The Purdue Boilermakers football program is a college football team that represents Purdue University in the Big Ten Conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The team has had 37 head coaches and 3 interim coaches since it started playing organized football in 1887 and has been known by the nickname Boilermakers since 1891. Purdue is an original member of the Big Ten, joining in 1896 after spending six years in the Indiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association. The Boilermakers have played in 1,260 games during their 134 seasons. Six coaches have led the Boilermakers to postseason bowl games: Jack Mollenkopf, Jim Young, Leon Burtnett, Joe Tiller, Danny Hope, and Jeff Brohm. Nine coaches have won conference championships with the Boilermakers: Snake Ames and D. M. Balliet in the Indiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association, and A. G. Scanlon, James Phelan, Noble Kizer, Elmer Burnham, Stu Holcomb, Mollenkopf and Tiller in the Big Ten. No Purdue coach has led the Boilermakers to a national championship. As of the end of the 2021 season, Tiller is the all-time leader in games coached (149) and wins (87), while Mollenkopf is the all-time leader years coached (14). Ames leads the Boilermakers in winning percentage with a perfect 1.000 in his two seasons at Purdue. Among coaches with more than two seasons of tenure, Kizer has the highest winning percentage, .750, and Darrell Hazell has the lowest winning percentage, with a record of 9–33 (.214) in 3+1⁄2 seasons.

Of the 37 Boilermakers coaches, five have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame: Andy Smith, William Henry Dietz, Phelan, Mollenkopf and Young. None have received National Coach of the Year honors. On December 13, 2022, Purdue hired Ryan Walters to become the new head coach.

Key

Coaches

Statistics correct as of the end of the 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season
# Name Term GC OW OL OT O% CW CL CT C% PW PL PT CCs NCs National awards
1 Albert Berg 1887 1 0 1 0 .000 — — — — — — — — — —
2 G. A. Reisner 1889 3 2 1 0 .667 — — — — — — — — — —
3 Clinton L. Hare 1890 6 3 3 0 .500 — — — — — — — — — —
4 Knowlton Ames 1891–1892 12 12 0 0 1.000 — — — — — — — 2 — —
5 D. M. Balliet 1893–1895, 1901 34 22 10 2 .676 0 3 1 .125 — — — 2 — —
6 Samuel M. Hammond 1896 7 4 2 1 .643 0 2 1 .167 — — — — — —
7 William W. Church 1897 9 5 3 1 .611 1 2 0 .333 — — — — — —
8 Alpha Jamison 1898–1900 23 11 11 1 .500 1 7 0 .125 — — — — — —
9 Charles M. Best 1902 10 7 2 1 .750 2 2 0 .500 — — — — — —
10 Oliver Cutts 1903–1904 18 13 5 0 .722 1 4 0 .200 — — — — — —
11 Albert E. Herrnstein 1905 8 6 1 1 .813 1 1 1 .500 — — — — — —
12 Myron E. Witham 1906 5 0 5 0 .000 0 3 0 .000 — — — — — —
13 Leigh C. Turner 1907 5 0 5 0 .000 0 3 0 .000 — — — — — —
14 Frederick A. Speik 1908–1909 14 6 8 0 .429 1 7 0 .125 — — — — — —
15 Bill Horr 1910–1912 20 8 11 1 .425 3 9 1 .269 — — — — — —
16 Andy Smith† 1913–1915 21 12 6 3 .643 6 5 2 .538 — — — — — —
17 Cleo A. O'Donnell 1916–1917 14 5 8 1 .393 0 8 1 .056 — — — — — —
18 A. G. "Butch" Scanlon 1918–1920 20 7 12 1 .375 1 7 0 .125 — — — 1 — —
19 William Henry Dietz† 1921 7 1 6 0 .143 1 4 0 .200 — — — — — —
20 James Phelan[3]† 1922–1929 62 35 22 5 .605 14 17 4 .457 — — — 1 — —
21 Noble Kizer 1930–1936 58 42 13 3 .750 26 9 3 .724 — — — 2 — —
22 Mal Elward 1937–1941 40 16 18 6 .475 9 11 4 .458 — — — — — —
23 Elmer Burnham 1942–1943 18 10 8 0 .556 7 4 0 .636 — — — 1 — —
24 Cecil Isbell 1944–1946 29 14 14 1 .500 7 10 1 .417 — — — — — —
25 Stu Holcomb 1947–1955 81 35 42 4 .457 25 26 2 .491 — — — 1 — —
26 Jack Mollenkopf[4]† 1956–1969 132 84 39 9 .670 57 32 5 .633 1 0 0 1 — —
27 Bob DeMoss 1970–1972 31 13 18 0 .419 11 12 0 .478 — — — — — —
28 Alex Agase 1973–1976 44 18 25 1 .420 15 17 0 .469 — — — — — —
29 Jim Young[5]† 1977–1981 58 38 19 1 .664 26 14 1 .646 3 0 0 — — —
30 Leon Burtnett 1982–1986 56 21 34 1 .384 17 25 1 .407 0 1 0 — — —
31 Fred Akers 1987–1990 44 12 31 1 .284 9 23 0 .281 — — — — — —
32 Jim Colletto 1991–1996 66 21 42 3 .341 13 32 3 .302 — — — — — —
33 Joe Tiller 1997–2008 149 87 62 — .584 53 43 — .552 4 5 — 1 — —
34 Danny Hope 2009–2012 49 22 27 — .449 13 19 — .406 1 0 — — — —
34 Interim Patrick Higgins 2012 Bowl 1 0 1 — .000 — — — — 0 1 — — — —
35 Darrell Hazell 2013–2016 42 9 33 — .214 3 24 — .111 — — — — — —
35 Interim Gerad Parker 2016 6 0 6 — .000 0 6 — .000 — — — — — —
36 Jeff Brohm 2017–2022 70 36 34 — .514 26 25 — .510 2 1 — — — —
36 Interim Brian Brohm 2022 Bowl 1 0 1 — .000 — — — — 0 1 — — — —
37 Ryan Walters 2023–present 12 4 8 — .333 3 6 — .333 0 0 — — — —

Notes

  1. ^ A running total of the number of coaches of the Boilermakers. Thus, any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is counted only once.
  2. ^ Purdue did not join a conference until 1891.
  3. ^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.[1]
  4. ^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[2]

References

General
Specific
  1. ^ Whiteside, Kelly (2006-08-25). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2010-09-06. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
  2. ^ Finder, Chuck (1987-09-06). "BIG PLAYS HELP PATERNO TO 200TH". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2013-09-28. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
  3. ^ "Jim Phelan". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  4. ^ "Jack Mollenkopf". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  5. ^ "Jim Young". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
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