List of Nevada Wolf Pack head football coaches

The Nevada Wolf Pack college football team represents the University of Nevada, Reno as a member of the Mountain West Conference (MWC), 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 1896 season. Since December 2023, Jeff Choate has served as Nevada's head coach.^[1]

Chris Ault won the most games during his tenure with the Wolf Pack.

Six coaches have led Nevada in postseason bowl games or playoffs: Joe Sheeketski, Chris Ault, Jeff Tisdel, Brian Polian, Jay Norvell, and Vai Taua. Four coaches also won conference championships: Brick Mitchell captured two and Jim Aiken one as a member of the Far Western Conference; Ault captured four as a member of the Big Sky Conference, three as a member of the Big West Conference, and two as a member of the Western Athletic Conference; and Tisdel captured two as a member of the Big West.

Ault is the leader in seasons coached, with 28 years as head coach and games coached (343), won (234). F. F. Ellis has the highest winning percentage at 0.800. Ken Wilson has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with 0.167. Of the 28 different head coaches who have led the Wolf Pack, Buck Shaw and Ault 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)	GC	OW	OL	OT	O%	CW	CL	CT	C%	PW	PL	PT	DC	CC	NC	Awards
1	Frank Taylor	1896	3	1	2	0	0.333	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
2	William H. Harrelson	1897	1	0	1	0	.000	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
3	F. F. Ellis	1898	5	4	1	0	0.800	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
4	A. King Dickson	1899	5	3	2	0	0.600	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
5	James Hopper	1900	7	4	2	1	0.643	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
6	Allen Steckle	1901–1903	17	6	9	2	0.412	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
7	Bruce Shorts	1904	6	3	3	0	0.500	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
8	Jack Glascock	1915–1917	18	4	14	0	0.222	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
9	Ray Courtright	1919–1923	46	26	13	7	0.641	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
10	Charles F. Erb	1924	8	3	4	1	0.438	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
11	Buck Shaw†	1925–1928	33	10	20	3	0.348	7	9	1	0.441	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
12	George Philbrook	1929–1931	26	6	15	5	0.327	6	4	1	0.591	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
13	Brick Mitchell	1932–1935	33	10	20	3	0.348	7	6	2	0.533	—	—	—	—	2	0	—
14	Doug Dashiell	1936–1938	22	8	13	1	0.386	4	7	0	0.364	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
15	Jim Aiken	1939–1946	68	38	26	4	0.588	3	1	0	0.750	—	—	—	—	1	0	—
16	Joe Sheeketski	1947–1950	42	24	18	0	0.571	—	—	—	—	1	1	0	—	—	0	—
17	Jake Lawlor	1952–1954	16	6	10	0	0.375	2	3	0	0.400	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
18	Gordon McEachron	1955–1958	30	6	23	1	0.217	4	15	1	0.225	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
19	Dick Trachok	1959–1968	91	40	48	3	0.456	22	28	3	0.443	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
20	Jerry Scattini	1969–1975	74	37	36	1	0.507	—	—	—	—	0	0	0	—	—	0	—
21	Chris Ault†	1976–1992 1994–1995 2004–2012	343	234	108	1	0.684	133	53	0	0.715	11	15	0	—	9	0	—
22	Jeff Horton	1993	11	7	4	0	0.636	5	2	0	0.714	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
23	Jeff Tisdel	1996–1999	45	23	22	—	0.511	13	8	—	0.619	1	0	—	—	2	0	—
24	Chris Tormey	2000–2003	47	16	31	—	0.340	12	20	—	0.375	0	0	—	—	0	0	—
25	Brian Polian	2013–2016	50	23	27	—	0.460	14	18	—	0.438	1	1	—	0	0	0	—
26	Jay Norvell	2017–2021	59	33	26	—	0.559	23	17	—	0.575	2	1	—	0	0	0	—
Int	Vai Taua	2021	1	0	1	—	.000	0	0	—	–	0	1	—	0	0	0	—
27	Ken Wilson	2022–2023	24	4	20	—	0.167	2	14	—	0.125	0	0	—	0	0	0	—
28	Jeff Choate	2024–present	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.^[2]
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.^[3]
4. When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.^[4]
5. Statistics correct as of the end of the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season.

References

1. "Nevada hires Texas co-defensive coordinator Jeff Choate as head coach". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 4, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.