# List of Penn State Nittany Lions head football coaches

The Penn State Nittany Lions college football team represents Pennsylvania State University in the Big Ten Conference (Big 10), as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 16 head coaches, and 1 interim head coach, since it began play during the 1887 season. Since January 2014, James Franklin has served as Penn State's head coach.
Six coaches have led Penn State in postseason bowl games: Hugo Bezdek, Bob Higgins, Rip Engle, Joe Paterno, Tom Bradley, and Franklin. Two of those coaches also won conference championships: Paterno captured three, and Franklin one, as a member of the Big 10. Paterno also captured national championships as head coach at Penn State in 1982 and 1986.
Paterno is the leader in seasons coached, with 46 years as head coach and games coached (548) and won (409). George W. Hoskins has the highest winning percentage at 0.759. Bradley has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with 0.250. Of the 16 different head coaches who have led the Nittany Lions, Bill Hollenback, Dick Harlow, Bezdek, Higgins, Engle, and Paterno have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

## 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 | DCs | CCs | NCs | Awards |
| 0 | No Coach | 1887–1891 | 23 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 0.609 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 1 | George W. Hoskins | 1892–1895 | 29 | 20 | 5 | 4 | 0.759 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 2 | Samuel B. Newton | 1896–1898 | 26 | 12 | 14 | 0 | 0.462 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 3 | Sam Boyle | 1899 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0.409 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 4 | Pop Golden | 1900–1902 | 29 | 16 | 12 | 1 | 0.569 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 5 | Daniel A. Reed | 1903 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0.625 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 6 | Tom Fennell | 1904–1908 | 51 | 33 | 17 | 1 | 0.657 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 7 | Bill Hollenback$^†$ | 1909 1911–1914 | 41 | 28 | 9 | 4 | 0.732 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 8 | Jack Hollenback | 1910 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0.688 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 9 | Dick Harlow$^†$ | 1915–1917 | 28 | 20 | 8 | 0 | 0.714 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 10 | Hugo Bezdek$^†$ | 1918–1929 | 106 | 65 | 30 | 11 | 0.665 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 11 | Bob Higgins$^†$ | 1930–1948 | 159 | 91 | 57 | 11 | 0.607 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 12 | Joe Bedenk | 1949 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0.556 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 13 | Rip Engle$^†$ | 1950–1965 | 156 | 104 | 48 | 4 | 0.679 | — | — | — | — | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 0 | Amos Alonzo Stagg Award (1969) |
| 14 | Joe Paterno$^†$ | 1966–2011 | 548 | 409 | 136 | 3 | 0.749 | 95 | 54 | 0 | 0.638 | 24 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 – 1982 1986 | Sports Illustrated Man of the Year (1986) AFCA Coach of the Year (1968, 1978, 1982, 1986, 2005) Walter Camp Coach of the Year (1972, 1994, 2005) Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (1978, 1982, 1986) Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (1986) George Munger Award (1990, 1994, 2005) Amos Alonso Stagg Award (2002) Home Depot Coach of the Year (2005) Sporting News Coach of the Year (2005) Big Ten Coach of the Year (1994, 2005, 2008) |
| Int | Tom Bradley | 2011 | 4 | 1 | 3 | — | 0.250 | 1 | 2 | — | 0.333 | 0 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 15 | Bill O'Brien | 2012–2013 | 24 | 15 | 9 | — | 0.625 | 10 | 6 | — | 0.625 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (2012) Maxwell Coach of the Year (2012) AT&T-ESPN Coach of the Year (2012) Big Ten Coach of the Year (2012 - Media & Coaches) |
| 16 | James Franklin | 2014–Present | 142 | 101 | 42 | — | 0.711 | 64 | 33 | — | 0.660 | 8 | 7 | — | 1 | 1 | 0 | Woody Hayes Coach of the Year (2016) Dave McClain Coach of the Year (2016) Sporting News Coach of the Year (2016) Big Ten Coach of the Year (2016 - Media) |