TheSam Houston Bearkatscollege football team representsSam Houston State University as a member ofConference USA (C-USA). The Bearkats competes as part of theNCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 16 head coaches and one interim head coach since it began play during the1912 season. Between 2014 and 2024,K. C. Keeler served as head coach at Sam Houston.[1] Since December 2024,Phil Longo has served as head coach at Sam Houston.[2]
Since 1912, four coaches have led Sam Houston in postseason appearances:Paul Pierce,Ron Randleman,Willie Fritz, Keeler, andBrad Cornelsen. Four of those coaches also wonconference championships:J. W. Jones captured one as a member of theTexas Intercollegiate Athletic Association; Pierce captured four as a member of theLone Star Conference; Randleman captured two as a member of theGulf Star Conference; and Randleman captured three, Fritz two, and Keeler four as a member of theSouthland Conference. The Bearkats also won national championships under Pierce in1964 (NAIA) and under Keeler in2020–21 (FCS).
Randleman is the leader in seasons coached and games won, with 131 victories during his 23 years with the program. Fritz has the highestwinning percentage with .727, andBilly Tidwell has the lowest winning percentage with .274.
| 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 | Season(s) [A 6] | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | DC | CC | NC | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sheldon R. Warner | 1912–1913 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0.611 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 2 | Gene Berry | 1914–1917 1919 | 30 | 14 | 15 | 1 | 0.483 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 3 | Mutt Gee | 1920–1922 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 0.471 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 4 | J. W. Jones | 1923–1935 | 116 | 54 | 53 | 9 | 0.504 | 31 | 27 | 5 | 0.532 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 5 | Henry O. Crawford | 1936–1937 | 19 | 7 | 12 | 0 | 0.368 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0.125 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 6 | Puny Wilson | 1938–1942 1946–1951 | 105 | 50 | 49 | 6 | 0.505 | 18 | 27 | 3 | 0.406 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 7 | Paul Pierce | 1952–1967 | 153 | 94 | 52 | 7 | 0.637 | 57 | 41 | 4 | 0.578 | 3 | 1 | 1 | — | 4 | 1 –1964 | — |
| 8 | Tom Page | 1968–1971 | 42 | 20 | 19 | 3 | 0.512 | 15 | 15 | 2 | 0.500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 9 | Allen Boren | 1972–1973 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0.333 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 0.353 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 10 | Billy Tidwell | 1974–1977 | 42 | 11 | 30 | 1 | 0.274 | 10 | 22 | 0 | 0.313 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 11 | Melvin Brown | 1978–1981 | 41 | 12 | 29 | 0 | 0.293 | 8 | 20 | 0 | 0.286 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 12 | Ron Randleman | 1982–2004 | 259 | 131 | 125 | 3 | 0.512 | 62 | 75 | 2 | 0.453 | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | — |
| 13 | Todd Whitten | 2005–2009 | 53 | 25 | 28 | — | 0.472 | 16 | 17 | — | 0.485 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 14 | Willie Fritz | 2010–2013 | 55 | 40 | 15 | — | 0.727 | 21 | 7 | — | 0.750 | 7 | 3 | — | — | 2 | 0 | AFCA FCS Coach of the Year (2011) Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award (2012) |
| 15 | K. C. Keeler | 2014–2024 | 136 | 97 | 39 | — | 0.713 | 65 | 21 | — | 0.756 | 14 | 5 | — | — | 4 | 1 –2020–21 | Eddie Robinson Award (2016) |
| Int. | Brad Cornelsen [A 7] | 2024 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | — | – | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 16 | Phil Longo | 2025–present | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | – | 0 | 0 | — | – | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — |