List of Oklahoma Sooners head football coaches

The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma. The team has had 23 head coaches since organized football began in 1895. The Sooners have played in more than 1,200 games in its 121 seasons. In those seasons, nine coaches have led the Sooners to postseason bowl games: Thomas E. Stidham, Jim Tatum, Bud Wilkinson, Gomer Jones, Chuck Fairbanks, Barry Switzer, Gary Gibbs, Bob Stoops and Lincoln Riley. Nine coaches have won conference championships with the Sooners: Bennie Owen, Stidham, Dewey Luster, Tatum, Wilkinson, Fairbanks, Switzer, Stoops and Riley. Wilkinson, Switzer and Stoops have also won national championships with the Sooners. Stoops is the all-time leader in games coached and won, Owen is the all-time leader in years coached, while Riley is the all-time leader in winning percentage. John Harts is, in terms of winning percentage, the worst coach the Sooners have had as he lost the only game he coached. John Blake has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game with .353 in his 34 games.

Bob Stoops, head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners from 1999 to 2016 and interim head coach in 2021.

Of the 23 Sooner coaches, Owen, Lawrence Jones, Tatum, Wilkinson, Switzer and Stoops have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Wilkinson, Switzer, and Stoops have each received National Coach of the Year honors from at least one organization. The current head coach is Brent Venables, who was hired on December 5, 2021, replacing Lincoln Riley after his departure to become the head coach at the University of Southern California (USC) in November 2021.^[1][2]

Key

General # Number of coaches[A 1] CCs Conference championships[A 2] NCs National championships † Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame

Overall games GC Games coached OW Wins OL Losses OT Ties[A 3] O% Winning percentage[A 4]

Conference games CW Wins CL Losses CT Ties C% Winning percentage

Postseason games PW Wins PL Losses PT Ties

Head coaches

Statistics correct as of the end of the 2024 NCAA Division I FBS football season

#	Picture	Name	Term	GC	OW	OL	OT	O%	CW	CL	CT	C%	PW	PL	PT	CCs	NCs	National awards
1		John A. Harts	1895	1	0	1	0	.000	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2		Vernon Parrington	1897–1900	12	9	2	1	.792	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3		Fred Roberts	1901	5	3	2	0	.600	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4		Mark McMahon	1902–1903	21	11	7	3	.595	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
5		Fred Ewing	1904	8	4	3	1	.593	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
6		Bennie Owen[6]†	1905–1926	192	122	54	16	.677	28	20	7	.573	—	—	—	3	—	—
7		Adrian Lindsey	1927–1931	44	19	19	6	.500	11	12	2	.480	—	—	—	—	—	—
8		Lewie Hardage	1932–1934	27	11	12	4	.481	8	6	1	.567	—	—	—	—	—	—
9		Biff Jones[7]†	1935–1936	18	9	6	3	.583	4	4	2	.500	—	—	—	—	—	—
10		Thomas E. Stidham	1937–1940	38	27	8	3	.750	15	4	1	.775	0	1	0	1	—	—
11		Dewey Luster	1941–1945	48	27	18	3	.594	19	4	2	.800	—	—	—	2	—	—
12		Jim Tatum[8]†	1946	11	8	3	0	.727	4	1	0	.800	1	0	0	1	—	—
13		Bud Wilkinson[9]†	1947–1963	178	145	29	4	.826	93	9	3	.900	6	2	0	14	3 – 1950, 1955, 1956	AFCA Coach of the Year (1949)[10] AP Coach of the Year (1950)[11]
14		Gomer Jones	1964–1965	21	9	11	1	.452	8	5	1	.607	0	1	0	—	—	—
15		Jim Mackenzie	1966	10	6	4	0	.600	4	3	0	.571	—	—	—	—	—	—
16		Chuck Fairbanks	1967–1972	68	49	18	1	.728	34	8	0	.809	3	1	1	3	—	—
17		Barry Switzer[12]†	1973–1988	190	157	29	4	.837	100	11	1	.897	8	5	0	12	3 – 1974, 1975, 1985	Walter Camp Coach of the Year (1974)[13]
18		Gary Gibbs	1989–1994	69	44	23	2	.652	26	14	2	.643	2	1	0	—	—	—
19		Howard Schnellenberger	1995	11	5	5	1	.500	2	5	0	.286	—	—	—	—	—	—
20		John Blake	1996–1998	34	12	22	—	.353	8	16	—	.333	—	—	—	—	—	—
21		Bob Stoops[14]†	1999–2016	238	190	48	—	.798	121	29	—	.807	9	9	—	10	1 – 2000	AFCA Coach of the Year (2000)[10] Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (2000)[15] Home Depot Coach of the Year Award (2000)[15] AP Coach of the Year (2000)[15][16] Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (2000)[15] Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award (2003)[17][18] Walter Camp Coach of the Year (2000, 2003)[13][15][19]
22		Lincoln Riley	2017–2021	65	55	10	—	.846	37	7	—	.841	1	3	—	4	—	Broyles Award (2015) Big 12 Coach of the Year (2018) AP Big 12 Coach of the Year (2018)
—		Bob Stoops (Interim)	2021	1	1	0	—	1.000	0	0	—	.000	1	0	—	0	—	—
23		Brent Venables	2022–present	39	22	17	—	0.564	12	14	—	0.462	0	3	—	0	—	—

Notes

1. A running total of the number of coaches of the Sooners. Thus, any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is counted only once.
2. Oklahoma did not join a conference until 1915.^[3]
3. Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.^[4]
4. When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.^[5]