Oklahoma Coaching History

Oklahoma football needs little introduction other than the following: No. 6 in all-time wins, No. 6 in all-time winning percentage and No. 9 in all-time national title victories. And it’s all thanks to a truly elite coaching history.

From Barry Switzer to Bud Wilkinson to Lincoln Riley to Bob Stoops, Oklahoma’s coaching history is filled with Hall of Famers, national champions and multiple-time conference title winners. On this page we’ll take a look at every single one of them, from John A. Harts in 1895 to Brent Venables today.

Let’s get started.

Oklahoma Coaching History

It may be surprising to learn that Lincoln Riley actually has the best winning percentage in Sooners history. The former Sooners coach and current head man at USC finished his 5 years with a 55-10 record, winning 4 Big 12 titles along the way.

Oklahoma has won 7 national titles, with 3 different coaches climbing to the top of the mountain. Barry Switzer finished with 3, as did Bud Wilkinson. Bob Stoops won the Sooners’ 7th title in 2000. All 3 of the above coaches, as you can see in the table, won 145+ games. Bennie Owen, Oklahoma’s first long-term head coach, won 3 conference titles and accumulated 122 wins.

Here’s a closer look at the winningest head coach in Sooners history, Barry Switzer:

Barry Switzer

Barry Switzer owns one of the highest winning percentages of any head coach in college football history. He’s also one of very few to win a championship in both college football and the NFL, joining Jimmie Johnson and Pete Carroll. In case you’re wondering, Paul Brown won an NFL Championship before the Super Bowl era and, of course, won a national title with Ohio State in 1942.

As stated above, Switzer won 3 national titles at Oklahoma: In 1974, 1975 and 1985. He also posted a simply unbelievable run of Big 8 titles, winning 8 straight from 1973-1980 and another 4 straight from 1984-1987. The Sooners were the definition of dominant in the 70s and mid 80s.

Switzer earned his pay through recruiting, where he was considered one of the best in college football history. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001, one year after Bob Stoops won Oklahoma’s 7th national title.

Bob Stoops

Stoops worked for Florida during the Gators’ 1996 national championship season, so he knew a bit about what it takes to win it all. Oklahoma realized that and hired Stoops in 1999.

The 2000 Sooners, led by future Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel, won the national championship over Florida State at the Orange Bowl. And though Stoops wouldn’t get Oklahoma back to the summit again, the Sooners would go on to win 9 more Big 12 conference titles (they won their first in 2000, obviously.)

Stoops was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year 6 times and earned the Walter Camp Coach of the Year award twice – once in 2000 and once again in 2003 following a 12-2 season.

Stoops is the only head coach in the BCA era to have won the Fiesta, Orange, Rose and Sugar bowls. He retired from coaching in 2016 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2021.

Ethan Stone

Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.