TheKansas State Wildcats football program is acollege football team that representsKansas State University in theBig 12 Conference in theNational Collegiate Athletic Association. The team has had 32 head coaches and one interim head coach since its first official football game in 1896. The current coach isChris Klieman, who was hired prior to the 2019 season.
The university adopted the nickname "Wildcats" in 1915 after being previously known as the "Aggies." Head coachZora Clevenger changed the team's nickname to the "Farmers" from 1916 to 1919, but it was changed back to "Wildcats" permanently in 1920 by coachCharlie Bachman.[1]
Kansas State joined theMissouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1913. The school split away from the MVIAA with five others to create theBig Six Conference in 1928. Through the years that conference added two teams and eventually became theBig Eight Conference.[2] The Wildcats became a charter member of the Big 12 in 1996 when the Big Eight disbanded.[3]
Four coaches have led Kansas State to postseasonbowl games:Jim Dickey,Bill Snyder,Ron Prince andChris Klieman. Five coaches have wonconference championships with the Wildcats:Mike Ahearn (1909, 1910);Guy Lowman (1912);Pappy Waldorf (1934); Snyder (2003, 2012) and Klieman (2023).[4][5]
Bill Snyder is the all-time leader in seasons coached at KSU with 27, more than triple the next highest. Snyder is also the leader in games coached (333, almost four times the next highest) and total wins (215, more than five times the next highest). Mike Ahearn has the highest overall winning percentage of any Wildcat coach, at .755 over his six seasons.Sam Francis is the worst coach in program history in terms of winning percentage, as he lost every one of the ten games he coached during his only season at Kansas State. Among coaches who served more than one season,Stan Parrish has the lowest winning percentage (.076) after completing three seasons with a record of 2–30–1. Bill Snyder, Charles Bachman and Pappy Waldorf have been inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame as coaches. Coaches Clevenger,Bo McMillin and Francis were inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame as players. Snyder is the only coach to have won major post-season national coach of the year honors while at Kansas State.
| 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] | ||||
| No. | Name | Term | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | CCs | National Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ira Pratt | 1896 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .250 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | A. W. Ehrsam | 1897 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .375 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | Billy P. Williamson | 1898 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .500 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | Albert Hansen | 1899 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | .400 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | Fay Moulton | 1900 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | .333 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 6 | Wade Moore | 1901 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | .438 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 7 | Cyrus E. Dietz | 1902 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | .250 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 8 | G. O. Dietz | 1903 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | .438 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 9 | Reuben F. Booth | 1904 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | .143 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 10 | Mike Ahearn | 1905–1910 | 51 | 39 | 12 | 0 | .765 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2[A 5] | — |
| 11 | Guy Lowman | 1911–1914 | 35 | 17 | 15 | 3 | .529 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .000 | — | — | 1[A 5] | — |
| 12 | John R. Bender | 1915 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | .438 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .167 | — | — | — | — |
| 13 | Zora Clevenger† | 1916–1919 | 30 | 19 | 9 | 2 | .667 | 3 | 6 | 2 | .364 | — | — | — | — |
| 14 | Charlie Bachman†[9] | 1920–1927 | 65 | 33 | 23 | 9 | .577 | 17 | 21 | 6 | .455 | — | — | — | — |
| 15 | Bo McMillin† | 1928–1933 | 51 | 29 | 21 | 1 | .578 | 15 | 15 | 0 | .500 | — | — | — | — |
| 16 | Pappy Waldorf†[10] | 1934 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | .750 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | 1 | — |
| 17 | Wesley Fry | 1935–1939 | 45 | 18 | 21 | 6 | .467 | 6 | 14 | 5 | .340 | — | — | — | — |
| 18 | Hobbs Adams | 1940–41, 1946 | 27 | 4 | 21 | 2 | .185 | 2 | 12 | 1 | .167 | — | — | — | — |
| 19 | Ward Haylett | 1942–1944 | 28 | 6 | 20 | 2 | .250 | 3 | 12 | 0 | .200 | — | — | — | — |
| 20 | Lud Fiser | 1945 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .125 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | — |
| 21 | Sam Francis† | 1947 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | — |
| 22 | Ralph Graham | 1948–1950 | 31 | 4 | 26 | 1 | .145 | 1 | 17 | 0 | .056 | — | — | — | — |
| 23 | Bill Meek | 1951–1954 | 39 | 14 | 24 | 1 | .372 | 7 | 17 | 0 | .304 | — | — | — | — |
| 24 | Bus Mertes | 1955–1959 | 49 | 15 | 34 | 1 | .310 | 10 | 20 | 0 | .333 | — | — | — | — |
| 25 | Doug Weaver | 1960–1966 | 69 | 8 | 60 | 1 | .123 | 4 | 43 | 1 | .094 | — | — | — | — |
| 26 | Vince Gibson | 1967–1974 | 85 | 33 | 52 | 0 | .388 | 16 | 40 | 0 | .286 | — | — | — | — |
| 27 | Ellis Rainsberger | 1975–1977 | 33 | 6 | 27 | 0 | .182 | 0 | 21 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | — |
| 28 | Jim Dickey | 1978–1985[A 6] | 80 | 24 | 54 | 2 | .313 | 12 | 35 | 2 | .265 | 0 | 1 | — | — |
| Int | Lee Moon | 1985[A 6] | 9 | 1 | 8 | 0 | .111 | 1 | 6 | 0 | .143 | — | — | — | — |
| 29 | Stan Parrish | 1986–1988 | 33 | 2 | 30 | 1 | .076 | 1 | 19 | 1 | .071 | — | — | — | — |
| 30 | Bill Snyder† | 1989–2005, 2009–2018 | 333 | 215 | 117 | 1 | .647 | 126 | 90 | 1 | .583 | 9 | 10 | 2 | AP Coach of the Year (1998)[12] |
| 31 | Ron Prince | 2006–2008 | 37 | 17 | 20 | — | .459 | 9 | 15 | — | .375 | 0 | 1 | — | — |
| 32 | Chris Klieman | 2019–Present | 76 | 48 | 28 | — | .632 | 31 | 23 | — | .574 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — |
Jim Dickey, after losing his first two games in a self-described make-or-break season, resigned under pressure Sunday as Kansas State football coach and will be replaced by assistant athletic director Lee Moon.
