The West Virginia Mountaineers college football team represents West Virginia University in the Big 12 Conference (Big 12). The Mountaineers competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 38 head coaches and one interim head coach since it began play during the 1891 season. Since December 2024, Rich Rodriguez has served as West Virginia's head coach.
Through the end of the 2024 season, the Mountaineers have competed in 1,356 games and compiled an overall record of 783 wins, 528 losses, and 46 ties. In that time, 12 coaches have led the Mountaineers in postseason bowl games: Clarence Spears, Marshall Glenn, Dudley DeGroot, Art Lewis, Gene Corum, Jim Carlen, Bobby Bowden, Don Nehlen, Rodriguez, Bill Stewart, Dana Holgorsen, and Neal Brown. Seven of those coaches also won conference championships: Lewis captured five, Corum two, and Carlen one as a member of the Southern Conference; Rodriguez captured four and Nehlen, Stewart, and Holgorsen each captured one as a member of the Big East Conference.
Nehlen is the leader in seasons coached and games won, with 149 victories during his 21 years with the program. Harry E. Trout has the highest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with .857. Thomas Trenchard has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with .333. Of the 35 different head coaches who have led the Mountaineers, Spears, Ira Rodgers, Greasy Neale, Bowden, and Nehlen have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
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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 1891 — — — — — — — — — 2 1893–1894 — — — — — — — — — 3 1895 — — — — — — — — — 4 1896 — — — — — — — — — 5 1897 — — — — — — — — — 6 1898 — — — — — — — — — 7 & 9 18991901 — — — — — — — — — 8 1900 — — — — — — — — — 10 1902 — — — — — — — — — 11 1903 — — — — — — — — — 12 1904 — — — — — — — — — 13 1905–1906 — — — — — — — — — 14 1907 — — — — — — — — — 15 1908–1911 — — — — — — — — — 16 1912 — — — — 17 1913 — — — — — — — — — 18 1914–1915 — — — — — — — — — 19 1916–19171919–1920 — — — — — — — — — 20 1921–1924 — — — — — — 21 & 26 1925–19301943–1945 — — — — — — 22 1931–1933 — — — — — — 23 1934–1936 — — — — — — 24 1937–1939 — — — — — — 25 & 27 1940–19421946–1947 — — — — — — 28 1948–1949 — — — — — — 29 1950–1959 — 30 1960–1965 — 31 1966–1969 — 32 1970–1975 — — — — — — 33 1976–1979 — — — — — — 34 1980–2000 Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award (1988)Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award (1988)AFCA Coach of the Year (1988) 35 2001–20072025–present — — — — 36 2008–2010 — — — — 37 2011–2018 — — — — 38 2019–2024 — — — — Int. 2024 — — — —
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