# List of Illinois Fighting Illini head football coaches

The Illinois Fighting Illini college football team represents the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the Big Ten Conference (Big 10). The Fighting Illini compete as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 27 head coaches, and two interim head coaches, since it began play during the 1890 season. Since December 2020, Bret Bielema has served as head coach at Illinois.
Eleven coaches have led Illinois in postseason bowl games: Ray Eliot, Pete Elliott, Mike White, John Mackovic, Lou Tepper, Ron Turner, Ron Zook, Vic Koenning, Tim Beckman, Lovie Smith, and Bielema. Seven of coaches also won conference championships: Arthur R. Hall, Robert Zuppke, Eliot, Elliott, White, Mackovic, and Turner a member of the Big 10. Zuppke won four and Eliot one national championships as head coach of the Fighting Illini.
Zuppke is the leader in seasons coached, with 29 years as head coach, games coached with 224, and games won with 131. Robert Lackey has the highest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game at 0.833. Jim Valek has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with 0.200. Of the 27 different head coaches who have led Illinois, Edward K. Hall, George Washington Woodruff, Zuppke, Elliott, and Bob Blackman 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 | Term | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | DC | CC | NC | Awards |
| 1 | Scott Williams | 1890 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.333 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 2 | Robert Lackey | 1891 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0.833 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 3 | Edward K. Hall$^†$ | 1892–1893 | 22 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 0.636 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 4 | Louis Vail | 1894 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0.500 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 5 | George Huff | 1895–1899 | 40 | 21 | 16 | 3 | 0.563 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0.250 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 6 | Fred L. Smith | 1900 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0.667 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0.333 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 7 | Edgar Holt | 1901–1902 | 23 | 18 | 4 | 1 | 0.804 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0.667 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 8 | George Washington Woodruff$^†$ | 1903 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 0.571 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0.167 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 9 | Clyde Mathews | 1904 | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0.792 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0.700 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 10 | Fred Lowenthal | 1904–1905 | 21 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 0.690 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0.438 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 11 | Justa Lindgren | 1904, 1906 | 17 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 0.647 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0.500 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 12 | Arthur R. Hall | 1904, 1907–1912 | 52 | 36 | 12 | 4 | 0.731 | 20 | 10 | 3 | 0.652 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 13 | Robert Zuppke$^†$ | 1913–1941 | 224 | 131 | 81 | 12 | 0.612 | 76 | 66 | 8 | 0.533 | — | — | — | — | 7 | 4 – 1914, 1919, 1923, 1927 | — |
| 14 | Ray Eliot | 1942–1959 | 167 | 83 | 73 | 11 | 0.530 | 54 | 55 | 7 | 0.496 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 1 – 1951 | — |
| 15 | Pete Elliott$^†$ | 1960–1966 | 66 | 31 | 34 | 1 | 0.477 | 22 | 26 | 1 | 0.459 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 16 | Jim Valek | 1967–1970 | 40 | 8 | 32 | 0 | 0.200 | 5 | 23 | 0 | 0.179 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 17 | Bob Blackman$^†$ | 1971–1976 | 66 | 29 | 36 | 1 | 0.447 | 24 | 23 | 1 | 0.510 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 18 | Gary Moeller | 1977–1979 | 33 | 6 | 24 | 3 | 0.227 | 3 | 18 | 3 | 0.188 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 19 | Mike White | 1980–1987 | 91 | 47 | 41 | 3 | 0.533 | 40 | 26 | 2 | 0.603 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 20 | John Mackovic | 1988–1991 | 47 | 30 | 16 | 1 | 0.649 | 22 | 9 | 1 | 0.703 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 21 | Lou Tepper | 1991–1996 | 58 | 25 | 31 | 2 | 0.448 | 17 | 21 | 2 | 0.450 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 22 | Ron Turner | 1997–2004 | 92 | 35 | 57 | — | 0.380 | 20 | 44 | — | 0.313 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 23 | Ron Zook | 2005–2011 | 85 | 34 | 51 | — | 0.400 | 18 | 38 | — | 0.321 | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Int. | Vic Koenning | 2011 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | — | – | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 24 | Tim Beckman | 2012–2014 | 37 | 12 | 25 | — | 0.324 | 4 | 20 | — | 0.167 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 25 | Bill Cubit | 2015 | 12 | 5 | 7 | — | 0.417 | 2 | 6 | — | 0.250 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 26 | Lovie Smith | 2016–2020 | 56 | 17 | 39 | — | 0.304 | 10 | 33 | — | 0.233 | 0 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Int. | Rod Smith | 2020 | 1 | 0 | 1 | — | .000 | 0 | 1 | — | .000 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 27 | Bret Bielema | 2021–present | 50 | 28 | 22 | — | 0.560 | 18 | 18 | — | 0.500 | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |