Behind every outstanding team is a great coach, and this is especially true in college football. These people devise the tactics that form the exciting plays we scream to from our seats, so they deserve to be celebrated just as much. But this is not just a list of cool coaches; it’s about the greatest of all time. Swipe and see which of your favorites made it here.
John Wooden (Basketball)
John Wooden bore the nickname “the Wizard of Westwood,” and this wizard worked his magic. When he served as the head basketball coach of the U.C.L.A. Bruins, he won seven N.C.A.A. championships back-to-back and a total of ten in 12 years. Today, we remember him for setting records and his short and simple inspirational messages, among other things.
Nick Saban (Football)
At the moment, he may be a sportscaster, but he has a past where he did some coaching wonders. He had already coached three universities before coaching the University of Alabama, which he is best known for. In college football history, no coach has won more titles than Saban, who has won seven national championships—six with Alabama.
Bear Bryant (Football)
Long before Saban’s adventures at Alabama, Bryant had a 25-year tenure there and retired with 323 wins, the most any head coach in collegiate football history had ever had. Bryant also won 13 conference championships and six national championships. Currently, a drive, a hall, a museum, and a stadium at the university are named after him.
Mike Krzyzewski (Basketball)
“Coach K” has won five national championships—only John Wooden has won more. All these championships, along with 13 Final Fours, were won during his time at Duke University. He stopped being the head coach there in 2022. Krzyzewski wasn’t only a star in college sports; he coached the U.S. national team to gold medals at three Olympics.
Geno Auriemma (Women’s Basketball)
Auriemma came to the University of Connecticut and made the women’s basketball team trouble for their opponents. With him, UConn won 11 national championships. They also hit the Final Four 21 times. As for consecutive winning streaks, Auriemma can brag of three long ones—111, 90, and 70—and since 1989, UConn hasn’t missed any N.C.A.A. tournament.
Pat Summitt (Women’s Basketball)
By the time Pat retired, she had the most career wins in the history of college basketball, that is, 1098. She was the head coach of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team, and in her 38 years there, she neither missed the N.C.A.A. tournament nor had a losing season. She led her squad to win eight N.C.A.A. championships.
Bobby Bowden (Football)
Bowden may have won only two national championships, but what he did with the Seminoles retains his spot among the greats. His successes also include 12 Atlantic Coast Conference championships with the team. The film The Bowden Dynasty documented Bowden’s life, and the late coach has football awards named after him.
Eddie Robinson (Football)
Grambling State University had Robinson as their head coach from 1941 to 1997 with a three-year break. During this period, he won nine black college national championships. When black players couldn’t play for Southern college programs, he made a force out of his team. Grambling has a stadium and a museum named after him today.
Dean Smith (Basketball)
Smith first won a national championship in 1952 when playing for the University of Kansas. Then he grabbed two more as a coach of the team at Chapel Hill in North Carolina. By the time he was done being the coach, he was responsible for 11 Final Fours and could brag of 879 victories.
Urban Meyer (Football)
In his coaching days, Meyer was the head coach of different teams, and he walked away from coaching with 3 N.C.A.A. Division I FBS national championships and 3 Big Ten championships. His N.C.A.A. winning percentage is .854. Meyer also bagged some Southeastern Conference and Mountain West Conference championships in the 2000s.