How does every Oklahoma Sooners head coach stack up by win totals?

John Williams
·2 min read

Lincoln Riley’s tenure as Oklahoma Sooners head coach ended in an auspicious manner as he bailed on the Sooners for USC Trojans. His tenure will go down as a blip in the big scheme of things. His 55 wins rank fifth all-time in wins behind legends of Norman. But those 55 wins are 67 wins behind fourth-place Bennie Owen.

He’ll be remembered for some of the individual awards his players achieved, but Riley will also be remembered for the underachievement of his teams and the way he departed the program.

Unlike the coaches that have more than twice as many wins as he does, Riley won’t be remembered fondly around Norman and won’t have a statue built anytime soon.

But as Oklahoma looks for their next head coach, let’s take a look at how each of the 22 head coaches in Oklahoma’s history ranks in total wins from worst to first.

Note: SoonerSports.com lists no coach for the 1896 season.

Jack Harts (1895): 0-1

Fred Roberts (1901): 3-2

Fred Ewing (1904): 4-3-1

Howard Schnellenberger (1995): 5-5-1

Jim Mackenzie (1966): 6-4

Jim Tatum (1946): 8-3

Gomer Jones (1964-1965): 9-11-1

Lawrence Jones (1935-1936): 9-6-3

Vernon Parrington (1897-1900): 9-2-1

Lewie Hardage (1932-1934): 11-12-4

Mark McMahon (1902-1903): 11-7-3

John Blake (1996-1998): 12-22

Adrian Lindsey (1927-1931): 19-19-6

Dewey Luster (1941-1945): 27-18-3

Todd Stidham (1937-1940): 27-8-3

Gary Gibbs (1989-1994): 44-23-2

Chuck Fairbanks (1967-1972): 52-15-1

Lincoln Riley (2017-2021): 55-10

Bennie Owen (1905-1926): 122-54-16

Bud Wilkinson (1947-1963): 145-29-4

Barry Switzer (1973-1988): 157-29-4

Bob Stoops (1998-2016,2021): 190-48

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