What does Northwestern coaching history show?
Northwestern coaching history on this page spans 30 tracked head coaches, led by Pat Fitzgerald with 110 wins from 2006-2022.
Program overview
Northwestern
2025 finish: 7-6-0 across 13 games. Jump into coaching history, title years, and long-view program trends.
Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium • Evanston • IL
Big TenLanny and Sharon Martin Stadium
All-Time Wins
568
All-Time Losses
709
Win %
45%
Track coaching history, title years, Heisman winners, roster movement, and the conference path that shaped the modern program.
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Save Northwestern for roster, portal, recruiting, schedule, and TV personalization.
Current season hub
2026 Northwestern hub
Next game: Northwestern vs South Dakota State on Sat, Sep 5.
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vs South Dakota State
Sat, Sep 5 · Week 1
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2026 Northwestern 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 NorthwesternStarts with Florida
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Existing rivalry pages for Northwestern
How to read this page
Northwestern football program guide
This overview connects the core facts behind Northwestern 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 Northwestern finished 7-6. Use the related links to compare Northwestern against national title lists, all-time wins, rankings, rivalries, recruiting, and transfer activity.
Program Snapshot
Program essentials
Core program details, venue context, and team visuals in one place.
Conference
Big Ten
Division
Not listed
Home field
Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium
Location
Evanston, IL
Capacity
Unavailable
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: 7-6-0
13 games tracked with a 54% win rate.
Current Season
Performance pulse
Wins
7
Losses
6
Ties
0
Games
13
Win %
54%
Conference Timeline
Realignment context
- Big Ten Conference1896-
- NCAA Division I FBS independent schools1888-1895
Stadium Access
Venue links
Coaching History
Sideline eras
| David Braun | 2023-2025 | 12-13-0 |
| Pat Fitzgerald | 2006-2022 | 110-101-0 |
| Randy Walker | 1999-2005 | 37-46-0 |
| Gary Barnett | 1992-1998 | 35-45-1 |
| Francis Peay | 1986-1991 | 13-51-2 |
| Dennis Green | 1981-1985 | 10-45-0 |
| Rick Venturi | 1978-1980 | 1-31-1 |
| John Pont | 1973-1977 | 12-43-0 |
| Alex Agase | 1964-1972 | 32-58-1 |
| Ara Parseghian | 1956-1963 | 36-35-1 |
| Lou Saban | 1955 | 0-8-1 |
| Robert Voigts | 1947-1954 | 33-39-1 |
| Pappy Waldorf | 1935-1946 | 49-45-7 |
| Dick Hanley | 1927-1934 | 36-26-4 |
| Glenn Thistlethwaite | 1922-1926 | 21-17-1 |
| Elmer McDevitt | 1920-1921 | 4-10-0 |
| Charlie Bachman | 1919 | 2-5-0 |
| Fred Murphy | 1914-1918 | 16-16-1 |
| Dennis Grady | 1913 | 1-6-0 |
| Charles Hammett | 1910-1912 | 6-10-2 |
| Bill Horr | 1909 | 1-3-1 |
| Alton Johnson | 1908 | 2-2-0 |
| Walter McCornack | 1903-1905 | 26-5-4 |
| Charles Hollister | 1899-1902 | 27-16-4 |
| W.H. Bannard | 1898 | 9-4-1 |
| Jesse Van Doozer | 1897 | 5-3-0 |
| Alvin Culver | 1895-1896 | 12-6-2 |
| A.A. Ewing | 1894 | 4-5-0 |
| Paul Noyes | 1893 | 2-5-3 |
| Knowlton Ames | 1892 | 5-3-2 |
National Championships
Title profile
No national championships recorded.
Heisman Trophy Winners
Award lineage
No Heisman Trophy winners from this school.