List of VMI Keydets head football coaches

The VMI Keydets football team competes in the Southern Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Football Championship Subdivision, representing the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. Since its inception in 1891, the program has had 33 head coaches.

Although the origins of VMI football date back to 1873, the first organized football team did not appear until 1891. The first head coach was Walter Taylor, the son of Walter H. Taylor, a prominent banker, lawyer, and aide-de-camp to Robert E. Lee.^[1] Notable coaches include Blandy Clarkson, who spent seven seasons with the Keydets and led the team to their first undefeated season in 1920; John McKenna, the school's all-time most victorious coach who compiled a record of 62–60–8 in thirteen seasons with VMI while winning four Southern Conference championships; and Bob Thalman, the second most victorious coach who led the team to the 1974 and 1977 conference titles. The most recent Keydet head coach was Sparky Woods, who coached seven seasons for the Keydets before being let go by the school in 2014. In over 120 years of football, VMI has an all-time record of 485–718–42 (.406).

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]}

Coaches

List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards^[5]
#	Name	Season(s)^[a]	GC	W	L	T	W%	CW	CL	CT	C%	PW	PL	PT	CCs	NCs	National awards
1	Walter Taylor	1891	4	3	0	1	.875	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2	George Bryant	1895–1896	13	8	5	0	.615	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3	R. N. Groner	1897	5	3	2	0	.600	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4	Samuel Boyle, Jr.	1899	7	5	2	0	.714	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
5	Sam Walker	1900–1902	21	11	7	3	.595	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
6	William Roper^[6]^†	1903–1904	11	5	6	0	.455	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
7	Ira Johnson	1905–1906	16	6	9	1	.406	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
8	Charles Roller	1907–1908	13	8	5	0	.615	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
9	William C. Gloth	1909–1910	14	7	6	1	.536	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
10	Alpha Brummage	1911–1912	16	14	2	0	.875	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
11	Henry Poague	1913	10	7	1	2	.800	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
12	Frank Gorton	1914–1916	26	14	16	1	.558	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
13	Earl Abell	1917	9	4	4	1	.500	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
14	Earl Abell Mose Goodman	1918	4	1	3	0	.250	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
15	Red Fleming	1919	8	6	2	0	.750	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
16	Blandy Clarkson	1920–1926	67	45	20	2	.687	5	12	1	.306	—	—	—	—	—	—
17	W. C. Raftery	1927–1936	98	38	55	5	.413	18	33	3	.361	—	—	—	—	—	—
18	Allison Hubert	1937–1946	96	43	45	8	.490	29	24	7	.650	—	—	—	—	—	—
19	Arthur Morton	1947–1948	18	9	8	1	.339	7	4	1	.625	—	—	—	—	—	—
20	Tom Nugent	1949–1952	39	19	18	2	.513	15	6	1	.705	—	—	—	1	—	—
21	John McKenna	1953–1965	130	62	60	8	.508	44	27	5	.612	—	—	—	4	—	—
22	Vito Ragazzo	1966–1970	51	10	41	0	.196	5	18	0	.217	—	—	—	—	—	—
23	Bob Thalman	1971–1984	151	54	94	3	.368	25	43	2	.371	—	—	—	2	—	—
24	Eddie Williamson	1985–1988	44	10	33	1	.239	5	18	1	.229	—	—	—	—	—	—
25	Jim Shuck	1989–1993	55	14	40	1	.264	6	37	1	.191	—	—	—	—	—	—
26	Bill Stewart	1994–1996	33	8	25	0	.242	7	17	0	.292	—	—	—	—	—	—
27	Ted Cain^[b]	1997–1998	21	1	20		.048	0	16		.000	—	—	—	—	—	—
28	Cal McCombs	1999–2005	79	19	60		.241	9	35		.205	—	—	—	—	—	—
29	Jim Reid	2006–2007	22	3	19		.136	0	8		.000	—	—	—	—	—	—
30	Sparky Woods	2008–2014	79	17	62		.215	9	32		.220	—	—	—	—	—	—
31	Scott Wachenheim	2015–2022	86	24	62		.279	16	46		.258	—	1	—	1	—	—
32	Danny Rocco	2023–2025	35	7	28	—	.200	5	19	—	.208	—	—	—	—	—	—
33	Ashley Ingram	2026–present	0	0	0	—	–	0	0	—	–	—	—	—	—	—	—

v t e VMI Keydets football
Venues	Alumni Field (1921–1949, 1955–1958) Wilson Field (1950–1955, 1959–1961) Alumni Memorial Field (1962–present)
Bowls & rivalries	The Citadel: Military Classic of the South Richmond William & Mary Virginia Tech
Culture & lore	Traditions "The Spirit" Moe the Kangaroo Porter Cup
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1873 1874–1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

List of VMI Keydets head football coaches

Coaches

Notes

References

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