List of Jacksonville State Gamecocks head football coaches
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The Jacksonville State Gamecocks college football team represents Jacksonville State University as a member of Conference USA (C-USA). The Gamecocks competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 29 head coaches, and three interim head coaches since it began play during the 1904 season. Since December 2024, Charles Kelly has served as head coach at Jacksonville State.[1]
Since 1904, ten coaches have led Jacksonville State in postseason appearances: Don Salls, Jim Blevins, Charley Pell, Jim Fuller, Bill Burgess, Jack Crowe, Bill Clark, John Grass, Rich Rodriguez, and Rod Smith. Nine of those coaches also won conference championships: Salls captured three as a member of the Alabama Intercollegiate Conference; Salls captured four and Blevins two as a member of the Alabama Collegiate Conference; Pell captured one as a member of the Mid-South Athletic Conference; Clarkie Mayfield captured one, Fuller four, Burgess four as a member of the Gulf South Conference; Crowe captured two and Grass six as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference; and Rodriguez one as a member of the ASUN Conference and one as a member of C-USA. The Gamecocks also won a national championship under Burgess in 1992 (D-II).
Salls is the leader in seasons coached and games won, with 95 victories during his 18 years with the program. Grass has the highest winning percentage with 0.735, and F. A. Harwood has the lowest winning percentage with .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) [A 6] |
SC | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | DC | CC | NC | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charles Holton | 1904–1905 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0.286 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 2 | Earl Wells | 1908 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0.571 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 3 | F. A. Harwood | 1909 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 4 | George Penton | 1910 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0.333 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 5 | Ben Harris | 1911–1919 | 9 | 57 | 34 | 16 | 7 | 0.658 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 6 10 |
J. W. Stephenson | 1920–1921 1929–1930 |
2, 2 | 34 | 21 | 9 | 4 | 0.676 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 7 | C. C. Bush | 1922–1924 | 3 | 23 | 13 | 9 | 1 | 0.587 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 8 | Earl Wren | 1925 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0.143 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 9 | Al Clemens | 1926–1928 | 3 | 22 | 8 | 13 | 1 | 0.386 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 11 | T. B. Shotts | 1931–1937 | 7 | 50 | 12 | 34 | 4 | 0.280 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 12 14 |
Chester C. Dillon | 1938–1939 1945 |
2, 1 | 20 | 2 | 15 | 3 | 0.175 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 0.136 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 13 | Osmo Smith | 1940 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0.375 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0.600 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 15 17 |
Don Salls | 1946–1952 1954–1964 |
7, 11 | 163 | 95 | 57 | 11 | 0.617 | 38 | 12 | 2 | 0.750 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | — |
| 16 | Ray Wedgeworth | 1953 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0.389 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 18 | Jim Blevins | 1965–1968 | 4 | 38 | 22 | 15 | 1 | 0.592 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0.625 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | — |
| 19 | Charley Pell | 1969–1973 | 5 | 47 | 33 | 13 | 1 | 0.713 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 0.761 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 20 | Clarkie Mayfield | 1974–1976 | 3 | 33 | 22 | 11 | 0 | 0.667 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 0.750 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 21 | Jim Fuller | 1977–1983 | 7 | 79 | 54 | 25 | 0 | 0.684 | 36 | 12 | 0 | 0.750 | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | — |
| 22 | Joe Hollis | 1984 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0.450 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0.500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 23 | Bill Burgess | 1985–1996 | 12 | 137 | 84 | 49 | 4 | 0.628 | 43 | 15 | 3 | 0.730 | 12 | 4 | 0 | — | 4 | 1 – 1992 | — |
| 24 | Mike Williams | 1997–1999 | 3 | 26 | 9 | 17 | — | 0.346 | 5 | 10 | — | 0.333 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| Int. [A 7] |
Jeff Richards | 1999 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 6 | — | 0.143 | 1 | 5 | — | 0.167 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 25 | Jack Crowe | 2000–2012 | 13 | 144 | 87 | 57 | — | 0.604 | 66 | 35 | — | 0.653 | 0 | 3 | — | — | 2 | 0 | — |
| 26 | Bill Clark | 2013 | 1 | 15 | 11 | 4 | — | 0.733 | 5 | 3 | — | 0.625 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 27 | John Grass | 2014–2020 | 7 | 98 | 72 | 26 | — | 0.735 | 49 | 9 | — | 0.845 | 5 | 6 | — | — | 6 | 0 | — |
| Int. [A 8] |
Maxwell Thurmond | 2020 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | 0.500 | 1 | 1 | — | 0.500 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 28 | Rich Rodriguez | 2021–2024 | 4 | 37 | 27 | 10 | — | 0.730 | 18 | 3 | — | 0.857 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | — |
| Int. | Rod Smith [A 9] |
2024 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | — | .000 | 0 | 0 | — | – | 0 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 29 | Charles Kelly | 2025–present | 1 | 14 | 9 | 5 | — | 0.643 | 7 | 1 | — | 0.875 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 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 FBS football season.
- John Grass served as Jacksonville State's head coach for the first nine games of the 2021 season before resigning. Thurmond was appointed interim head coach for the remainder of the season. The Gamecocks finished the year with an overall record of 5–6 and a mark of 3–3 in conference play.[7]
- Rod Smith was named interim head coach for the 2024 Cure Bowl, following the resignation of Rich Rodriguez as head coach.[8]