# List of Mississippi State Bulldogs head football coaches

The Mississippi State Bulldogs college football team represents Mississippi State University in the West Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Bulldogs compete as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 36head coaches since it began play during the 1895 season. Since November 2023, Jeff Lebby has served as Mississippi State's head coach.
Eleven coaches have led the Bulldogs in postseason bowl games: Ralph Sasse, Allyn McKeen, Paul E. Davis, Bob Tyler, Emory Bellard, Jackie Sherrill, Sylvester Croom, Dan Mullen, Joe Moorhead, Mike Leach, and Zach Arnett. McKeen led the Bulldogs to their lone conference championship as a member of the SEC in 1941.
Sherrill is the leader in seasons coached and games won, with 75 victories during his 13 years with the program. McKeen has the highest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with .764. W.M. Matthews and J.B. Hildebrand have the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with .000. Of the 36 different head coaches who have led the Bulldogs, Bernie Bierman, McKeen and Darrell Royal have been inducted as head coaches into the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana.

## 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 | Term | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | DC | CC | NC | Awards |
| 1 | W. M. Matthews | 1895 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 2 | J. B. Hildebrand | 1896 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 3 | L. B. Harvey | 1901 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0.500 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.333 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 4 | L. Gwinn | 1902 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0.250 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0.100 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 5 | Daniel S. Martin | 1903–1906 | 24 | 10 | 11 | 3 | 0.479 | 5 | 9 | 3 | 0.382 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 6 | Fred Furman | 1907–1908 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0.563 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0.455 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 7 | W. D. Chadwick | 1909–1913 | 43 | 29 | 12 | 2 | 0.698 | 19 | 12 | 2 | 0.606 | 1 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 8 | Earl C. Hayes | 1914–1916 | 25 | 15 | 8 | 2 | 0.640 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 0.556 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 9 | Stanley L. Robinson | 1917–1919 | 21 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0.762 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0.786 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 10 | Fred Holtkamp | 1920–1921 | 17 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 0.559 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0.577 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 11 | Dudy Noble | 1922 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0.444 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0.400 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 12 | Earl Abell | 1923–1924 | 18 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 0.611 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0.545 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 13 | Bernie Bierman$^†$ | 1925–1926 | 17 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 0.500 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0.300 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 14 | John W. Hancock | 1927–1929 | 24 | 8 | 12 | 4 | 0.412 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 0.269 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 15 | Chris Cagle | 1930 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0.222 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0.666 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 16 | Ray G. Dauber | 1931–1932 | 16 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 0.313 | 0 | 9 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 17 | Ross McKechnie | 1933–1934 | 20 | 7 | 12 | 1 | 0.375 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 0.125 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 18 | Ralph Sasse | 1935–1937 | 32 | 20 | 10 | 2 | 0.656 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0.533 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 19 | Spike Nelson | 1938 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0.400 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0.200 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 20 | Allyn McKeen$^†$ | 1939–1942 1944–1948 | 87 | 65 | 19 | 3 | 0.764 | 29 | 16 | 2 | 0.638 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 21 | Arthur Morton | 1949–1951 | 27 | 8 | 18 | 1 | 0.315 | 5 | 15 | 0 | 0.250 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 22 | Murray Warmath | 1952–1953 | 19 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 0.605 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 0.536 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 23 | Darrell Royal$^†$ | 1954–1955 | 20 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 0.600 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0.500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 24 | Wade Walker | 1956–1961 | 56 | 22 | 32 | 2 | 0.411 | 8 | 30 | 2 | 0.225 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 25 | Paul E. Davis | 1962–1966 | 50 | 20 | 28 | 2 | 0.420 | 9 | 22 | 2 | 0.303 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | AP SEC Coach of the Year (1963) |
| 26 | Charles Shira | 1967–1972 | 63 | 16 | 45 | 2 | 0.270 | 5 | 32 | 2 | 0.154 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | AP SEC Coach of the Year (1970) |
| 27 | Bob Tyler | 1973–1978 | 67 | 21 | 44 | 2 | 0.328 | 7 | 30 | 0 | 0.189 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 28 | Emory Bellard | 1979–1985 | 79 | 37 | 42 | 0 | 0.468 | 15 | 27 | 0 | 0.357 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 29 | Rockey Felker | 1986–1990 | 55 | 21 | 34 | 0 | 0.382 | 5 | 28 | 0 | 0.151 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 30 | Jackie Sherrill | 1991–2003 | 152 | 75 | 75 | 2 | 0.500 | 43 | 59 | 1 | 0.422 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 31 | Sylvester Croom | 2004–2008 | 59 | 21 | 38 | — | 0.356 | 10 | 30 | — | 0.250 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | AP SEC Coach of the Year (2007) SEC Coach of the Year (2007) |
| 32 | Dan Mullen | 2009–2017 | 115 | 69 | 46 | — | 0.600 | 33 | 39 | — | 0.458 | 5 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | AP SEC Coach of the Year (2014) |
| Int | Greg Knox | 2017 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 33 | Joe Moorhead | 2018–2019 | 26 | 14 | 12 | — | 0.538 | 7 | 9 | — | 0.438 | 0 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 34 | Mike Leach | 2020–2022 | 35 | 19 | 16 | — | 0.543 | 11 | 14 | — | 0.440 | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 35 | Zach Arnett | 2022–2023 | 11 | 5 | 6 | — | 0.455 | 1 | 6 | — | 0.143 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Int | Greg Knox | 2023 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | 0.500 | 0 | 1 | — | .000 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 36 | Jeff Lebby | 2024–present | 12 | 2 | 10 | — | 0.167 | 0 | 8 | — | .000 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |