List of Fresno State Bulldogs head football coaches
List of head football coaches for the Fresno State Bulldogs
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The Fresno State Bulldogs college football team represents California State University, Fresno (commonly referred to as Fresno State) in the Pac-12 Conference, as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 20 head coaches, and 3 interim head coaches, since it began play during the 1921 season. The current head coach is Matt Entz, who has held the position since December 4, 2024.
Ten coaches have led Fresno State in postseason bowl games: James Bradshaw, Cecil Coleman, Darryl Rogers, Jim Sweeney, Pat Hill, Tim DeRuyter, Jeff Tedford, Lee Marks Tim Skipper, and Entz. Eleven coaches also won conference championships: Arthur W. Jones captured three as a member of the California Coast Conference; Leo Harris captured two, Stanley Borleske one, and Bradshaw one as a member of the Far Western Conference; Cecil Coleman captured three, Bradshaw and Clark Van Galder each had two, and Darryl Rogers one as a member of the California Collegiate Athletic Association; Sweeney captured six as a member of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association / Big West Conference; Sweeney captured two and Hill one as a member of the Western Athletic Conference; DeRuyter and Tedford each captured two as a member of the MWC.
Sweeney is the leader in seasons coached, with 19 years as head coach and games coached (221) and won (144). Bradshaw has the highest all-time winning percentage at 0.750. Earl Wight has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with 0.000.
Key
| 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
| No. | Name | Season(s) | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | DC | CC | NC | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arthur W. Jones | 1921–1928 | 69 | 36 | 26 | 7 | 0.572 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 0.520 | — | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | — |
| 2 | Stanley Borleske | 1929–1932 | 36 | 16 | 18 | 2 | 0.472 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 0.500 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 3 | Leo Harris | 1933–1935 | 28 | 18 | 9 | 1 | 0.661 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0.773 | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | — |
| 4 | James Bradshaw | 1936–1942 1946 |
82 | 59 | 18 | 5 | 0.750 | 16 | 6 | 2 | 0.708 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | — |
| 5 | Earl Wight | 1944 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 6 | Alvin Pierson | 1945 1949 |
23 | 7 | 14 | 2 | 0.348 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0.250 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 7 | Ken Gleason | 1947–1948 | 21 | 6 | 12 | 3 | 0.357 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0.500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 8 | Duke Jacobs | 1950–1951 | 19 | 7 | 11 | 1 | 0.395 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0.375 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 9 | Clark Van Galder | 1952–1958 | 70 | 46 | 22 | 2 | 0.671 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 0.775 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | — |
| 10 | Cecil Coleman | 1959–1963 | 50 | 37 | 13 | 0 | 0.740 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 0.875 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | — |
| 11 | Phil Krueger | 1964–1965 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0.500 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0.250 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 12 | Darryl Rogers | 1966–1972 | 76 | 43 | 32 | 1 | 0.572 | 19 | 14 | 0 | 0.576 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 13 | J. R. Boone | 1973–1975 | 34 | 10 | 24 | 0 | 0.294 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0.231 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 14 | Jim Sweeney | 1976–1977 1980–1996 |
221 | 144 | 74 | 3 | 0.658 | 83 | 41 | 2 | 0.667 | 5 | 2 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | — |
| 15 | Bob Padilla | 1978–1979 | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 0.318 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0.300 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 16 | Pat Hill | 1997–2011 | 192 | 112 | 80 | — | 0.583 | 78 | 40 | — | 0.661 | 4 | 7 | — | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 17 | Tim DeRuyter | 2012–2016 | 60 | 30 | 30 | — | 0.500 | 21 | 15 | — | 0.583 | 0 | 3 | — | 2 | 2 | 0 | — |
| Int | Eric Kiesau [A 6] |
2016 | 4 | 0 | 4 | — | .000 | 0 | 4 | — | .000 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 18 | Jeff Tedford | 2017–2019 2022–2023 |
67 | 45 | 22 | — | 0.672 | 27 | 13 | — | 0.675 | 4 | 0 | — | 3 | 2 | 0 | — |
| 19 | Kalen DeBoer | 2020–2021 | 18 | 12 | 6 | — | 0.667 | 9 | 5 | — | 0.643 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| Int | Lee Marks [A 7] |
2021 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 1.000 | 1 | 0 | — | 1.000 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Int | Tim Skipper [A 8] |
2023–2024 | 14 | 7 | 7 | — | 0.500 | 4 | 3 | — | 0.571 | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 20 | Matt Entz | 2025–present | 13 | 9 | 4 | — | .692 | 5 | 3 | — | .625 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
Notes
- 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.
- Statistics correct as of the end of the 2025 NCAA Division I FCS football season.
- Marks served as interim head coach for the 2021 New Mexico Bowl after DeBoer resigned to become head coach at Washington.[5]