List of Alabama Crimson Tide head football coaches

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The Alabama Crimson Tide college football team represents the University of Alabama in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Crimson Tide competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 28 head coaches, and 1 interim head coach, since it began play during the 1892 season.[1] Since January 2024, Kalen DeBoer has served as Alabama's head coach.[2]

Kalen DeBoer is the 28th and current head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Adopting the nickname of the Crimson Tide after the 1907 season,[3] the team has played more than 1,350 games over 131 seasons.[4] In that time, 13 coaches have led the Crimson Tide in postseason bowl games: Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, Harold Drew, Bear Bryant, Ray Perkins, Bill Curry, Gene Stallings, Mike DuBose, Dennis Franchione, Mike Shula, Joe Kines, Nick Saban, and DeBoer.[5] Eight of those coaches also won conference championships: Wade captured four as a member of the Southern Conference and Thomas, Drew, Bryant, Curry, Stallings, DuBose, and Saban won a combined 25 as a member of the SEC.[6] During their tenures, Wade, Thomas, Bryant, Stallings, and Saban each won national championships with the Crimson Tide.[6][7][8]

Bryant is the leader in seasons coached and games won, with 232 victories during his 25 years with the program.[9] Saban has the highest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with .866.[9] Jennings B. Whitworth has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with .166.[9] Mike Price, who was hired in 2003, was fired prior to coaching a game.[10] Of the 28 different head coaches who have led the Crimson Tide, Wade,[11] Thomas,[12] Bryant,[13] Stallings,[14] and Saban[15] have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Key

More information General, Overall ...
Key to symbols in coaches list
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 the College Football Hall of Fame O% Overall winning percentage[A 4]
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Coaches

More information No., Name ...
List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards[A 5]
No. Name Year(s)
[A 6]		 Season(s) GC OW OL OT O% CW CL CT C% PW PL PT DC
[A 7]		 CC NC Awards
1 E. B. Beaumont 1892 1 4 2 2 0 0.500 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
2 Eli Abbott 1893–1895, 1902 3, 1 20 7 13 0 0.350 2 8 0 0.200 — — — — 0 0 —
3 Otto Wagonhurst 1896 1 3 2 1 0 0.667 1 1 0 0.500 — — — — 0 0 —
4 Allen McCants 1897 1 1 1 0 0 1.000 — — — — — — — — 0 0 —
5 W. A. Martin 1899 1 4 3 1 0 0.750 1 0 0 1.000 — — — — 0 0 —
6 Malcolm Griffin 1900 1 5 2 3 0 0.400 1 3 0 0.250 — — — — 0 0 —
7 M. S. Harvey 1901 1 5 2 1 2 0.600 2 1 2 0.600 — — — — 0 0 —
8 W. B. Blount 1903–1904 1 17 10 7 0 0.588 8 7 0 0.533 — — — — 0 0 —
9 Jack Leavenworth 1905 1 10 6 4 0 0.600 5 4 0 0.556 — — — — 0 0 —
10 J. W. H. Pollard 1906–1909 4 30 21 4 5 0.783 13 4 5 0.705 — — — — 0 0 —
11 Guy Lowman 1910 1 8 4 4 0 0.500 1 4 0 0.200 — — — — 0 0 —
12 D. V. Graves 1911–1914 4 36 21 12 3 0.625 14 11 3 0.554 — — — — 0 0 —
13 Thomas Kelley 1915–1917 3 25 17 7 1 0.700 12 6 1 0.658 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
14 Xen Scott 1919–1922 4 41 29 9 3 0.744 17 8 3 0.661 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
15 Wallace Wade† 1923–1930 8 77 61 13 3 0.812 45 10 2 0.807 2 0 1 — 4 3 – 1925, 1926, 1930 —
16 Frank Thomas† 1931–1946 16 146 115 24 7 0.812 71 19 6 0.771 4 2 0 — 4 2 – 1934, 1941 SEC Coach of the Year (1945)[22][A 8]
17 Harold Drew 1947–1954 8 89 54 28 7 0.646 33 21 7 0.598 1 2 0 — 1 0 SEC Coach of the Year (1952)[22]
18 Jennings B. Whitworth 1955–1957 3 30 4 24 2 0.167 3 18 1 0.159 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
19 Bear Bryant† 1958–1982 25 287 232 46 9 0.824 125 25 5 0.823 12 10 2 — 13 6 – 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979

AFCA Coach of the Year (1961, 1971, 1973)[23]
AP SEC Coach of the Year (1961, 1964, 1965, 1971, 1973,
1974, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981)[22]
UPI SEC Coach of the Year (1959, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1971,
1973, 1978, 1979, 1981)[22]
SEC Coach of the Year (1961, 1964, 1971, 1973, 1974,
1978, 1979, 1981)[22]

20 Ray Perkins 1983–1986 4 48 32 15 1 0.677 14 9 1 0.604 3 0 0 — 0 0 —
21 Bill Curry 1987–1989 3 36 26 10 0 0.722 14 6 0 0.700 1 2 0 — 1 0 Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award (1989)[24]
AP SEC Coach of the Year (1989)[22]
UPI SEC Coach of the Year (1987, 1989)[22]
SEC Coach of the Year (1989)[22]
22 Gene Stallings†
[A 9]		 1990–1996 7 87 62 25 0 0.713 38 16 0 0.704 5 1 0 4 1 1 – 1992 AFCA Coach of the Year (1992)[23]
FWAA Coach of the Year (1992)[26]
George Munger Award (1992)[27]
Walter Camp Coach of the Year (1992)[28]
AP SEC Coach of the Year (1992)[22]
SEC Coach of the Year (1992)[22]
23 Mike DuBose 1997–2000 4 47 24 23 — 0.511 16 16 — 0.500 0 2 — 1 1 0 AP SEC Coach of the Year (1999)[22]
SEC Coach of the Year (1999)[22]
24 Dennis Franchione 2001–2002 2 25 17 8 — 0.680 10 6 — 0.625 1 0 — 0 0 0 —
25 Mike Price
[A 10]		 2003 1 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
26 Mike Shula
[A 11]		 2003–2006 4 49 10 23 — 0.303 5 19 — 0.208 0 1 — 0 0 0 —
Int Joe Kines
[A 12]		 2006 1 1 0 1 — .000 — — — — 0 1 — — — — —
27 Nick Saban†
[A 13]		 2007–2023 17 235 206 29 — 0.877 120 18 — 0.870 16 6 — 11 9 6 – 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2020 AP Coach of the Year (2008)[32]
Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (2008)[26]
Home Depot Coach of the Year (2008)[33]
Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award (2008)[34]
Sporting News College Football Coach of the Year (2008)[35]
Walter Camp Coach of the Year (2008)[28]
AP SEC Coach of the Year (2009)[22]
SEC Coach of the Year (2008, 2009, 2016)[22]
Paul "Bear" Bryant Award[36]
28 Kalen DeBoer 2024–present 2 28 20 8 — 0.714 12 4 — 0.750 1 2 — — 0 0 —
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Notes

  1. [1]
    Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played.[16]
  2. [2]
    A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.
  3. [3]
    Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.[17]
  4. [4]
    When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[18]
  5. [5]
    Statistics correct as of the end of the 2025 NCAA Division I FBS football season.
  6. [6]
    Alabama did not field teams in 1898 due to school rules, in 1918 due to World War I and in 1943 due to World War II.[4] The coach of the 1918 squad was to have been B. L. Noojin and the coach of the 1943 squad was to have been Frank Thomas.[19][20]
  7. [7]
    Divisional champions have advanced to the SEC Championship Game since the institution of divisional play beginning in the 1992 season. Since that time, Alabama has competed as a member of the SEC West.[21]
  8. [8]
    The SEC Coach of the Year is voted by league coaches.[22]
  9. [9]
    Stallings' record at the conclusion of the 1993 season was nine wins, three losses and one tie (9–3–1, 5–3–1 SEC). In August 1995, the NCAA ruled that Alabama must forfeit eight victories and one tie that Antonio Langham participated in as he was declared ineligible for previously signing with a sports agent in violation of NCAA rules. Thus the official NCAA record for 1993 is 1–12.[25]
  10. [10]
    Price was hired in December 2002 and fired in May 2003 without coaching an official game.[10]
  11. [11]
    Shula's record at the conclusion of the 2005 season was ten wins and two losses (10–2, 6–2 SEC) and six wins and six losses (6–6, 2–6 SEC) in 2006. In March 2009, the NCAA ruled that Alabama must vacate 16 victories due to sanctions stemming from textbook-related infractions discovered during the 2007 season for the 2005 and 2006 seasons. As the penalty to vacate victories does not result in a loss (or forfeiture) of the affected contests or award a victory to the opponent, the official NCAA record for these years are 0–2 and 0–6 respectively.[29][30]
  12. [12]
    Joe Kines was named interim head coach for the 2006 Independence Bowl, following the termination of Mike Shula as head coach.[31]
  13. [13]
    Saban’s record at the conclusion of the 2007 season was seven wins and six losses (7–6, 4–4 SEC). In March 2009, the NCAA ruled that Alabama must vacate five victories due to sanctions stemming from textbook-related infractions discovered during the 2007 season. As the penalty to vacate victories does not result in a loss (or forfeiture) of the affected contests or award a victory to the opponent, the official NCAA record for 2007 is 2–6.[29][30]

References

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