# List of Western Kentucky Hilltoppers head football coaches

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers college football team represents Western Kentucky University in Conference USA (C-USA), as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 22 head coaches and two interim head coaches since it began play during the 1913 season. Since November 2018, Tyson Helton has served as head coach at Western Kentucky.
Eleven coaches have led Western Kentucky in postseason playoff or bowl games: Jack Clayton, Nick Denes, Jimmy Feix, Dave Roberts, Jack Harbaugh, David Elson, Lance Guidry, Jeff Brohm, Nick Holt, Mike Sanford Jr., and Helton. Six coaches have won conference championships: Ernest R. Miller won one as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association; Clayton, Denes, and Harbaugh each won one and Feix won six as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference; Harbaugh won one as a member of the Gateway Football Conference; and Brohm won two as a member of C-USA. Harbaugh also won an NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship in 2002.
Feix is the leader in seasons coached, with 16 years as head coach and in games coached (168) and won (106). Miller has the highest winning percentage of those who have coaced more than one game at 0.889. L. T. Smith has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with 0.313.

## Key

Key to symbols in coaches list :
| General | General | Overall | Overall | Conference | Conference | Postseason | Postseason |
| No. | Order of coaches | GC | Games coached | CW | Conference wins | PW | Postseason wins |
| DC | Division championships | OW | Overall wins | CL | Conference losses | PL | Postseason losses |
| CC | Conference championships | OL | Overall losses | CT | Conference ties | PT | Postseason ties |
| NC | National championships | OT | Overall ties | C% | Conference winning percentage | | |
| † | Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame | O% | Overall winning percentage | | | | |

## Coaches

List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards :
| No. | Name | Season(s) | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | DC | CC | NC | Awards |
| 1 | M. A. Leiper | 1913 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 1 | Roy C. Manchester | 1913 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 2 | J. L. Arthur | 1914–1916 | 15 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 0.400 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 3 | L. T. Smith | 1920–1921 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0.313 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 4 | Edgar Diddle | 1922–1928 | 64 | 38 | 24 | 2 | 0.609 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0.700 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 5 | Carl Anderson | 1929 1934–1937 | 36 | 24 | 9 | 3 | 0.708 | 18 | 8 | 2 | 0.679 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 6 | James Elam | 1930–1931 | 22 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 0.750 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0.867 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 7 | Ernest R. Miller | 1932 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0.889 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 8 | Jesse Thomas | 1933 1946–1947 | 25 | 11 | 12 | 2 | 0.480 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0.500 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 9 | Gander Terry | 1938–1941 | 37 | 25 | 9 | 3 | 0.716 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 0.761 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 10 | Arnold Winkenhofer | 1942 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0.438 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0.500 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 11 | Jack Clayton | 1948–1956 | 85 | 50 | 33 | 2 | 0.600 | 21 | 24 | 2 | 0.468 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 12 | Nick Denes | 1957–1967 | 103 | 57 | 39 | 7 | 0.587 | 33 | 32 | 5 | 0.507 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | OVC Coach of the Year (1963) |
| 13 | Jimmy Feix | 1968–1983 | 168 | 106 | 56 | 6 | 0.649 | 68 | 28 | 2 | 0.704 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | OVC Coach of the Year (1973, 1978, 1980) |
| 14 | Dave Roberts | 1984–1988 | 57 | 26 | 30 | 1 | 0.465 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 15 | Jack Harbaugh | 1989–2002 | 159 | 91 | 68 | 0 | 0.572 | 22 | 6 | 0 | 0.786 | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | 2 | 1 – 2002 | AFCA NCAA Division I-AA COY (2002) OVC Coach of the Year (2000) |
| 16 | David Elson | 2003–2009 | 82 | 39 | 43 | — | 0.476 | 19 | 17 | — | 0.528 | 1 | 2 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 17 | Willie Taggart | 2010–2012 | 36 | 16 | 20 | — | 0.444 | 13 | 11 | — | 0.542 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| Int | Lance Guidry | 2012 | 1 | 0 | 1 | — | .000 | 0 | 0 | — | – | 0 | 1 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 18 | Bobby Petrino | 2013 | 12 | 8 | 4 | — | 0.667 | 4 | 3 | — | 0.571 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 19 | Jeff Brohm | 2014–2016 | 40 | 30 | 10 | — | 0.750 | 19 | 5 | — | 0.792 | 2 | 0 | — | 2 | 2 | 0 | — |
| Int | Nick Holt | 2016 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | — | – | 1 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 20 | Mike Sanford Jr. | 2017–2018 | 25 | 9 | 16 | — | 0.360 | 6 | 10 | — | 0.375 | 0 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 21 | Tyson Helton | 2019–present | 80 | 48 | 32 | — | 0.600 | 34 | 13 | — | 0.723 | 4 | 2 | — | 2 | 0 | 0 | — |