List of Vanderbilt Commodores head football coaches

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The Vanderbilt Commodores college football team represents Vanderbilt University in the East Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Commodores compete as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 29 head coaches since it began play during the 1890 season.[1] Since December 14, 2020, Clark Lea has served as head coach of the Commodores.[2]

Sepia colored head portrait.
Dan McGugin has the most wins as Commodores' head coach with 198.

The team has played 1,300 games over 135 seasons of Vanderbilt football.[1] In that time, seven coaches have led the Commodores to postseason bowl games: Art Guepe, Steve Sloan, George MacIntyre, Bobby Johnson, James Franklin, Derek Mason, and Lea.[3][4] Four other coaches won conference championships: R. G. Acton, Walter H. Watkins, James R. Henry and Dan McGugin. Between them, the coaches won eleven Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association championships; McGugin led the team to an additional two titles as a member of the Southern Conference.[5]

McGugin is the leader in seasons coached and games won, with 198 victories during his 30 years at Vanderbilt.[1] E. H. Alley has the highest winning percentage with 1.000.[1] Robbie Caldwell has the lowest winning percentage with .167.[1] Of the 28 different head coaches who have led the Commodores, McGugin,[6] Ray Morrison,[7] Red Sanders,[8] and Bill Edwards[9] have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana.

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 Term Season(s) GC OW OL OT O% CW CL CT C% PW PL PT DC
[A 6]		 CC NC Awards
1 Elliott Jones 1890–1892 3 13 8 5 0 0.615 — — — — — — — — 0 0 —
2 W. J. Keller 1893 1 7 6 1 0 0.857 — — — — — — — — 0 0 —
3 Henry Worth Thornton 1894 1 8 7 1 0 0.875 2 0 0 1.000 — — — — 0 0 —
4 Charles L. Upton 1895 1 9 5 3 1 0.611 3 1 0 0.750 — — — — 0 0 —
5 R. G. Acton 1896–1898 3 20 10 7 3 0.575 5 2 0 0.714 — — — — 1 0 —
6 James L. Crane 1899–1900 2 18 11 6 1 0.639 6 3 1 0.650 — — — — 0 0 —
7 Walter H. Watkins 1901–1902 2 17 14 2 1 0.853 8 1 1 0.850 — — — — 1 0 —
8 James R. Henry 1903 1 8 6 1 1 0.813 5 1 1 0.786 — — — — 1 0 —
9 Dan McGugin†[6] 1904–1917
1919–1934		 14, 16 272 198 55 19 0.763 104 34 13 0.732 0 0 0 — 11 0 —
10 Ray Morrison†[7] 1918
1935–1939		 1, 5 53 29 22 2 0.566 18 15 1 0.544 0 0 0 — 0 0 SEC Coach of the Year (1937)[14]
11 Red Sanders†[8] 1940–1942
1946–1948		 3, 3 60 36 22 2 0.617 15 20 2 0.432 0 0 0 — 0 0 SEC Coach of the Year (1941)[14]
12 E. H. Alley 1943 1 5 5 0 0 1.000 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
13 Doby Bartling 1944–1945 2 13 6 6 1 0.500 2 4 0 0.333 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
14 Bill Edwards†[9] 1949–1952 4 42 21 19 2 0.524 11 17 1 0.397 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
15 Art Guepe 1953–1962 10 100 39 54 7 0.425 19 43 6 0.324 1 0 0 — 0 0 SEC Coach of the Year (1955)[14]
16 John Green 1963–1966 4 40 7 29 4 0.225 2 20 3 0.140 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
17 Bill Pace 1967–1972 6 63 22 38 3 0.373 6 28 1 0.186 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
18 Steve Sloan 1973–1974 2 23 12 9 2 0.565 3 8 1 0.292 0 0 1 — 0 0 —
19 Fred Pancoast 1975–1978 4 44 13 31 0 0.295 2 22 0 0.083 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
20 George MacIntyre 1979–1985 7 78 25 52 1 0.327 8 33 1 0.202 0 1 0 — 0 0 UPI SEC Coach of the Year (1982)[14]
SEC Coach of the Year (1982)[14]
21 Watson Brown 1986–1990 5 55 10 45 0 0.182 4 29 0 0.121 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
22 Gerry DiNardo 1991–1994 4 44 19 25 0 0.432 9 22 0 0.290 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
23 Rod Dowhower 1995–1996 2 22 4 18 0 0.182 1 15 0 0.063 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
24 Woody Widenhofer 1997–2001 5 55 15 40 — 0.273 4 36 — 0.100 0 0 — 0 0 0 —
25 Bobby Johnson 2002–2009 8 95 29 66 — 0.305 12 52 — 0.188 1 0 — 0 0 0 SEC Coach of the Year (2008)[14]
26 Robbie Caldwell 2010 1 12 2 10 — 0.167 1 7 — 0.125 0 0 — 0 0 0 —
27 James Franklin 2011–2013 3 39 24 15 — 0.615 11 13 — 0.458 2 1 — 0 0 0 —
28 Derek Mason 2014–2020 7 74 27 55 — 0.329 10 38 — 0.179 0 0 — 0 0 0 —
29 Clark Lea 2021–present 5 62 26 36 — 0.419 11 29 — 0.275 1 1 — 0 0 0 SEC Coach of the Year (2024)
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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, Vanderbilt has competed as a member of the East Division of the SEC.[13]

References

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