List of Fort Hays State Tigers head football coaches
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The Fort Hays State Tigers football program is a college football team that represents Fort Hays State University in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, a part of NCAA Division II. The team has had 23 head coaches since its first recorded football game in 1902.[1] After it was announced that head coach Kevin Verdugo would not return for the 2011 season,[2] Chris Brown was announced as the new head coach.[3]
The coach with the most wins for the team was Bob Cortese with 55, and James J. Yeager had the highest winning percentage at .800 in 1935. Wayne J. McConnell coached the most games for the school, 155 games total from 1956 through 1968. One year coach Andrew Frank Schoeppel went on to become the 29th Governor of Kansas from 1943 to 1947 and a U.S. Senator from 1949 until his death. Jim Gilstrap went on to a successful coaching career in the Canadian Football League.
| 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] | ||||
Coaches
Statistics correct as of the end of the 2025 season.
| No. | Name | Term | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | CCs | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | No coach | 1902–1912 | 28 | 11 | 10 | 7 | .518 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1 | Ira Van Cleave | 1913–1914 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 0 | .692 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | W. G. Speer | 1915–1918 | 24 | 18 | 6 | 0 | .750 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — |
| 3 | Alfred J. Robertson | 1919 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 3 | 4 | 0 | .429 | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | Ralph Archer | 1920 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | .313 | 2 | 3 | 1 | .417 | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | George Woodward | 1920–1922 | 22 | 10 | 10 | 2 | .500 | 10 | 7 | 2 | .579 | — | — | 1 | — |
| 6 | William D. Weidein | 1923–1928 | 49 | 19 | 24 | 6 | .449 | 14 | 22 | 4 | .400 | — | — | — | — |
| 7 | Andrew Frank Schoeppel | 1929 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | .286 | 2 | 4 | 0 | .333 | — | — | — | — |
| 8 | W. C. Riley | 1930–1934 | 46 | 21 | 19 | 6 | .522 | 11 | 14 | 1 | .442 | — | — | 1 | — |
| 9 | James J. Yeager | 1935 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | .800 | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | — | — | 1 | — |
| 10 | Paul D. Waldorf | 1936–1941 | 54 | 25 | 21 | 8 | .537 | 11 | 13 | 1 | .460 | — | — | 1 | — |
| 11 | Bill Bearly | 1942 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 0 | .111 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | — |
| 12 | Ralph Huffman | 1946–1955 | 88 | 41 | 37 | 10 | .523 | 20 | 20 | 10 | .500 | — | — | 1 | — |
| 13 | Wayne J. McConnell | 1956–1968 | 115 | 45 | 67 | 3 | .404 | 20 | 36 | 2 | .362 | — | — | 1 | — |
| 14 | Tom Stromgren | 1969–1971 | 29 | 7 | 21 | 1 | .259 | 3 | 12 | 1 | .219 | — | — | — | — |
| 15 | Bill Giles | 1972–1978 | 71 | 24 | 44 | 3 | .359 | 16 | 23 | 2 | .415 | — | — | 1 | — |
| 16 | Bobby Thompson | 1979–1980, 1984 | 31 | 9 | 20 | 2 | .323 | 6 | 13 | 2 | .333 | — | — | — | — |
| 17 | Jim Gilstrap | 1981–1983 | 32 | 20 | 11 | 1 | .641 | 11 | 9 | 1 | .548 | — | — | — | — |
| 18 | John Vincent | 1985–1989 | 50 | 22 | 26 | 2 | .460 | 16 | 15 | 0 | .516 | — | — | — | — |
| 19 | Bob Cortese | 1990–1997 | 90 | 55 | 32 | 3 | .628 | 35 | 12 | 2 | .735 | 1 | 3 | 2 | — |
| 20 | Jeff Leiker | 1998–2000 | 32 | 13 | 19 | 0 | .406 | 9 | 15 | 0 | .375 | — | — | — | — |
| 21 | Tim O'Connor | 2001–2004 | 44 | 20 | 24 | 0 | .455 | 15 | 17 | 0 | .469 | — | — | — | — |
| 22 | Kevin Verdugo | 2005–2010 | 64 | 18 | 47 | 0 | .277 | 11 | 42 | 0 | .208 | — | — | — | — |
| 23 | Chris Brown | 2011–present | 158 | 96 | 63 | 0 | .601 | 86 | 58 | 0 | .597 | 1 | 3 | 2 | — |