The NC State Wolfpack college football team represents North Carolina State University (NC State) in the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Wolfpack compete as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision . The program has had 36 head coaches since it began play during the 1892 season . Since December 2012, Dave Doeren has served as head coach at NC State.[ 1]
Ten coaches have led NC State in postseason bowl games : Beattie Feathers , Earle Edwards , Lou Holtz , Bo Rein , Dick Sheridan , Mike O'Cain , Chuck Amato , Tom O'Brien , Dana Bible , and Doeren. Five of those coaches also won conference championships: Edward L. Greene captured one as a member of the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association ; Gus Tebell captured one as a member of the Southern Conference ; and Edwards captured five, Holtz one, and Rein one as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference .
Edwards is the leader in seasons coached with 17 years as head coach and games won with 77. Mickey Whitehurst has the highest winning percentage at 0.893. John Van Liew and Horace Hendrickson have the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with 0.200. Of the 36 different head coaches who have led the Wolfpack, Willie Heston , Buck Shaw , John "Clipper" Smith , Hunk Anderson , Holtz, and Sheridan have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame .
Key
Key to symbols in coaches list
General
Overall
Conference
Postseason[ A 1]
No.
Order of coaches[ A 2]
GC
Games coached
CW
Conference wins
PW
Postseason wins
DC
Division championships
OW
Overall wins
CL
Conference losses
PL
Postseason losses
CC
Conference championships
OL
Overall losses
CT
Conference ties
PT
Postseason ties
NC
National championships
OT
Overall ties[ A 3]
C%
Conference winning percentage
†
Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame
O%
Overall winning percentage [ A 4]
Coaches
List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards[ A 5]
No.
Name
Season(s)
GC
OW
OL
OT
O%
CW
CL
CT
C%
PW
PL
PT
CC
NC
Awards
1
Perrin Busbee 1892
5
3
2
0
0.600
2
Bart Gatling 1893–1895
9
4
4
1
0.500
4
W. C. Riddick 1898–1899
6
1
3
2
0.300
5
John McKee 1900–1901
12
2
6
4
0.333
6
Art Devlin 1902–1903
17
7
8
2
0.471
7
Willis Kienholz 1904
6
3
1
2
0.667
8
George S. Whitney 1905
6
4
1
1
0.750
9
Willie Heston †
1906
8
3
1
4
0.625
10
Mickey Whitehurst 1907–1908
14
12
1
1
0.893
11
Edward L. Greene 1909–1913
35
25
8
2
0.743
2
2
0
0.500
1
12
Jack Hegarty 1914–1915
13
5
6
2
0.462
0
4
1
0.100
0
13
Britain Patterson 1916
7
2
5
0
0.286
0
4
0
.000
0
14
Harry Hartsell 1917
38
16
18
4
0.474
4
11
4
0.316
0
15
Tal Stafford 1918
4
1
3
0
0.250
0
1
0
.000
0
16
Bill Fetzer 1919–1920
19
14
5
0
0.737
7
3
0
0.700
0
18
Buck Shaw †
1924
10
2
6
2
0.300
1
4
1
0.250
0
19
Gus Tebell 1925–1929
48
21
25
2
0.458
5
16
2
0.261
1
20
John Van Liew 1930
10
2
8
0
0.200
1
5
0
0.167
0
21
John "Clipper" Smith †
1931–1933
27
10
12
5
0.463
5
9
1
0.367
0
22
Hunk Anderson †
1934–1936
29
11
17
1
0.397
5
9
1
0.367
0
23
Williams Newton 1937–1943
69
24
39
6
0.391
19
24
6
0.449
0
24
Beattie Feathers 1944–1951
78
37
38
3
0.494
24
28
3
0.464
0
1
0
0
25
Horace Hendrickson 1952–1953
20
4
16
0
0.200
2
7
0
0.222
0
0
0
0
26
Earle Edwards 1954–1970
173
77
88
8
0.468
55
45
5
0.548
1
1
0
5
27
Al Michaels 1971
11
3
8
0
0.273
2
5
0
0.286
0
0
0
0
28
Lou Holtz †
1972–1975
48
33
12
3
0.719
16
5
2
0.739
2
1
1
1
29
Bo Rein 1976–1979
46
27
18
1
0.598
15
8
0
0.652
2
0
0
1
30
Monte Kiffin 1980–1982
33
16
17
0
0.485
8
10
0
0.444
0
0
0
0
31
Tom Reed 1983–1985
33
9
24
0
0.273
4
17
0
0.190
0
0
0
0
32
Dick Sheridan †
1986–1992
84
52
29
3
0.637
31
18
1
0.630
2
4
0
0
33
Mike O'Cain 1993–1999
81
41
40
0
0.506
26
30
0
0.464
1
2
0
0
34
Chuck Amato 2000–2006
86
49
37
0.570
25
31
0.446
4
1
0
35
Tom O'Brien 2007–2012
75
40
35
0.533
22
26
0.458
2
1
0
Int.
Dana Bible [ A 6] 2012
1
0
1
.000
0
0
–
0
1
0
36
Dave Doeren 2013–present
152
87
65
0.572
47
51
0.480
3
6
0
[ 6]
Notes
^ Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902 , it has been continuously played since the 1916 game , and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played.[ 2]
^ A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.
^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.[ 3] ^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[ 4]
^ Statistics correct as of the end of the 2024 NCAA Division I FCS football season .
^ Bible served as interim head coach of the Wolfpack for the 2012 Music City Bowl after Tom O'Brien was fired at the conclusion of the 2012 regular season.[ 5]
References
^ Adelson, Andrea (December 1, 2012). "NC State hires Dave Doeren" . ESPN.com . Retrieved January 31, 2023 . ^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF) . Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5– 10. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011 . ^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches" . USA Today . McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009 . ^ Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th" . The New York Times . New York City. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2009 . ^ Adelson, Andrea (November 25, 2012). "NC State fires Tom O'Brien" . ESPN.com . Retrieved January 31, 2023 . ^ "North Carolina State Wolfpack School History" . SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 31, 2023 .
# denotes interim head coach
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons
# denotes interim head coach
