The Samford Bulldogs college football team represents Samford University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon). The Bulldogs competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. The program has had 37 head coaches, and one  interim head coach since it began play during the 1902 season. Since December 2025, John Grass has served as head coach at Samford.

Five coaches have led Samford to the postseason: Bobby Bowden, Wayne Grubb, Terry Bowden, Pat Sullivan, and Hatcher. Four of those coaches also won conference championships: Eddie McLane captured one and Billy Bancroft two, as a member of the Dixie Conference; Sullivan and Hatcher each captured one as a member of Southern Conference.

Hatcher is the leader in seasons coached, with 10 years as head coach and games coached (100) and won (57). Bobby Bowden has the highest winning percentage at 0.838. Maxwell James and Bub Walker have the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with 0.000. Of the 36 different head coaches who have led the Bulldogs, Bobby Bowden and Sullivan have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Key

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 CC NC Awards 1 1902–1903 — — — — — — — — — 2 1903 — — — — — — — — — 3 1905 — — — — — — — — — 4 1906–1908 — — — — — — — — — 5 1908 — — — — — — — — — 6 190919111916–1917 — — — — 7 1910 — — — — 8 1912–1914 — — — — 9 1915 — — — — 10 1917 — — — — 11 1918 — — — — 12 19191927–1928 — — — — 13 1920–1921 — — — — 14 1922–1923 — — — — 15 1924–1926 — — — — 16 1929–1933 — — — — 17 1934 — — — — 18 1935–1939 — — — — 19 1940–19411954 — — — — 20 1943 — — — — — — — — — 21 1944–1945 — — — — — — — — — 22 1948 — — — — — — — — — 23 1949–1953 — — — — — — — — — 24 1955–1956 — — — — — — — — — 25 1957–1958 — — — — — — — — — 26 1959–1962 — — — — — — 27 1963–1965 — — — — — — 28 1966–1968 — — — — — — 29 1969–1973 — — — — — — 30 1984–1986 — — — — — — 31 1987–1992 — — — — — — 32 1993 — — — — — — 33 1994–2001 — — — — — — 34 2001–2006 — — OVC Coach of the Year (2003) 35 2007–2014 — — SoCon Co-Coach of the Year (2012) 36 2015–2025 — — — Int 2025 — — — — 37 2026–present — — —

Notes

References