	61	58	0	3	0.975	3	0	0	1.000	0	0	0	—	1	0	—
12	Claude J. Hunt	1917 1919	10	6	3	1	0.650	2	2	1	0.500	0	0	0	—	1	0	—
13	Tony Savage	1918	2	1	1	0	0.500	1	1	0	0.500	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
14	Stub Allison	1920	6	1	5	0	0.167	0	3	0	.000	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
15	Enoch Bagshaw	1921–1929	91	63	22	6	0.725	25	21	4	0.540	1	0	1	—	1	0	—
16	James Phelan	1930–1941	110	65	37	8	0.627	51	31	8	0.611	0	1	0	—	1	0	—
17	Ralph Welch	1942–1947	50	27	20	3	0.570	17	16	2	0.514	0	1	0	—	0	0	—
18	Howard Odell	1948–1952	50	23	25	2	0.480	17	18	2	0.486	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
19	John Cherberg	1953–1955	30	10	18	2	0.367	7	13	2	0.364	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
20	Darrell Royal	1956	10	5	5	0	0.500	4	4	0	0.500	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
21	Jim Owens	1957–1974	187	99	82	6	0.545	60	58	2	0.508	2	1	0	—	3	1 – 1960	—
22	Don James	1975–1992	212	153	57	2	0.726	98	37	2	0.723	10	4	0	—	6	1 – 1991	AFCA Coach of the Year (1977)[13] Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (1991)[14] FWAA Coach of the Year (1991)[15] George Munger Award (1991)[16] Sporting News College Football Coach of the Year (1991)[17] Pac-10 Coach of the Year (1980, 1990, 1991)[17]
23	Jim Lambright	1993–1998	70	44	25	1	0.636	31	16	1	0.656	1	3	0	—	1	0	—
24	Rick Neuheisel	1999–2002	49	33	16	—	0.673	23	9	—	0.719	1	3	—	—	1	0	—
25	Keith Gilbertson	2003–2004	23	7	16	—	0.304	4	12	—	0.250	0	0	—	—	0	0	—
26	Tyrone Willingham	2005–2008	48	11	37	—	0.229	6	29	—	0.171	0	0	—	—	0	0	—
27	Steve Sarkisian	2009–2013	63	34	29	—	0.540	24	21	—	0.533	1	2	—	0	0	0	—
28	Chris Petersen	2014–2019	67	47	20	—	0.701	32	15	—	0.681	1	3	—	3	2	0	—
29	Jimmy Lake	2020–	0	0	0	—	–	0	0	—	–	0	0	—	0	0	0

Notes

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.[10]
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.[11]
4. When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[12]
5. Statistics correct as of the end of the 2016 college football season.
6. Divisional champions have advanced to the Pac-12 Football Championship Game since the institution of divisional play beginning in the 2011 season. Since that time, Washington has competed as a member of the Pac-12 North.

References

General

• "Washington Coaching Records". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
• 2011 Washington Football Information Guide & Record Book (PDF). Seattle, Washington: Washington Athletics Communications Office. 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2012.

Specific

1. 2011 Washington Football Information Guide & Record Book, p. 173
2. 2011 Washington Football Information Guide & Record Book, p. 177
3. 2011 Washington Football Information Guide & Record Book, pp. 183–204
4. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). "National Poll Rankings" (PDF). 2010 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Records. NCAA.org. pp. 68–77. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
5. "Gil "Gloomy Gil" Dobie". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
6. "Jim Phelan". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
7. "Darrell Royal". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
8. "Jim Owens". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
9. "Don James". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
10. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived from the original on August 22, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
11. Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on November 24, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
12. Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on October 22, 2009. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
13. "Past National COTY Winners". American Football Coaches Association. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
14. "Past National COTY Winners". Paul "Bear" Bryant Award. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
15. "All-time Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award Winners". Football Writers Association of America. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
16. "George Munger Award College Coach of the Year". Maxwell Football Club. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
17. 2012 Pac-12 Conference Football Media Guide. Pac-12 Communications Department. 2012. p. 119.