User:RapidsLurker15/Oklahoma Sooners football coaches

This is a season-by-season overview of head coaches of the Oklahoma Sooners football team. The Oklahoma Sooners have had a total of 23 head coaches since its first season in 1895.

List of coaches

National Champions †	Conference Champions *	Division Champions ‡	Not applicable

#		Season	GP	W-L-T^[a]	Win %	Overall win %	Bowl/playoffs	Conference
1	John A. Harts (1873–1947)	1895	1	0–1–0	.000	0–1–0 (.000)		Independent 1895–1914
–	No coach	1896	2	2–0–0	1.000	N/A
2	Vernon L. Parrington (1871–1929)	1897	2	2–0–0	1.000	9–2–1 (.792)
		1898	2	2–0–0	1.000
		1899	3	2–1–0	.667
		1900	5	3–1–1	.700
3	Fred Roberts (1875–1959)	1901	5	3–2–0	.600	3–2–0 (.600)
4	Mark McMahon (1878–1947)	1902	9	6–3–0	.667	11–7–3 (.595)
4	Mark McMahon (1878–1947)	1903	12	5–4–3	.542	11–7–3 (.595)
5	Fred Ewing (1880–1968)	1904	8	4–3–1	.563	4–3–1 (.563)
6	Bennie Owen (1875–1970)	1905	9	7–2–0	.778	122–54–16 (.677)
		1906	9	5–2–2	.667
		1907	8	4–4–0	.500
		1908	10	8–1–1	.850
		1909	10	6–4–0	.600
		1910	7	4–2–1	.643
		1911	8	8–0–0	1.000
		1912	9	5–4–0	.556
		1913	8	6–2–0	.750
		1914	11	9–1–1	.864
		1915 *	10	10–0–0	1.000			Southwest Conference 1915–1919
		1916	11	6–5–0	.545
		1917	11	6–4–1	.591
		1918 *	6	6–0–0	1.000
		1919	10	5–2–3	.650
		1920 *	7	6–0–1	.929			Missouri Valley Conference 1920–1928
		1921	8	5–3–0	.625
		1922	8	2–3–3	.438
		1923	8	3–5–0	.375
		1924	8	2–5–1	.313
		1925	8	4–3–1	.563
		1926	8	5–2–1	.688
7	Adrian Lindsey (1895–1980)	1927	8	3–3–2	.500	19–19–6 (.500)
		1928	8	5–3–0	.625
		1929	8	3–3–2	.500			Big Six Conference 1929–1947
		1930	8	4–3–1	.563
		1931	12	4–7–1	.375
8	Lewie Hardage (1891–1973)	1932	9	4–4–1	.500	11–12–4 (.481)
		1933	9	4–4–1	.500
		1934	9	3–4–2	.444
9	Biff Jones (1895–1980)	1935	9	6–3–0	.667	9–6–3 (.583)
9	Biff Jones (1895–1980)	1936	9	3–3–3	.500	9–6–3 (.583)
10	Thomas E. Stidham (1905–1964)	1937	9	5–2–2	.667	27–8–3 (.750)
		1938 *	11	10–1–0	.909		L Orange Bowl, 0–17
		1939	9	6–2–1	.722
		1940	9	6–3–0	.667
11	Dewey Luster (1899–1980)	1941	9	6–3–0	.667	27–18–3 (.594)
		1942	9	3–5–2	.400
		1943 *	9	7–2–0	.778
		1944 *	10	6–3–1	.650
		1945	10	5–5–0	.500
12	Jim Tatum (1913–1959)	1946 *	11	8–3–0	.727	8–3–0 (.727)	W Gator Bowl, 34–13
13	Bud Wilkinson (1916–1994)	1947 *	10	7–2–1	.750	145–29–4 (.826)
		1948 *	11	10–1–0	.909		W Sugar Bowl, 14–6	Big Seven Conference 1948–1958
		1949 *	11	11–0–0	1.000		W Sugar Bowl, 35–0
		1950 †*	11	10–1–0	.909		L Sugar Bowl, 7–13
		1951 *	10	8–2–0	.800
		1952 *	10	8–1–1	.850
		1953 *	11	9–1–1	.864		W Orange Bowl, 7–0
		1954 *	10	10–0–0	1.000		Consecutive bowl games prohibited by conference
		1955 †*	11	11–0–0	1.000		W Orange Bowl, 20–6
		1956 †*	10	10–0–0	1.000		Consecutive bowl games prohibited by conference
		1957 *	11	10–1–0	.909		W Orange Bowl, 48–21
		1958 *	11	10–1–0	.909		W Orange Bowl, 21–6
		1959 *	10	7–3–0	.700			Big Eight Conference 1959–1995
		1960	10	3–6–1	.350		Ineligible due to NCAA probation
		1961	10	5–5–0	.500
		1962 *	11	8–3–0	.727		L Orange Bowl, 0–17
		1963	10	8–2–0	.800
14	Gomer Jones (1914–1971)	1964	11	6–4–1	.591	9–11–1 (.452)	L Gator Bowl, 19–36
14	Gomer Jones (1914–1971)	1965	10	3–7–0	.300	9–11–1 (.452)
15	Jim Mackenzie (1930–1967)	1966	10	6–4–0	.600	6–4–0 (.600)
16	Chuck Fairbanks (1933–2013)	1967^[b] *	11	10–1–0	.909	52–15–1 (.772)	W Orange Bowl, 26–24
		1968 *	11	7–4–0	.636		L Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, 27–28
		1969	10	6–4–0	.600
		1970	12	7–4–1	.625		T Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, 24–24
		1971	12	11–1–0	.917		W Sugar Bowl, 40–22
		1972 *	12	11–1–0	.917		W Sugar Bowl, 14–0
17	Barry Switzer (born 1937)	1973 *	11	10–0–1	.955	157–29–4 (.837)	Ineligible due to NCAA probation
		1974 †*	11	11–0–0	1.000		Ineligible due to NCAA probation
		1975 †*	12	11–1–0	.917		W Orange Bowl, 14–6
		1976 *	12	9–2–1	.792		W Fiesta Bowl, 41–7
		1977 *	12	10–2–0	.833		L Orange Bowl, 6–31
		1978 *	12	11–1–0	.917		W Orange Bowl, 31–24
		1979 *	12	11–1–0	.917		W Orange Bowl, 24–7
		1980 *	12	10–2–0	.833		W Orange Bowl, 18–17
		1981	12	7–4–1	.625		W Sun Bowl, 40–14
		1982	12	8–4–0	.667		L Fiesta Bowl, 21–32
		1983	12	8–4–0	.667
		1984 *	12	9–2–1	.792		L Orange Bowl, 17–28
		1985 †*	12	11–1–0	.917		W Orange Bowl, 25–10
		1986 *	12	11–1–0	.917		W Orange Bowl, 42–8
		1987 *	12	11–1–0	.917		L Orange Bowl, 14–20
		1988	12	9–3–0	.750		L Florida Citrus Bowl, 6–13
18	Gary Gibbs (born 1952)	1989	11	7–4–0	.636	44–23–2 (.652)	Ineligible due to NCAA probation
		1990	11	8–3–0	.727		Ineligible due to NCAA probation
		1991	12	9–3–0	.750		W Gator Bowl, 48–14
		1992	11	5–4–2	.545
		1993	12	9–3–0	.750		W John Hancock Bowl, 41–10
		1994	12	6–6–0	.500		L Copper Bowl, 6–31
19	Howard Schnellenberger (1934–2021)	1995	11	5–5–1	.500	5–5–1 (.500)
20	John Blake (1961–2020)	1996^[a]	11	3–8	.273	12–22 (.353)		Big 12 Conference 1996–2023
		1997	12	4–8	.333
		1998	11	5–6	.455
21	Bob Stoops (born 1960)	1999	12	7–5	.583	190–48^[c] (.798)	L Independence Bowl, 25–27
		2000 †*	13	13–0	1.000		W Orange Bowl, 13–2
		2001	13	11–2	.846		W Cotton Bowl Classic, 10–3
		2002 *	14	12–2	.857		W Rose Bowl, 34–14
		2003 ‡	14	12–2	.857		L Sugar Bowl, 14–21
		2004 *	13	12–1	.923		L Orange Bowl, 19–55
		2005	12	8–4	.667		W Holiday Bowl, 17–14
		2006 *	14	11–3	.786		L Fiesta Bowl, 42–43 (OT)
		2007 *	14	11–3	.786		L Fiesta Bowl, 28–48
		2008 *	14	12–2	.857		L BCS National Championship Game, 14–24
		2009	13	8–5	.615		W Sun Bowl, 31–27
		2010 *	14	12–2	.857		W Fiesta Bowl, 48–20
		2011	13	10–3	.769		W Insight Bowl, 31–14
		2012 *	13	10–3	.769		L Cotton Bowl Classic, 41–13
		2013	13	11–2	.846		W Sugar Bowl, 45–31
		2014	13	8–5	.615		L Russell Athletic Bowl, 6–40
		2015 *	13	11–2	.846		L Orange Bowl, 17–37
		2016 *	13	11–2	.846		W Sugar Bowl, 35–19
22	Lincoln Riley (born 1983)	2017 *	14	12–2	.857	55–10 (.846)	L Rose Bowl, 48–54 (2OT)
		2018 *	14	12–2	.857		L Orange Bowl, 34–45
		2019 *	14	12–2	.857		L Peach Bowl, 28–63
		2020 *	11	9–2	.818		W Cotton Bowl Classic, 55–20
		2021^[d]	13	10–2	.833
–	Bob Stoops (born 1960) Interim	2021^[d]	13	1–0	1.000	1–0^[c] (1.000)	W Alamo Bowl, 47–32
23	Brent Venables (born 1970)	2022	13	6–7	.462	22–17 (.564)	L Cheez-It Bowl, 32–35
		2023	13	10–3	.769		L Alamo Bowl, 24–38
		2024	13	6–7	.462		L Armed Forces Bowl, 20–21	Southeastern Conference 2024–present
		2025						Southeastern Conference 2024–present

Notes

^ ^a ^b Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.
^ Jim Mackenzie suffered a fatal heart attack on April 28, 1967, and Fairbanks was promoted to head coach four days later.
^ ^a ^b With his head coaching tenure and interim tenure combined, Stoops' overall record as Oklahoma's head coach is 191–48 (.799).
^ Lincoln Riley departed Oklahoma to coach the University of Southern California Trojans on November 28, 2021. Former head coach Bob Stoops was named interim coach for the Sooners' 2021 bowl game.

Lifespan timeline

This is a graphical lifespan timeline of head coaches of the Oklahoma Sooners. They are listed in order (Stoops is listed in order of his first tenure).

Living coaches

As of January 2025, there are four living former head coaches of the Oklahoma Sooners, plus the incumbent, Brent Venables. The most recent head coach to die was Howard Schnellenberger (coached 1995) on March 27, 2021. The most recently serving head coach to die was John Blake (coached 1996–1998) on July 23, 2020. The living coaches, from oldest to youngest, are as follows:

Barry Switzer
(1973–1988)
Born (1937-10-05)October 5, 1937
(age 87 years, 88 days)
Gary Gibbs
(1989–1994)
Born (1952-08-13)August 13, 1952
(age 72 years, 141 days)
Bob Stoops
(1999–2016, interim 2021)
Born (1960-09-09)September 9, 1960
(age 64 years, 114 days)
Brent Venables
(2022–present)
Born (1970-12-18)December 18, 1970
(age 54 years, 14 days)
Lincoln Riley
(2017–2021)
Born (1983-09-05)September 5, 1983
(age 41 years, 118 days)

[ties-1] Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.

[2] Jim Mackenzie suffered a fatal heart attack on April 28, 1967, and Fairbanks was promoted to head coach four days later.

[stoopsoverall-3] With his head coaching tenure and interim tenure combined, Stoops' overall record as Oklahoma's head coach is 191–48 (.799).

[4] Lincoln Riley departed Oklahoma to coach the University of Southern California Trojans on November 28, 2021. Former head coach Bob Stoops was named interim coach for the Sooners' 2021 bowl game.

[a]

[b]

[c]

[d]