# List of Cincinnati Bearcats head football coaches

The Cincinnati Bearcats football team represents the University of Cincinnati in the Big 12 Conference, competing as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The program has had 39 head coaches and three interim coaches during its existence, as well as one stint with no coach and two periods with the program on hiatus. The Bearcats have been participating in college football since the 1885 season and were one of the first schools currently in the FBS to sponsor a football program. Scott Satterfield is the current head coach; he replaced Luke Fickell (and Kerry Coombs - 1 game as interim), after Fickell took the head coaching job at Wisconsin after the 2022 season.
The program's current nickname, "Bearcats", was first used in 1914 and was formally adopted in 1919. Prior to then, common terms like "Varsity" or "Red and Black" (the team's colors) had been used to refer to the football team. The Bearcats have played in more than 1200 games during the program's 129 seasons (through the 2017 regular season). In that time, nine coaches have led the Bearcats in a post-season bowl game, eight have won a conference championship, and four have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Rick Minter currently holds several records among Cincinnati coaches, including most games coached (117), seasons coached (10), games won (53), games lost (63), conference wins (23), and conference losses (30). Minter also holds, along with Tuberville and Brian Kelly, the record for most bowl games coached (3). Sid Gillman guided the Bearcats to three Mid-American Conference (MAC) championships, the most of any Cincinnati coach in any conference. Gillman also has the best conference win percentage of any coach (.929); Tom Fennell's .864 is the best regular season percentage, while Kelly's .850 leads among multi-season coaches. Only one interim coach, Steve Stripling, has won a game in that position.

## 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 |
| N/A | No coach | 1885–93 | 29 | 13 | 12 | 4 | 0.517 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 1 | W. Durant Berry | 1894–95 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0.500 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 2 | William A. Reynolds | 1896 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0.563 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 3 | Tom Fennell | 1897 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0.864 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 4 | Frank Cavanaugh$^†$ | 1898 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0.778 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 5 | Daniel A. Reed | 1899–1900 | 16 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0.531 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 6 | Henry S. Pratt | 1901 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0.250 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 7 | Anthony Chez | 1902–03 | 17 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 0.353 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 8 | Amos Foster | 1904–05 | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0.750 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 9 | William Foley | 1906 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 0.111 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| X | No team | 1907 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 10 | Ralph Inott | 1908 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0.250 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 11 | Robert Burch | 1909–11 | 26 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 0.654 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0.643 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 12 | Lowell Dana | 1912–13 | 17 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 0.529 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0.455 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 13 | George Little$^†$ | 1914–15 | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 0.556 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0.583 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 14 | Ion Cortright | 1916 | 9 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0.056 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0.071 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 15 | Frank Marty | 1917 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 16 | Boyd Chambers | 1918–21 | 30 | 12 | 15 | 3 | 0.468 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 0.344 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 17 | George McLaren$^†$ | 1922–26 | 45 | 16 | 26 | 3 | 0.389 | 8 | 15 | 2 | 0.360 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 18 | George Babcock | 1927–30 | 36 | 12 | 21 | 3 | 0.375 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 0.158 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 19 | Dana M. King | 1931–34 | 36 | 25 | 10 | 1 | 0.708 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0.679 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | — |
| 20 | Russ Cohen | 1935–37 | 22 | 8 | 11 | 3 | 0.432 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| Int | Wade Woodworth | 1937 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 21 | Joseph A. Meyer | 1938–42 | 46 | 27 | 16 | 3 | 0.620 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | — |
| X | No team | 1943–44 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 22 | Ray Nolting | 1945–48 | 39 | 23 | 15 | 1 | 0.603 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0.750 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 23 | Sid Gillman$^†$ | 1949–54 | 64 | 50 | 13 | 1 | 0.789 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0.929 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | — |
| 24 | George Blackburn | 1955–60 | 58 | 25 | 27 | 6 | 0.483 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 0.300 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 25 | Charles Studley | 1961–66 | 60 | 27 | 33 | 0 | 0.450 | 13 | 9 | 0 | 0.591 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | — |
| 26 | Homer Rice | 1967–68 | 19 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 0.447 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0.556 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 27 | Ray Callahan | 1969–72 | 43 | 20 | 23 | 0 | 0.465 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0.400 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 28 | Tony Mason | 1973–76 | 44 | 26 | 18 | 0 | 0.591 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 29 | Ralph Staub | 1977–80 | 44 | 14 | 28 | 2 | 0.341 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 30 | Mike Gottfried | 1981–82 | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 0.545 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 31 | Watson Brown | 1983 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0.409 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 32 | Dave Currey | 1984–88 | 55 | 19 | 36 | 0 | 0.345 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 33 | Timothy Murphy | 1989–93 | 55 | 17 | 37 | 1 | 0.318 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | — |
| 34 | Rick Minter | 1994–2003 | 117 | 53 | 63 | 1 | 0.457 | 23 | 30 | 0 | 0.434 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 35 | Mark Dantonio | 2004–06 | 36 | 18 | 17 | — | 0.514 | 11 | 11 | — | 0.500 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 36 | Brian Kelly | 2006–09 | 40 | 34 | 6 | — | 0.850 | 17 | 4 | — | 0.810 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 2 | 0 | Home Depot Coach of the Year Award (2009) Big East Coach of the Year (2007, 2008, 2009) |
| Int | Jeff Quinn | 2009 | 1 | 0 | 1 | — | .000 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 1 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 37 | Butch Jones | 2010–12 | 37 | 23 | 14 | — | 0.622 | 14 | 7 | — | 0.667 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | Big East Coach of the Year (2011) |
| Int | Steve Stripling | 2012 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 38 | Tommy Tuberville | 2013–16 | 51 | 29 | 22 | — | 0.569 | 18 | 14 | — | 0.563 | 0 | 3 | — | 0 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 39 | Luke Fickell | 2017–2022 | 75 | 57 | 18 | — | 0.760 | 35 | 11 | — | 0.761 | 2 | 2 | — | 1 | 2 | 0 | Home Depot Coach of the Year Award (2021) Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award (2021) Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (2021) Sporting News Coach of the Year (2021) AAC Coach of the Year (2018, 2020–2021) |
| Int | Kerry Coombs | 2022 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | – | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 40 | Scott Satterfield | 2023–present | 24 | 8 | 16 | — | 0.333 | 4 | 14 | — | 0.222 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |