TheKansas Jayhawks football program is acollege football team that represents theUniversity of Kansas in theBig 12 Conference in theNational Collegiate Athletic Association. The Jayhawks head coach isLance Leipold. The team has had 40 head coaches since it started playing organized football in 1890 with the nicknameJayhawks.[1] The team played its first season without an official head coach, however,Will Coleman, starting center on theinaugural team, served as the team's head coach.Edwin Mortimer Hopkins was the Jayhawks first official head coach. He served as the head coach only for the1891 team finishing the season 7–0–1. Kansas joined theMissouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1907. After several changes, the conference eventually became theBig Eight Conference. The Jayhawks became a charter member of the Big 12 in 1996 when the Big Eight disbanded.[2] Seven coaches have led Kansas to postseasonbowl games:George Sauer,Jack Mitchell,Pepper Rodgers,Don Fambrough,Bud Moore,Glen Mason andMark Mangino. Four coaches have wonconference championships with the Jayhawks:A. R. Kennedy,Bill Hargiss, Sauer and Rodgers.
Mason is the all-time leader in games coached (102), and is tied with Mitchell for most years coached with nine. Kennedy is the all-time leader in total wins with 52.Fielding H. Yost has the highestwinning percentage of any Jayhawk coach with a 10–0 record (1.000) his only year. Of coaches who served more than one season,Wylie G. Woodruff leads with a .833 winning percentage, barely edging out Kennedy's winning percentage of .831.David Beaty is, in terms of winning percentage, the worst coach the Jayhawks have had (.125). Of the 39 Kansas coaches, Yost is the only one that has been inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame as a coach. Mangino won several coach of the year accolades after the 2007 season, the only Jayhawks coach to do so.
| 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 theCollege Football Hall of Fame | O% | Overallwinning percentage[A 4] | ||||
| # | Name | Term | GC | W | L | T | % | CW | CL | CT | C% | BW | BL | CC | Awards and other notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edwin Mortimer Hopkins | 1891 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | .938 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | A. W. Shepard | 1892–1893 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 0 | .600 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | Hector Cowan[6]† | 1894–1896 | 23 | 15 | 7 | 1 | .674 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | Wylie G. Woodruff | 1897–1898 | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0 | .833 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | Fielding H. Yost[7]† | 1899 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 6 | Larry Boynton | 1900 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 2 | .333 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 7 | John H. Outland[8]† | 1901 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | .400 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 8 | Arthur Hale Curtis | 1902 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 9 | Harrison Weeks | 1903 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Fired for having a sexual relationship with a KU freshman girl. He was 24 at the time.[9] |
| 10 | A. R. Kennedy | 1904–1910 | 65 | 52 | 9 | 4 | .831 | 9 | 3 | 1 | .731 | — | — | 1 | Forced out by conference rule change requiring coaches to be full-time faculty members.[10] |
| 11 | Ralph W. Sherwin | 1911 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | .625 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .500 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 12 | Arthur Mosse | 1912–1913 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 4 | 4 | 0 | .500 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 13 | H. M. Wheaton | 1914 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | .688 | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 14 | Herman Olcott | 1915–1917 | 24 | 16 | 7 | 1 | .688 | 7 | 4 | 1 | .625 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 15 | Jay Bond | 1918 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 16 | Leon McCarty | 1919 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | .563 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .500 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 17 | Phog Allen | 1920 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | .688 | 3 | 2 | 0 | .600 | — | — | 0 | Best known for his tenure asmen's basketball coach, member ofNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach |
| 18 | Potsy Clark | 1921–1925 | 39 | 16 | 17 | 6 | .487 | 11 | 15 | 6 | .438 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 19 | Frank Cappon | 1926–1927 | 16 | 5 | 10 | 1 | .344 | 4 | 8 | 1 | .346 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 20 | Bill Hargiss | 1928–1932 | 42 | 22 | 18 | 2 | .548 | 8 | 11 | 1 | .425 | — | — | 1 | — |
| 21 | Adrian Lindsey[A 6] | 1932–1938 | 61 | 23 | 30 | 8 | .443 | 11 | 18 | 5 | .397 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 22 | Gwinn Henry | 1939–1942 | 36 | 9 | 27 | 0 | .250 | 4 | 16 | 0 | .200 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 23 | Henry Shenk | 1943–1945 | 30 | 11 | 16 | 3 | .417 | 4 | 10 | 1 | .300 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 24 | George Sauer | 1946–1947 | 21 | 15 | 3 | 3 | .786 | 8 | 1 | 1 | .850 | 0 | 1 | 2 | AcceptedNavy job[11] |
| 25 | Jules V. Sikes | 1948–1953 | 60 | 35 | 25 | 0 | .583 | 18 | 18 | 0 | .500 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 26 | Chuck Mather | 1954–1957 | 40 | 11 | 26 | 3 | .313 | 7 | 16 | 1 | .313 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 27 | Jack Mitchell | 1958–1966 | 91 | 42 | 44 | 5 | .489 | 29 | 28 | 4 | .508 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 28 | Pepper Rodgers | 1967–1970 | 42 | 20 | 22 | 0 | .476 | 13 | 15 | 0 | .464 | 0 | 1 | 1 | AcceptedUCLA job[12] |
| 29 | Don Fambrough | 1971–1974, 1979–1982 | 90 | 37 | 48 | 5 | .439 | 20 | 33 | 3 | .384 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 30 | Bud Moore | 1975–1978 | 45 | 17 | 21 | 1 | .449 | 8 | 19 | 1 | .304 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 31 | Mike Gottfried | 1983–1985 | 34 | 15 | 18 | 1 | .456 | 8 | 13 | 0 | .381 | — | — | 0 | AcceptedPittsburgh job[13] |
| 32 | Bob Valesente | 1986–1987 | 22 | 4 | 17 | 1 | .205 | 0 | 13 | 1 | .036 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 33 | Glen Mason | 1988–1996 | 102 | 47 | 54 | 1 | .466 | 25 | 38 | 1 | .398 | 2 | 0 | 0 | AcceptedMinnesota job[14] |
| 34 | Terry Allen | 1997–2001 | 53 | 20 | 33 | 0 | .377 | 10 | 30 | 0 | .250 | — | — | 0 | Fired after eight games of 2001 season. |
| Int | Tom Hayes[A 7] | 2001 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .333 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 35 | Mark Mangino | 2002–2009 | 98 | 50 | 48 | 0 | .510 | 23 | 41 | 0 | .359 | 3 | 1 | 0 | Big 12 Coach of the Year (2007)[16] Resigned following the launch of an investigation of his coaching practices.[25] |
| 36 | Turner Gill | 2010–2011 | 24 | 5 | 19 | 0 | .208 | 1 | 16 | 0 | .059 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 37 | Charlie Weis | 2012–2014 | 27 | 5 | 22 | 0 | .185 | 1 | 18 | 0 | .053 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fired four games into the 2014 season |
| Int | Clint Bowen | 2014 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .125 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .125 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Interim Head Coach after Charlie Weis was fired |
| 38 | David Beaty | 2015–2018 | 48 | 6 | 42 | 0 | .125 | 2 | 34 | 0 | .056 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fired after the end of the 2018 season |
| 39 | Les Miles | 2019–2020 | 21 | 3 | 18 | 0 | .150 | 1 | 16 | 0 | .063 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mutually agreed to part with Kansas after allegations of inappropriate conduct with female students while at LSU. |
| 40 | Lance Leipold | 2021–present | 50 | 22 | 28 | 0 | .440 | 13 | 23 | 0 | .361 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
