List of Alabama Crimson Tide head football coaches

The Alabama Crimson Tide college football team represents the University of Alabama in the West Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Crimson Tide competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 28 head coaches, and 1 interim head coach, since it began play during the 1892 season.^[1] Since January 2024, Kalen DeBoer has served as Alabama's head coach.^[2]

Kalen DeBoer is the 28th and current head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Adopting the nickname of the Crimson Tide after the 1907 season,^[3] the team has played more than 1,100 games over 119 seasons.^[4] In that time, 12 coaches have led the Crimson Tide in postseason bowl games: Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, Harold Drew, Bear Bryant, Ray Perkins, Bill Curry, Gene Stallings, Mike DuBose, Dennis Franchione, Mike Shula, Joe Kines, and Nick Saban.^[5] Eight of those coaches also won conference championships: Wade captured four as a member of the Southern Conference and Thomas, Drew, Bryant, Curry, Stallings, DuBose, and Saban won a combined 25 as a member of the SEC.^[6] During their tenures, Wade, Thomas, Bryant, Stallings, and Saban each won national championships with the Crimson Tide.^[6][7][8]

Bryant is the leader in seasons coached and games won, with 232 victories during his 25 years with the program.^[9] Saban has the highest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with .866.^[9] Jennings B. Whitworth has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with .166.^[9] Mike Price, who was hired in 2003, was fired prior to coaching a game.^[10] Of the 28 different head coaches who have led the Crimson Tide, Wade,^[11] Thomas,^[12] Bryant,^[13] and Stallings^[14] have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

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) [A 6]	GC	OW	OL	OT	O%	CW	CL	CT	C%	PW	PL	PT	DC [A 7]	CC	NC	Awards
1	E. B. Beaumont	1892	4	2	2	0	0.500	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
2	Eli Abbott	1893–1895, 1902	20	7	13	0	0.350	2	8	0	0.200	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
3	Otto Wagonhurst	1896	3	2	1	0	0.667	1	1	0	0.500	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
4	Allen McCants	1897	1	1	0	0	1.000	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
5	W. A. Martin	1899	4	3	1	0	0.750	1	0	0	1.000	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
6	Malcolm Griffin	1900	5	2	3	0	0.400	1	3	0	0.250	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
7	M. S. Harvey	1901	5	2	1	2	0.600	2	1	2	0.600	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
8	W. B. Blount	1903–1904	17	10	7	0	0.588	8	7	0	0.533	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
9	Jack Leavenworth	1905	10	6	4	0	0.600	5	4	0	0.556	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
10	J. W. H. Pollard	1906–1909	30	21	4	5	0.783	13	4	5	0.705	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
11	Guy Lowman	1910	8	4	4	0	0.500	1	4	0	0.200	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
12	D. V. Graves	1911–1914	36	21	12	3	0.625	14	11	3	0.554	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
13	Thomas Kelley	1915–1917	25	17	7	1	0.700	12	6	1	0.658	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
14	Xen Scott	1919–1922	41	29	9	3	0.744	17	8	3	0.661	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
15	Wallace Wade†	1923–1930	77	61	13	3	0.812	45	10	2	0.807	2	0	1	—	4	3 – 1925, 1926, 1930	—
16	Frank Thomas†	1931–1946	146	115	24	7	0.812	71	19	6	0.771	4	2	0	—	4	2 – 1934, 1941	SEC Coach of the Year (1945)[21][A 8]
17	Harold Drew	1947–1954	89	54	28	7	0.646	33	21	7	0.598	1	2	0	—	1	0	SEC Coach of the Year (1952)[21]
18	Jennings B. Whitworth	1955–1957	30	4	24	2	0.167	3	18	1	0.159	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
19	Bear Bryant†	1958–1982	256	205	42	9	0.818	125	25	5	0.823	12	10	2	—	13	6 – 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979	AFCA Coach of the Year (1961, 1971, 1973)[22] AP SEC Coach of the Year (1961, 1964, 1965, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981)[21] UPI SEC Coach of the Year (1959, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1971, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1981)[21] SEC Coach of the Year (1961, 1964, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1981)[21]
20	Ray Perkins	1983–1986	48	32	15	1	0.677	14	9	1	0.604	3	0	0	—	0	0	—
21	Bill Curry	1987–1989	36	26	10	0	0.722	14	6	0	0.700	1	2	0	—	1	0	Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award (1989)[23] AP SEC Coach of the Year (1989)[21] UPI SEC Coach of the Year (1987, 1989)[21] SEC Coach of the Year (1989)[21]
22	Gene Stallings† [A 9]	1990–1996	87	62	25	0	0.713	38	16	0	0.704	5	1	0	4	1	1 – 1992	AFCA Coach of the Year (1992)[22] FWAA Coach of the Year (1992)[25] George Munger Award (1992)[26] Walter Camp Coach of the Year (1992)[27] AP SEC Coach of the Year (1992)[21] SEC Coach of the Year (1992)[21]
23	Mike DuBose	1997–2000	47	24	23	—	0.511	16	16	—	0.500	0	2	—	1	1	0	AP SEC Coach of the Year (1999)[21] SEC Coach of the Year (1999)[21]
24	Dennis Franchione	2001–2002	25	17	8	—	0.680	10	6	—	0.625	1	0	—	0	0	0	—
25	Mike Price [A 10]	2003	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
26	Mike Shula [A 11]	2003–2006	49	10	23	—	0.303	5	19	—	0.208	0	1	—	0	0	0	—
Int	Joe Kines [A 12]	2006	1	0	1	—	.000	—	—	—	—	0	1	—	—	—	—	—
27	Nick Saban [A 13]	2007–2023	235	206	29	—	0.877	120	18	—	0.870	16	6	—	11	9	6 – 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2020	AP Coach of the Year (2008)[31] Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (2008)[25] Home Depot Coach of the Year (2008)[32] Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award (2008)[33] Sporting News College Football Coach of the Year (2008)[34] Walter Camp Coach of the Year (2008)[27] AP SEC Coach of the Year (2009)[21] SEC Coach of the Year (2008, 2009, 2016)[21] Paul "Bear" Bryant Award[35]
28	Kalen DeBoer	2024–	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.^[15]
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.^[16]
4. When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.^[17]
5. Statistics correct as of the end of the 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season.
6. Alabama did not field teams in 1898 due to school rules, in 1918 due to World War I and in 1943 due to World War II.^[4] The coach of the 1918 squad was to have been B. L. Noojin and the coach of the 1943 squad was to have been Frank Thomas.^[18][19]
7. Divisional champions have advanced to the SEC Championship Game since the institution of divisional play beginning in the 1992 season. Since that time, Alabama has competed as a member of the SEC West.^[20]
8. The SEC Coach of the Year is voted by league coaches.^[21]
9. Stallings' record at the conclusion of the 1993 season was nine wins, three losses and one tie (9–3–1, 5–3–1 SEC). In August 1995, the NCAA ruled that Alabama must forfeit eight victories and one tie that Antonio Langham participated in as he was declared ineligible for previously signing with a sports agent in violation of NCAA rules. Thus the official NCAA record for 1993 is 1–12.^[24]
10. Price was hired in December 2002 and fired in May 2003 without coaching an official game.^[10]
11. Shula's record at the conclusion of the 2005 season was ten wins and two losses (10–2, 6–2 SEC) and six wins and six losses (6–6, 2–6 SEC) in 2006. In March 2009, the NCAA ruled that Alabama must vacate 16 victories due to sanctions stemming from textbook-related infractions discovered during the 2007 season for the 2005 and 2006 seasons. As the penalty to vacate victories does not result in a loss (or forfeiture) of the affected contests or award a victory to the opponent, the official NCAA record for these years are 0–2 and 0–6 respectively.^[28][29]
12. Joe Kines was named interim head coach for the 2006 Independence Bowl, following the termination of Mike Shula as head coach.^[30]
13. Saban’s record at the conclusion of the 2007 season was seven wins and six losses (7–6, 4–4 SEC). In March 2009, the NCAA ruled that Alabama must vacate five victories due to sanctions stemming from textbook-related infractions discovered during the 2007 season. As the penalty to vacate victories does not result in a loss (or forfeiture) of the affected contests or award a victory to the opponent, the official NCAA record for 2007 is 2–6.^[28][29]

References

General

• "Alabama Coaching Records". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on December 15, 2010. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
• 2010 Alabama Football Media Guide (PDF). Tuscaloosa, Alabama: UA Athletics Media Relations Office. 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 12, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2011.

Specific

1. 2010 Alabama Football Media Guide, p. 3
2. "After repeated denials, Saban takes Bama job". ESPN. January 4, 2007. Archived from the original on October 13, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2010.
3. 2010 Alabama Football Media Guide, p. 117
4. University of Alabama Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. "All-time Football Results". RollTide.com. Archived from the original on November 25, 2011. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
5. University of Alabama Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. "Bowl History" (PDF). RollTide.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 23, 2011. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
6. 2010 Alabama Football Media Guide, pp. 180–193
7. University of Alabama Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. "National Championships". RollTide.com. Archived from the original on October 22, 2008. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
8. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). "National Poll Rankings" (PDF). 2010 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Records. NCAA.org. pp. 68–77. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 16, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
9. 2010 Alabama Football Media Guide, p. 193
10. "Witt: Price warned before trip about his behavior". ESPN.com. Associated Press. May 4, 2003. Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
11. "Hall of Fame inductee search: Wallace Wade". National Football Foundation. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
12. "Hall of Fame inductee search: Frank Thomas". National Football Foundation. Archived from the original on January 22, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
13. "Hall of Fame inductee search: Paul Bryant". National Football Foundation. Archived from the original on September 29, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
14. Goodbread, Chase (May 28, 2010). "Gene Stallings enters Hall of Fame". The Tuscaloosa News. Archived from the original on May 31, 2010. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. "Noojin to coach Crimson next year". The Montgomery Advertiser. NewsBank: America's Historical Newspapers. December 20, 1917. p. 2.
19. "Intercollegiate football abandoned at University". The Tuscaloosa News. Tuscaloosa, Alabama. August 23, 1943. p. 1. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
20. Harwell, Hoyt (November 30, 1990). "SEC sets division lineups". The Tuscaloosa News. p. 1C. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
21. 2010 Alabama Football Media Guide, p. 175
22. "Past National COTY Winners". American Football Coaches Association. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved August 26, 2011.
23. "Past Winners". Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2010.
24. Deas, Tommy (August 1, 1995). "Forfeitures will revise UA history". The Tuscaloosa News. p. 1C.
25. "All-time Eddie Robinson Award Winners". Football Writers Association of America. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved January 21, 2011.
26. "George Munger Award – Past recipients". Maxwell Football Club. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved January 15, 2010.
27. "Alabama's Nick Saban Named Walter Camp 2008 Coach of the Year". Walter Camp Football Foundation. December 28, 2008. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved January 5, 2010.
28. "Alabama's penalty from '09 ruling stands". ESPN.com. Associated Press. March 23, 2010. Archived from the original on January 18, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
29. Hurt, Cecil (March 24, 2010). "NCAA denies UA's appeal of sanctions". The Tuscaloosa News. Retrieved January 22, 2011.^{[permanent dead link]}
30. "Alabama fires Shula, names Kines interim coach". ESPN.com. ESPN.com news services. November 28, 2006. Archived from the original on December 2, 2006. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
31. "Saban named AP's top coach". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 23, 2010. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
32. Rapoport, Ian (December 9, 2008). "Nick Saban named Home Depot Coach of the Year". al.com. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved January 21, 2011.
33. "Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year: Previous Winners (2008)". Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
34. "Tide's Saban is SN's National Coach of the Year". SportingNews.com. Archived from the original on February 23, 2015. Retrieved January 21, 2011.
35. "Saban wins Bear Bryant award, his first at Bama". Espn.com. January 14, 2021. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved November 12, 2021.