Northwestern’s complete head-coaching lineage: 29 tenures from 1893 to 2024, led by Pat Fitzgerald’s 17 seasons. Records, tenure length, and the programs each coach branched to.

Coaching Tree Archive

The Northwestern
coaching tree

Every head coach to lead Northwestern, from 1893 to 2024 — 29 tenures mapped as a network, with records, tenure length, and the programs each coach branched to.

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Air Force 5 coaches Akron 28 coaches Alabama 27 coaches Alabama Birmingham 7 coaches Appalachian State 8 coaches Arizona 31 coaches Arizona State 24 coaches Arkansas 34 coaches Arkansas State 31 coaches Army 36 coaches Auburn 25 coaches Ball State 17 coaches Baylor 28 coaches Boise State 13 coaches Boston College 35 coaches Bowling Green 20 coaches Brigham Young 14 coaches Buffalo 26 coaches California 34 coaches Central Florida 9 coaches Central Michigan 28 coaches Charlotte 6 coaches Cincinnati 40 coaches Clemson 25 coaches Coastal Carolina 4 coaches Colorado 27 coaches Colorado State 21 coaches Connecticut 30 coaches Duke 23 coaches East Carolina 22 coaches Eastern Michigan 37 coaches Florida 24 coaches Florida Atlantic 6 coaches Florida International 5 coaches Florida State 11 coaches Fresno State 20 coaches Georgia 24 coaches Georgia Southern 15 coaches Georgia State 4 coaches Georgia Tech 20 coaches Hawaii 25 coaches Houston 16 coaches Illinois 26 coaches Indiana 30 coaches Iowa 25 coaches Iowa State 31 coaches Jacksonville State 25 coaches James Madison 9 coaches Kansas 41 coaches Kansas State 33 coaches Kennesaw State 1 coaches Kent State 23 coaches Kentucky 37 coaches Liberty 10 coaches Louisiana 22 coaches Louisiana Monroe 16 coaches Louisiana State 30 coaches Louisiana Tech 31 coaches Louisville 23 coaches Marshall 29 coaches Maryland 36 coaches Massachusetts 30 coaches Memphis 25 coaches Miami 25 coaches Miami Ohio 35 coaches Michigan 20 coaches Michigan State 25 coaches Middle Tennessee State 16 coaches Minnesota 27 coaches Mississippi 38 coaches Mississippi State 35 coaches Missouri 33 coaches Navy 38 coaches Nebraska 34 coaches Nevada 27 coaches Nevada Las Vegas 13 coaches New Mexico 32 coaches New Mexico State 35 coaches North Carolina 33 coaches North Carolina State 34 coaches North Texas 19 coaches Northern Illinois 23 coaches Northwestern 29 coaches Notre Dame 30 coaches Ohio 29 coaches Ohio State 25 coaches Oklahoma 23 coaches Oklahoma State 22 coaches Old Dominion 2 coaches Oregon 36 coaches Oregon State 30 coaches Penn State 16 coaches Pittsburgh 35 coaches Purdue 37 coaches Rice 19 coaches Rutgers 28 coaches Sam Houston State 15 coaches San Diego State 19 coaches San Jose State 31 coaches South Alabama 4 coaches South Carolina 34 coaches South Florida 6 coaches Southern California 23 coaches Southern Methodist 22 coaches Southern Mississippi 22 coaches Stanford 32 coaches Syracuse 31 coaches Temple 29 coaches Tennessee 25 coaches Texas 31 coaches Texas A&M 30 coaches Texas Christian 31 coaches Texas El Paso 26 coaches Texas San Antonio 3 coaches Texas State 15 coaches Texas Tech 18 coaches Toledo 26 coaches Troy 24 coaches Tulane 39 coaches Tulsa 30 coaches UCLA 19 coaches Utah 20 coaches Utah State 29 coaches Vanderbilt 28 coaches Virginia 39 coaches Virginia Tech 34 coaches Wake Forest 32 coaches Washington 32 coaches Washington State 35 coaches West Virginia 34 coaches Western Kentucky 22 coaches Western Michigan 17 coaches Wisconsin 31 coaches Wyoming 33 coaches

Northwestern head coaches, 1893–2024

29 of 29 tenures · 12 linked programs

Drag any node · click to inspect · hover to trace its connections Drag any node · tap to inspect and trace its connections

  1. Paul Noyes · 1893 · 2-5-3
  2. A.A. Ewing · 1894 · 4-5
  3. Alvin H. Culver · 1895–1896 · 12-6-2
  4. Jesse Doozer · 1897 · 5-3
  5. W.H. Bannard · 1898 · 9-4-1
  6. Charles M. Hollister · 1899–1902 · 28-16-4
  7. Walter E. McCornack · 1903–1905 · 26-5-4
  8. Alton Johnson · 1908 · 2-2
  9. M. Frank Horr · 1909 · 1-3-1 · also Purdue
  10. Charles E. Hammett · 1910–1912 · 6-10-2
  11. Dennis H. Grady · 1913 · 1-6
  12. Fred J. Murphy · 1914–1918 · 16-16-1 · also Missouri, Kentucky
  13. Charles W. Bachman · 1919 · 2-5 · also Kansas State, Florida, Michigan State
  14. Elmer W. McDevitt · 1920–1921 · 4-10
  15. Glenn F. Thistlethwaite · 1922–1926 · 21-17-1 · also Wisconsin
  16. Richard E. Hanley · 1927–1934 · 36-26-4
  17. Lynn O. Waldorf · 1935–1946 · 49-45-7 · also Oklahoma State, Kansas State, California
  18. Robert W. Voigts · 1947–1954 · 33-39-1
  19. Louis H. Saban · 1955 · 0-8-1 · also Maryland, Miami, Army, Central Florida
  20. Ara R. Parseghian · 1956–1963 · 36-35-1 · also Miami Ohio, Notre Dame
  21. Alex Agase · 1964–1972 · 32-58-1 · also Purdue
  22. John Pont · 1973–1977 · 12-43 · also Miami Ohio, Indiana
  23. Rick Venturi · 1978–1980 · 1-31-1
  24. Dennis Green · 1981–1985 · 10-45 · also Stanford
  25. Francis Peay · 1986–1991 · 13-51-2
  26. Gary Barnett · 1992–1998 · 36-44-1 · also Colorado
  27. Randy Walker · 1999–2005 · 37-46 · also Miami Ohio
  28. Pat Fitzgerald · 2006–2022 · 109-101
  29. David Braun · 2023–2024 · 11-14

Programs linked to Northwestern

Programs that shared a head coach with Northwestern — open their network.

Winningest coaches in college football

Career wins across every FBS program each coach led.

  1. 1 Joe Paterno 1966–2011 · 1 program 410 wins .745
  2. 2 Bobby Bowden 1970–2009 · 2 programs 346 wins .736
  3. 3 Paul W. Bryant 1945–1982 · 4 programs 323 wins .780
  4. 4 Nick Saban 1990–2023 · 4 programs 293 wins .804
  5. 5 Mack Brown 1983–2024 · 4 programs 289 wins .649
  6. 6 Lavell Edwards 1972–2000 · 1 program 257 wins .716
  7. 7 Tom Osborne 1973–1997 · 1 program 255 wins .836
  8. 8 Jerry Moore 1979–2012 · 3 programs 242 wins .641
  9. 9 Frank Beamer 1987–2015 · 1 program 238 wins .662
  10. 10 Lou Holtz 1972–2004 · 5 programs 237 wins .676

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Coaching Tree Northwestern

1893–2024 · 29 head coaches · 554-699-38

  • PF Pat Fitzgerald 2006–2022 109-101
  • LW Lynn O. Waldorf 1935–1946 49-45-7
  • RW Randy Walker 1999–2005 37-46
  • GB Gary Barnett 1992–1998 36-44-1
FantasyHQ fantasyhq.co

Coaching tree guide

Last updated Aug 24, 2026

What a coaching tree shows

A coaching tree maps the chain of head coaches at a program and the other jobs those coaches held. This Northwestern tree covers every head coach on record from 1893 to 2024, ordered oldest to newest, with each tenure’s record and length.

Northwestern by the numbers

  • Northwestern has had 29 head-coaching tenures between 1893 and 2024.
  • Pat Fitzgerald owns the longest run at 17 seasons (2006–2022, 109-101).
  • Pat Fitzgerald banked the most wins with 109 (2006–2022).
  • Walter E. McCornack posted the best winning percentage of any multi-year tenure at .800 (26-5-4).
  • David Braun is the most recent head coach on record (2023–2024, 11-14).
  • 12 other programs share a head coach with Northwestern — most closely Miami Ohio (3 shared).

How to read the network

  1. The hub is the program. Every head coach orbits it.
  2. Green arrows show succession — who handed the job to whom.
  3. Dashed blue lines reach other programs that coach also led.
  4. Node colour is win rate; larger nodes ran longer tenures. Click a node for the record and the handoff chain.

A note on the data

Tenures are aggregated from season-by-season head-coaching records. Consecutive seasons at one program group into a single tenure, and a coach who returns later gets a second branch. This is a head-coach lineage, not an assistant-coach tree.

Frequently asked questions

What is a college football coaching tree?

A coaching tree traces the succession of head coaches at a program — who held the job, in what order, and which other schools those coaches led before or after. FantasyHQ builds one for 134 FBS programs at https://fantasyhq.co/cfb-hq/coaching-tree, covering every head-coaching tenure on record since 1882.

How many head coaches has Northwestern had?

Northwestern has had 29 head-coaching tenures on record between 1893 and 2024, producing a combined 554-699-38 record. The full lineage is at https://fantasyhq.co/cfb-hq/coaching-tree/northwestern.

Who is the longest-tenured Northwestern head coach?

Pat Fitzgerald holds the longest head-coaching tenure at Northwestern with 17 seasons. Pat Fitzgerald recorded the most wins with 109.

Who is the current Northwestern head coach?

David Braun is the most recent Northwestern head coach in FantasyHQ’s records (2023–2024). Coaching changes are reflected when the season data updates; this page was last labeled Aug 24, 2026.

Which programs share coaches with Northwestern?

12 other FBS programs have employed a Northwestern head coach. Miami Ohio shares the most with 3. Each connected program links to its own coaching tree from https://fantasyhq.co/cfb-hq/coaching-tree/northwestern.

Where does this coaching data come from?

Tenures are built from season-by-season college football head-coaching records covering 134 FBS programs from 1882 onward. Each tenure aggregates that coach’s consecutive seasons at the program into wins, losses, and ties. Records were last labeled Aug 24, 2026.