List of Ball State Cardinals head football coaches

The Ball State Cardinals football program is a college football team that represents Ball State University in the Mid-American Conference a part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. In nearly a century of play in college football over four affiliations (Indiana Collegiate Conference, Independent, Conference of Midwestern Universities, and the MAC), the Cardinals have had sixteen head coaches.

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

Statistics correct as of the end of the 2023 college football season. ^[4]

No.	Name	Term	GC	OW	OL	OT	O%	CW	CL	CT	C%	PW	PL	CCs	NCs	Awards
1	Paul "Billy" Williams	1924–1925	16	3	13	0	.188
2	Norman G. Wann	1926–1927	15	10	3	2	.733	—	—	—		—	—	—	—
3	Paul B. Parker	1928–1929	7	3	2	2	.571	—	—	—		—	—	—	—
4	Lawrence McPhee	1930–1934	39	15	23	1	.397	—	—	—		—	—	—	—
5	John Magnabosco	1935–1942 1944–1952	128	68	46	14	.586	35	20	6	.634	—	—	1	—
N/A	No Team	1943	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—		—	—	—	—
6	George Serdula	1953–1955	24	14	9	1	.604	8	9	0	.470	—	—	—	—	—
7	Jim Freeman	1956–1961	48	18	28	2	.396	13	22	1	.375	—	—	—	—	—
8	Ray Louthen	1962–1967	53	37	13	3	.726	26	8	2	.750	—	—	4	—	—
9	Wave Myers	1968–1970	29	15	14	0	.517	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
10	Dave McClain	1971–1977	74	46	25	3	.642	13	4	0	.764	—	—	1	—	—
11	Dwight Wallace	1978–1984	77	40	37	0	.519	30	27	0	.526	—	—	1	—	—
12	Paul Schudel	1985–1994	112	60	48	4	.554	48	33	3	.589	0	2	2	—	—
13	Bill Lynch	1995–2002	90	37	53	0	.411	30	34	0	.468	0	1	1	—	—
14	Brady Hoke	2003–2008	69	30	39	0	.435	27	20	0	.574	0	1	—	—	—
15	Stan Parrish	2008–2010	24	6	18	0	.250	5	11	0	.312	0	1	—	—	—
16	Pete Lembo	2011–2015	62	33	29	0	.532	23	17	0	.575	0	2	—	—	—
17	Mike Neu	2016–2024	103	40	63	0	.388	25	43	0	.368	1	1	1	—	—
Int	Colin Johnson [A 5]	2024–present	0	0	0	0	–	0	0	0	–	0	0	0	—	—

Notes

1. 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. ^[1]
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.
3. Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since. ^[2]
4. When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss. ^[3]
5. Johnson served as the interim head coach for the final two games of the 2024 season after Mike Neu was fired from the head coach position

References

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Football Year By Year Records. ballstatesports.com.