List of North Dakota State Bison head football coaches

The North Dakota State Bison college football team represents North Dakota State University as part of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC). The Bison competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. The program has had 32 head coaches since it began play during the 1894 season. Since December 2023, Tim Polasek has served as head coach at North Dakota State.

A color photograph of Matt Entz wearing a hat
Matt Entz served as head coach of the North Dakota State Bison from 2019 to 2023.

In that time, ten coaches have led North Dakota State to the postseason: Darrell Mudra, Ron Erhardt, Jim Wacker, Don Morton, Earle Solomonson, Rocky Hager, Bob Babich, Craig Bohl, Chris Klieman, and Entz. The Bison have also won 22 combined conference championships: Casey Finnegan captured two, Mudra two, Erhardt six, Ev Kjelbertson two, Wacker two, Morton four, Solomonson two, and Hager five as a member of the North Central Conference; Bohl captured one as a member of the Great West Conference; Bohl captured three, Klieman five, and Entz two as a member of the MVFC. Mudra and Erhardt each captured College Division national championships; Morton and Solomonson each captured Division II national championships; and, Bohl, Klieman, and Entz each captured Football Bowl Subdivision national championships.

Finnegan is the leader in seasons coached with 13 and Bohl is the leader games won, with 104 victories. Gil Dobie has the highest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with 1.000. Henry Luke Bolley has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with .469. Of the 31 different head coaches who have led the Bison, Dobie and Mudra have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Key to symbols in coaches list
General Overall Conference Postseason[A 1]
No. Order of coaches[A 2] 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[A 3] C% Conference winning percentage
Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame O% Overall winning percentage[A 4]

Coaches

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List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards[A 5]
No. Name Season(s)
[A 6]
GC OW OL OT O% CW CL CT C% PW PL PT CC NC Awards
1 Henry Luke Bolley 1894–1899 16 7 8 1 0.469 0
2 Jack Harrison 1900–1901 17 15 1 1 0.912 0
3 Eddie Cochems 1902–1903 10 9 1 0 0.900 0
4 A. L. Marshall 1904–1905 12 4 7 1 0.375 0
5 Gil Dobie 1906–1907 8 8 0 0 1.000 0
6 Paul Magoffin 1908 5 2 3 0 0.400 0
7 Arthur Rueber 1909–1912 20 12 7 1 0.625 0
8 Howard Wood 1913–1914 12 5 5 2 0.500 0
9 Paul J. Davis 1915–1917 18 10 7 1 0.583 0
10 Stanley Borleske 1919–1921
1923–1924
1928
43 20 18 5 0.523 5 9 0 0.357 0 0
11 Joe Cutting 1922 8 6 2 0 0.750 1 2 0 0.333 0 0
12 Ion Cortright 1925–1927 23 13 8 2 0.609 7 6 2 0.533 0 0
13 Casey Finnegan 1928–1940 116 57 48 11 0.539 26 24 5 0.518 2 0
14 Stan Kostka 1941
1946–1947
25 8 17 0 0.320 6 10 0 0.375 0 0
15 Robert A. Lowe 1942
1945
14 3 9 2 0.286 2 3 0 0.400 0 0
16 Howard Bliss 1948–1949 19 3 16 0 0.158 2 10 0 0.167 0 0
17 Mac Wenskunas 1950–1953 33 11 21 1 0.348 7 16 1 0.313 0 0
18 Del Anderson 1954–1955 18 1 16 1 0.083 1 10 1 0.125 0 0
19 Les Luymes 1956 9 5 4 0 0.556 3 3 0 0.500 0 0
20 Bob Danielson 1957–1962 54 13 39 2 0.259 8 25 2 0.257 0 0
21 Darrell Mudra 1963–1965 30 24 6 0 0.800 14 4 0 0.778 2 0 0 2 1 – 1965
22 Ron Erhardt 1966–1972 69 61 7 1 0.891 39 4 0 0.907 3 1 0 6 2 – 1968, 1969
23 Ev Kjelbertson 1973–1975 30 17 13 0 0.567 12 9 0 0.571 0 0 0 2 0
24 Jim Wacker 1976–1978 34 24 9 1 0.721 15 3 1 0.816 2 2 0 2 0
25 Don Morton 1979–1984 72 57 15 0 0.792 39 6 0 0.867 8 3 0 4 1 – 1983 AFCA Coach of the Year Award (1983)[4]
26 Earle Solomonson 1985–1986 27 24 2 1 0.907 16 1 1 0.917 6 0 0 2 2 – 1985, 1986 AFCA Coach of the Year Award (1986)[4]
27 Rocky Hager 1987–1996 117 91 25 1 0.782 70 18 1 0.792 13 5 0 5 2 – 1988, 1990 AFCA Coach of the Year Award (1988, 1990)[4]
28 Bob Babich 1997–2002 68 46 22 0.676 34 18 0.654 13 5 0 0
29 Craig Bohl 2003–2013 136 104 32 0.765 49 24 0.547 13 1 4 3 – 2011, 2012, 2013 AFCA Coach of the Year Award (2012, 2013)[4]
Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (2012, 2013)[5]
30 Chris Klieman 2014–2018 75 69 6 0.920 36 4 0.900 18 1 5 4 – 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018
31 Matt Entz 2019–2023 71 60 11 0.845 32 7 0.821 15 3 2 2 – 2019, 2021 AFCA Coach of the Year Award (2019, 2021)[4]
32 Tim Polasek 2023– 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Notes

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  1. ^ Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played.[1]
  2. ^ A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.
  3. ^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.[2]
  4. ^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[3]
  5. ^ Statistics correct as of the end of the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season.
  6. ^ North Dakota State did not field teams in 1918 due to World War I and in 1943 and 1944 due to World War II.

References

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  1. ^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
  2. ^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  3. ^ Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d e "NDSU's Entz wins AFCA National Coach of the Year". Minot Daily News. January 11, 2022. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  5. ^ "Bohl wins Robinson Award". NCAA. The Sports Network. December 16, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2022.