97 College Football Coaches Have Beaten an FBS Team More Recently Than Nick Saban

We are exactly one month away from the first Saturday of the college football season. No better time than to bring up a humbling fact: Nick Saban’s last victory over an FBS opponent came on November 16, 2013 against Mississippi State. Since then, he has beaten Chattanooga State and lost to Auburn and Oklahoma.

Since defeating the Bulldogs on that November evening last year, 97 other college football head coaches have won a game. Guys like T.J. Weist, Dan Enos, Mark Hudspeth, Rick Stockstill, Joey Jones, Jeff Monken, and Clay Helton. (If you’re thinking, “Who!?” you’re not alone.) And some coaches have won more than once since Saban’s last win. Heck, even George O’Leary has won four times since then!

Nick Saban, incredulous after Dan Mullen informs him that this would be his final FBS win of the 2013 season

Nick Saban, incredulous after Dan Mullen informs him that this would be his final FBS win of the 2013 season. Interestingly, Mullen finished out his season 3-0 against FBS teams.

Here is the full list of all 97 head football coaches to have won a game against an FBS opponent more recently than Nick Saban, alphabetized by school (wins in parentheses).

  1. Terry Bowden, Akron (1)
  2. Rich Rodriguez, Arizona (2)
  3. Todd Graham, Arizona State (3)
  4. John Thompson, Arkansas State (1)
  5. Bryan Harsin, Arkansas State (1)
  6. Gus Malzahn, Auburn (2)
  7. Pete Lembo, Ball State (1)
  8. Art Briles, Baylor (2)
  9. Chris Petersen, Boise State (2)
  10. Steve Addazio, Boston College (1)
  11. Dave Clawson, Bowling Green (3)
  12. Jeff Quinn, Buffalo (1)
  13. Bronco Mendenhall, BYU (1)
  14. Dan Enos, Central Michigan (2)
  15. Tommy Tuberville, Cincinnati (1)
  16. Dabo Swinney, Clemson (1)
  17. Jim McElwain, Colorado State (2)
  18. T.J. Weist, Connecticut (3)
  19. David Cutcliffe, Duke (2)
  20. Ruffin McNeil, East Carolina (2)
  21. Brian Wright, Florida Atlantic (2)
  22. Jimbo Fisher, Florida State (4)
  23. Tim DeRuyter, Fresno State (2)
  24. Mark Richt, Georgia (2)
  25. Jeff Monken, Georgia Southern (1)
  26. Norm Chow, Hawaii (1)
  27. Tony Levine, Houston (1)
  28. Tim Beckman, Illinois (1)
  29. Kevin Wilson, Indiana (1)
  30. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa (2)
  31. Paul Rhoads, Iowa State (2)
  32. Bill Snyder, Kansas State (2)
  33. Paul Haynes, Kent State (1)
  34. Mark Hudspeth, Louisiana-Lafayette (1)
  35. Todd Berry, Louisiana-Monroe (1)
  36. Charlie Strong, Louisville (3)
  37. Les Miles, LSU (3)
  38. Doc Holliday, Marshall (3)
  39. Randy Edsall, Maryland (1)
  40. Al Golden, Miami (2)
  41. Mark Dantonio, Michigan State (4)
  42. Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee (2)
  43. Dan Mullen, Mississippi State (3)
  44. Gary Pinkel, Missouri (3)
  45. Ken Niumatalolo, Navy (2)
  46. Bo Pelini, Nebraska (2)
  47. Brian Polian, Nevada (1)
  48. Doug Martin, New Mexico State (1)
  49. Rod Carey, NIU (2)
  50. Larry Fedora, North Carolina (2)
  51. Dan McCarney, North Texas (2)
  52. Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern (1)
  53. Brian Kelly, Notre Dame (2)
  54. Frank Solich, Ohio (1)
  55. Urban Meyer, Ohio State (2)
  56. Bob Stoops, Oklahoma (3)
  57. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State (1)
  58. Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss (1)
  59. Mark Helfrich, Oregon (2)
  60. Mike Riley, Oregon State (1)
  61. Bill O’Brien, Penn State (1)
  62. Paul Chryst, Pittsburgh (2)
  63. David Bailiff, Rice (3)
  64. Kyle Flood, Rutgers (1)
  65. Rocky Long, San Diego State (3)
  66. Ron Caragher, San Jose State (1)
  67. June Jones, SMU (1)
  68. Joey Jones, South Alabama (3)
  69. Steve Spurrier, South Carolina (2)
  70. Todd Monken, Southern Miss (1)
  71. David Shaw, Stanford (3)
  72. Scott Shafer, Syracuse (2)
  73. Matt Rhule, Temple (1)
  74. Butch Jones, Tennessee (2)
  75. Mack Brown, Texas (1)
  76. Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M (1)
  77. Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech (1)
  78. Larry Blakeney, Troy (1)
  79. Curtis Johnson, Tulane (1)
  80. Bill Blankenship, Tulsa (1)
  81. George O’Leary, UCF (4)
  82. Jim L. Mora, UCLA (2)
  83. Bobby Hauck, UNLV (2)
  84. Clay Helton, USC (1)
  85. Ed Orgeron, USC (2)
  86. Kyle Whittingham, Utah (1)
  87. Matt Wells, Utah State (3)
  88. Sean Kugler, UTEP (1)
  89. Larry Coker, UTSA (2)
  90. James Franklin, Vanderbilt (3)
  91. Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech (1)
  92. Marques Tuiasosopo, Washington (1)
  93. Steve Sarkisian, Washington (2)
  94. Mike Leach, Washington State (1)
  95. Bobby Petrino, Western Kentucky (2)
  96. Gary Andersen, Wisconsin (1)
  97. Dave Christensen, Wyoming (1)

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