List of Arkansas Razorbacks head football coaches

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The Arkansas Razorbacks college football team represents the University of Arkansas in the West Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Razorbacks compete as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 34 head coaches, and 3 interim head coaches, since it began play during the 1894 season.[1] Ryan Silverfield has served as head coach of the Razorbacks since November 2025.[2]

As of the conclusion of the 2025 regular season, the team has played 1,335 games over 132 seasons.[1] In that time, 12 coaches have led the Razorbacks in postseason bowl games: Fred Thomsen, John Barnhill, Bowden Wyatt, Frank Broyles, Lou Holtz, Ken Hatfield, Jack Crowe, Danny Ford, Houston Nutt, Reggie Herring, Bobby Petrino, and Bret Bielema.[3] 5 coaches won conference championships: Thomsen, Wyatt, Broyles, Holtz and Hatfield won a combined ten as a member of the Southwest Conference.[1] Frank Broyles won the Razorbacks' lone national championship in 1964.[1][4]

Broyles is the leader in seasons coached and games won, with 144 victories during his 19 years with the program.[1] Hatfield has the highest winning percentage of those who have coached more than 1 game, with .760.[1] Chad Morris has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than 1 game, with .182. Of the 31 different head coaches who have led the Razorbacks, Hugo Bezdek,[5] Francis Schmidt,[6] Wyatt,[7] Broyles,[8] and Holtz[9] have been inducted as head coaches into the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia.

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 Season(s) GC OW OL OT O% CW CL CT C% PW PL PT DC
[A 6]		 CC NC Awards
1 John C. Futrall 1894–1896 7 5 2 0 0.714 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
2 B. N. Wilson 1897–1898 6 4 1 1 0.750 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
3 Colbert Searles 1899–1900 9 5 2 2 0.667 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
4 Charles Thomas 1901–1902 17 9 8 0 0.529 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
5 D. A. McDaniel 1903 7 3 4 0 0.429 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
6 A. D. Brown 1904–1905 17 6 11 0 0.353 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
7 Frank Longman 1906–1907 17 6 8 3 0.441 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
8 Hugo Bezdek† 1908–1912 43 29 13 1 0.686 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
9 Earle T. Pickering 1913–1914 18 10 8 0 0.556 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
10 T. T. McConnell 1915–1916 15 8 6 1 0.567 1 3 0 0.250 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
11 Norman C. Paine 1917–1918 12 8 3 1 0.708 0 2 1 0.167 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
12 James B. Craig 1919 7 3 4 0 0.429 1 2 0 0.333 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
13 George McLaren† 1920–1921 16 8 5 3 0.594 4 1 1 0.750 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
14 Francis Schmidt† 1922–1928 65 41 21 3 0.654 14 13 2 0.518 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
15 Fred Thomsen 1929–1941 127 56 61 10 0.480 26 42 3 0.387 0 0 1 — 1 0 —
16 George Cole 1942 10 3 7 0 0.300 0 6 0 .000 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
17 John Tomlin 1943 9 2 7 0 0.222 1 4 0 0.200 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
18 Glen Rose 1944–1945 21 8 12 1 0.405 3 7 1 0.318 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
19 John Barnhill 1946–1949 42 22 17 3 0.560 10 13 1 0.438 1 0 1 — 1 0 —
20 Otis Douglas 1950–1952 30 9 21 0 0.300 4 14 0 0.222 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
21 Bowden Wyatt† 1953–1954 21 11 10 0 0.524 7 5 0 0.583 0 1 0 — 1 0 —
22 Jack Mitchell 1955–1957 30 17 12 1 0.583 8 9 1 0.472 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
23 Frank Broyles† 1958–1976 207 144 58 5 0.708 91 36 5 0.708 4 6 0 — 7 1 – 1964 AFCA Coach of the Year (1964)[14]
24 Lou Holtz† 1977–1983 83 60 21 2 0.735 37 18 1 0.670 3 2 1 — 1 0 College Football Coach of the Year (1977)[15]
FWAA Coach of the Year (1977)[16]
Sporting News College Football Coach of the Year (1977)[17]
Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award (1977)[18]
25 Ken Hatfield 1984–1989 73 55 17 1 0.760 36 10 0 0.783 1 5 0 — 2 0 —
26 Jack Crowe
[A 7]		 1990–1992 24 9 15 0 0.375 6 10 0 0.375 0 1 0 0 0 0 —
Int Joe Kines
[A 7]		 1992 10 3 6 1 0.350 3 4 1 0.438 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
27 Danny Ford 1993–1997 57 26 30 1 0.465 16 23 1 0.413 0 1 0 0 0 0 —
28 Houston Nutt
[A 8]		 1998–2007 123 75 48 — 0.610 42 38 — 0.525 2 5 — 3 0 0 AP SEC Coach of the Year (2001, 2006)[24]
SEC Coach of the Year (2001, 2006)[24]
Int Reggie Herring
[A 8]		 2007 1 0 1 — .000 0 0 — .000 0 1 — 0 0 0 —
29
Int.		 Bobby Petrino
[A 9]		 2008–2011
2025		 58 34 24 — 0.586 17 22 — 0.436 2 1 — 0 0 0 —
30 John L. Smith 2012 12 4 8 — 0.333 2 6 — 0.250 0 0 — 0 0 0 —
31 Bret Bielema 2013–2017 62 29 33 — 0.468 11 29 — 0.275 2 1 — 0 0 0 
32 Chad Morris 2017–2019 22 4 18 — 0.182 0 14 — .000 0 0 — 0 0 0 —
Int Barry Lunney Jr. 2019 2 0 2 -- .000 0 2 -- .000 0 0 -- 0 0 0 --
33 Sam Pittman[26][27] 2020–2025 66 32 34 — 0.485 14 29 — 0.326 3 0 — 0 0 0 —
34

Ryan Silverfield

 2026–present 0 0 0 — – 0 0 — – 0 0 — 0 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.[10]
  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.[11]
  4. [4]
    When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[12]
  5. [5]
    Statistics correct as of the end of the 2025 NCAA Division I FBS football season.
  6. [6]
    Divisional champions have advanced to the SEC Championship Game since the institution of divisional play beginning in the 1992 season. Since that time, Arkansas has competed as a member of the SEC West.[13]
  7. [7]
    Jack Crowe resigned as head coach on September 6, 1992, following a 10–3 loss to The Citadel. Joe Kines served as interim head coach for the remainder of the season, finishing with three wins, six losses and one tie.[19][20]
  8. [8]
    Houston Nutt resigned as head coach on November 26, 2007. Reggie Herring served as interim head coach for the 2008 Cotton Bowl Classic loss against Missouri.[21][22][23]
  9. [9]
    Bobby Petrino served as the interim head coach for the final seven games of the 2025 season after Sam Pittman was fired. As interim head coach Petrino complied an overall record of 0–7.[25]

References

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