The Kentucky Wildcats college football team represents the University of Kentucky in the East Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Wildcats compete as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 37 head coaches since it began play during the 1881 season.[1] On November 27, 2012, Mark Stoops was introduced as Kentucky's 37th head coach.[2]
The team has played more than 1,150 games over 122 seasons of Kentucky football.[1] Both the inaugural 1881 squad and the revived 1891 squad have unknown coaches according to university records in winning two games and losing three.[1] Since 1892, eight coaches have led the Wildcats in postseason bowl games: Bear Bryant, Fran Curci, Jerry Claiborne, Bill Curry, Hal Mumme, Rich Brooks, Joker Phillips[3] and Mark Stoops.
Two of those coaches also won conference championships: Bryant and Curci won a combined three as a member of the SEC.[4]
Stoops is the leader in both seasons coached, with ten, and all-time wins, with 66. At the time of this writing is entering his 11th season as coach of the Wildcats.[5] Fran Curci was the previous leader with 9 seasons coached.[4] Bryant was the previous leader in games won, with 60 victories during his eight seasons with the program.[4] Jack Wright has the highest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with .875.[4] Bernie Shively has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with .200.[4] Of the 36 different head coaches who have led the Wildcats, Bryant and Jerry Claiborne have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana.
| Name | Term | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | DC | CC | NC | Awards | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1892 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 2 | 1893 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 3 | 1894 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 4 | 1895 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 5 | 1896 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 6 | 1897 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 7 | 1898–1899 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 8 | 1900–1901 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 9 | 1902 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 10 | 1903 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 11 | 1904–1905 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 12 | 1906–1908 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||
| 13 | 1909–1910 1912 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||
| 14 | 1911 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||
| 15 | 1913–1914 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||
| 16 | 1915–1916 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||
| 17 | 1917 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 18 | 1918–1919 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 19 | 1920–1922 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 20 | 1923 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 21 | 1924–1926 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 22 | 1927–1933 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 23 | 1934–1937 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 24 | 1938–1944 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 25 | 1945 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 26 | 1946–1953 | — | |||||||||||||||||
| 27 | 1954–1961 | — | |||||||||||||||||
| 28 | 1962–1968 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 29 | 1969–1972 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 30 | 1973–1981 | — | |||||||||||||||||
| 31 | 1982–1989 | — | |||||||||||||||||
| 32 | 1990–1996 | — | |||||||||||||||||
| 33 | 1997–2000 | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| 34 | 2001–2002 | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| 35 | 2003–2009 | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| 36 | 2010–2012 | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| 37 | 2013–present | — | — |
General
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