Carroll C. Widdowes coached from 1944-1945 (OSU
Archives)
Ohio State has seen some of the greatest football minds ever pass through its hallowed halls. This page shows some of their accomplishments.
ALL-TIME COACHES' CAREER RECORDS & BIOS
Alexander S. Lilley
(1890-1891) 3 Wins, 5 Losses, 0 Ties, .375 Winning Pct.
Jack Ryder (1892-1895, 98) 21 Wins, 22 Losses, 2 Ties, .479 Winning
Pct.
Charles A. Hickey (1896) 5 Wins, 5 Losses, 1 Tie, .500 Winning Pct.
David F. Edwards (1897) 1 Wins, 7 Losses, 1 Tie, .167 Winning Pct.
John B. Eckstorm (1899-1901) 22 Wins, 4 Losses, 3 Ties, .810
Winning Pct.
John Eckstorm was the first very successful coach in Ohio State
history. His winning teams started to bring more and more fans out to the
games to the point where they overflowed University Field by several
thousand. Eckstorm unexpectedly stepped down in 1901.
Perry Hale (1902-1903) 14 Wins, 5 Losses, 2 Ties, .714 Winning Pct.
E.R. Sweetland (1904-1905) 14 Wins, 7 Losses, 2 Ties, .652 Winning
Pct.
A.E. Hernstein (1906-1909) 28 Wins, 10 Losses, 1 Tie, .731 Winning
Pct.
Howard Jones (1910) 6 Wins, 1 Loss, 3 Ties, .750 Winning Pct.
Howard Jones was only coach at Ohio State for one season, but his
accomplishments throughout his career were great. He would go on to have a
wonderful career coaching at Iowa and USC, and eventually, he would wind up in
the College Coaches Hall of Fame.
Harry Vaughn (1911) 5 Wins, 3 Losses, 2 Ties, .600 Winning Pct.
John R. Richards (1912) 6 Wins, 3 Losses, 0 Ties, .667 Winning Pct.
John W. Wilce (1913-1928) 78 Wins, 33 Losses, 9 Ties, .688 Winning
Pct.
John Wilce's teams are responsible for creating the fever and love that fans
have for Buckeye football. His teams were the first ones that became
recognized everywhere as under his reign, OSU got their first All-American in
Boyd Cherry (and 14 All-Americans in all), their first superstar in Chic Harley,
and three conference championships. Wilce stepped down in 1928 to practice
medicine. The OSU fight song "Across the Field" was written as a
tribute to Wilce.
Sam S. Willaman (1929-1933) 26 Wins, 10 Losses, 5 Ties, .695 Winning Pct.
Francis A. Schmidt (1934-1940) 39 Wins, 16 Losses, 1 Tie, .705 Winning Pct.
(OSU Archives)
Schmidt had the task of replacing John Wilce.
He brought with him a new offense that contained many trick plays and was called
"razzle dazzle" by the press. He may be most famous for his
comment in reference to OSU's troubles with UM before the Michigan game in 1934:
"They put their pants on one leg at a time same as everybody
else." The team went on to beat UM after that comment, and the
"Golden Pants" award was invented to give a miniature pair of gold
pants to any player who contributed in a defeat of Michigan. Also started
under Schmidt was the Captain's Breakfast, and his 1935 team was the one that
played in the famous battle against Notre Dame. Schmidt resigned in 1940.
Paul E. Brown (1941-1943) 18 Wins, 8 Losses, 1 Tie, .685 Winning Pct.
(OSU Archives)
Paul Brown is truly one of the greatest figures
in the history of football. A true innovator, Brown was born to be a
Buckeye. He always wanted to play football for OSU, but he was too small,
and the Buckeyes refused to give him a uniform. Instead, he went to Miami
of Ohio, but his love for OSU never stopped. He started his prolific
coaching career at Massillon as he amassed a 80-8-2 record in nine seasons and
an amazing 58-1-1 record from 1935 to 1940. Brown then came to Ohio State,
and although he was only there for three seasons, he definitely left his
mark. His 1942 team was the first national championship team at OSU, and
it set the standard of excellence for the Buckeyes that is still present
today. Brown brought with him a true hatred for losing, especially to that
team up north.
All one has to do to realize the importance of Paul Brown is remember that he had an NFL team named after him, which is an honor that no one else has ever or will ever be able to claim. But Brown was always a Buckeye at heart. Before his death in 1991, Paul Brown wrote "My first two years at Ohio State were the happiest, most exciting and most rewarding period of my life, better in some respect than the years in Cleveland, because coaching the Buckeyes had been my ultimate dream." The importance of Paul Brown to football is immeasurable, and OSU fans should be honored to call this football legend a Buckeye.
Carroll C. Widdoes
(1944-1945) 16 Wins, 2 Losses, .889 Winning Pct.
Carroll Widdoes (pictured above) was coach for only two years at OSU, but
one of them was the undefeated season of 1944 which finished #2 in the
nation. Widdoes stepped down after the 1945 season in a strange manner--
he traded positions on the team with offensive coordinator Paul Bixler.
Bixler coached one season before being replaced by Wes Fesler.
Paul O. Bixler (1946) 4 Wins, 3 Losses, 2 Ties, .556 Winning Pct.
Wesley E. Fesler (1947-1950) 21 Wins, 13 Losses, 3 Ties, .608 Winning Pct.
(OSU Archives)
Wesley is one of the greatest figures in OSU
football history. Fesler played end and fullback for OSU from 1928 to 1930
and won All-American honors all three years and a Big Ten MVP award.
Fesler graduated and went on to coach at Princeton and Penn, and in 1947, he
returned to coach Ohio State. He coached from 1947 to 1950, and he
compiled a 21-13-1 record and won a Big Ten Championship and Rose Bowl.
Fessler resigned in 1950, however, citing "the tension brought about by the
tremendous desire to win football games."
W. W. (Woody) Hayes (1951-1978) 205 Wins, 61 Losses, 10 Ties, .761 Winning Pct.
(OSU Archives)
We don't have enough web space to say all that needs to be
said about Woody Hayes, and we recognize that it would be futile to try and put
it into a brief description here. Therefore, of course, he gets his own
separate page. Our attempt to memorialize him will never be big enough,
but you can take a look at it here.
Earle Bruce (1979-1987) 81 Wins, 26 Losses, 1 Tie, .755 Winning Pct.
(OSU Archives)
Earle Bruce had the unenviable task of succeeding Woody Hayes. He almost pulled it off early by challenging immediately for the national championship in his first year, but lost the last game of the season to USC. He then reeled off a batch of 9-3 seasons and managed to finish with a winning record against Michigan. Earle was fired and replaced in 1988 by John Cooper.
John Cooper (1988-2001) 111 Wins, 43 Losses, 4 Ties, .702 Winning Pct.
John Cooper's career at Ohio State was filled with ups and downs. He had some teams that accomplished some very good things, such as the unforgettable Rose Bowl champions of 1996. In the years 1995-1998, Cooper's teams helped establish OSU as one of the premier programs in America as the Buckeyes won at least ten games for four years straight. But Cooper took a slide in 1999 as the team went from one of the best in America in '98 to being 6-6 in 1999, the heat that Cooper seemingly always experienced got worse and worse. The Buckeyes improved to 8-3 in 2000, but after some off-the-field problems and a listless performance in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1, 2001, Cooper was fired on Jan. 2. The Cooper tenure will unfortunately be remembered for this performance, these problems, his poor record in bowl games, and his notorious 2-10-1 record against Michigan.
Jim Tressel (2001-present) 40 wins, 11 losses (through 2004)
The OSU coaching search of 2001 will never be forgotten. The rumors and speculation never stopped, and it was a crazy roller coaster ride on which OSU fans couldn't believe anything that anyone reported. But in the end, a somewhat unexpected choice was made to bring Youngstown State head coach Jim Tressel into OSU to be the head coach. Tressel came in and established immediately that he was looking to do things at OSU the right way and bring pride to the program. Coach Tressel was very popular and a winner at Youngstown State, and so far, he couldn't be off to a better start. After going 7-5 in year one with an unexpected win over Michigan, Coach Tressel guided Ohio State to a 14-0 season and a national championship in just his second year. He is already among the state of Ohio's most popular figures.
