What does Vanderbilt coaching history show?
Vanderbilt coaching history on this page spans 26 tracked head coaches, led by Dan McGugin with 102 wins from 1919-1934.
Program overview
Vanderbilt
2025 finish: 10-3-0 across 13 games. Jump into coaching history, title years, and long-view program trends.
FirstBank Stadium • Nashville • TN
SECFirstBank Stadium
All-Time Wins
573
All-Time Losses
652
Win %
47%
Track coaching history, title years, Heisman winners, roster movement, and the conference path that shaped the modern program.
Team follow
Follow Vanderbilt
Save Vanderbilt for roster, portal, recruiting, schedule, and TV personalization.
Current season hub
2026 Vanderbilt hub
Next game: Vanderbilt vs Austin Peay on Sat, Sep 5.
Gameday planner
vs Austin Peay
Sat, Sep 5 · Week 1
Ticket links may include an affiliate ID.
Next best actions
2026 Vanderbilt watchlist
Use the offseason window to track roster construction, portal movement, recruiting, and the next schedule baseline.
Review roster healthTalent, experience, and position groupsTrack portal movementIncoming and outgoing playersOpen recruiting classCommits, stars, and pipelineCompare VanderbiltStarts with Florida
Rivalry hubs
Existing rivalry pages for Vanderbilt
How to read this page
Vanderbilt football program guide
This overview connects the core facts behind Vanderbilt football: conference home, stadium context, all-time record, title seasons, Heisman winners, coaching tenures, and the recent season baseline. It is meant to be the starting point before moving into the deeper team tabs.
The latest indexed season is 2025, when Vanderbilt finished 10-3. Use the related links to compare Vanderbilt against national title lists, all-time wins, rankings, rivalries, recruiting, and transfer activity.
Institution + Market Profile
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN · SEC
NACUBO participant value; entity may be university, foundation, system, or related foundations as named in the NACUBO Excel.
Enrollment
13,506
Fall 2024
Living Alumni
150,000
rounded public/institutional alumni figure
200-Mile Population
6,000,000
Modeled rounded U.S. population estimate within 200-mile great-circle radius; see Methodology sheet.
Nearest Pro Team
Nashville Predators (NHL)
1.7 mi from campus · Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
Endowment
$10.86B
FY2025 · P4 rank 7 · +5.9% YoY
Billionaire Alumni
2
Thomas F. Frist Jr., Jeff Rothschild
Enrollment, alumni, market, and endowment values are directional; school reporting scopes and named endowment entities vary.
Program Snapshot
Program essentials
Core program details, venue context, and team visuals in one place.
Conference
SEC
Division
Not listed
Home field
FirstBank Stadium
Location
Nashville, TN
Capacity
40,351
Venue type
Outdoor
Team Colors
Program Dashboard
This season and next actions
Start from the latest season record, then jump into the team history, coaching, and title surfaces most fans usually need next.
Current read
2025: 10-3-0
13 games tracked with a 77% win rate.
Current Season
Performance pulse
Wins
10
Losses
3
Ties
0
Games
13
Win %
77%
Conference Timeline
Realignment context
- Southeastern Conference1933-
- Southern Conference1922-1932
- Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association1895-1921
- NCAA Division I FBS independent schools1890-1894
Stadium Access
Venue links
Coaching History
Sideline eras
| Clark Lea | 2021-2025 | 16-33-0 |
| Todd Fitch | 2020 | 0-1-0 |
| Derek Mason | 2014-2020 | 27-55-0 |
| James Franklin | 2011-2013 | 24-15-0 |
| Robbie Caldwell | 2010 | 2-10-0 |
| Bobby Johnson | 2002-2009 | 29-66-0 |
| Woody Widenhofer | 1997-2001 | 15-40-0 |
| Ron Dowhower | 1995-1996 | 4-18-0 |
| Gerry DiNardo | 1991-1994 | 18-26-0 |
| Watson Brown | 1986-1990 | 10-45-0 |
| George MacIntyre | 1979-1985 | 25-52-1 |
| Fred Pancoast | 1975-1978 | 13-31-0 |
| Steve Sloan | 1973-1974 | 12-9-2 |
| Bill Pace | 1967-1972 | 22-38-3 |
| Jack Green | 1963-1966 | 7-29-4 |
| Arthur Guepe | 1953-1962 | 39-54-7 |
| Bill Edwards | 1949-1952 | 21-19-2 |
| Red Sanders | 1946-1948 | 19-10-1 |
| Doby Bartling | 1945 | 3-6-0 |
| Red Sanders | 1940-1942 | 17-12-1 |
| Ray Morrison | 1935-1939 | 25-20-2 |
| Dan McGugin | 1919-1934 | 102-31-14 |
| Ray Morrison | 1918 | 4-2-0 |
| Dan McGugin | 1904-1917 | 95-24-5 |
| J.H. Henry | 1903 | 6-1-1 |
| W.H. Watkins | 1902 | 8-1-0 |
National Championships
Title profile
No national championships recorded.
Heisman Trophy Winners
Award lineage
No Heisman Trophy winners from this school.