List of Northern Colorado Bears head football coaches

Head coach Joe Glenn led the Bears to two consecutive NCAA Division II National Football Championship titles.

The Northern Colorado Bears football program is a college football team that represents University of Northern Colorado in the Big Sky Conference, a part of the NCAA Division I Football Championship. The team has had 17 head coaches since its first recorded football game in 1892. ^[1] The position has been vacant since November 21, 2022, when Ed McCaffrey was fired. ^[2]

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 2021 college football season.

No.	Name	Term	GC	OW	OL	OT	O%	CW	CL	CT	C%	PW	PL	CCs	NCs	Awards
–	unknown	1892	1	0	1	0	.000	—	—	—		—	—	—	—
1	John Lister	1893, 1895–1896	4	0	4	0	.000	—	—	—		—	—	—	—
—	no team	1894	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		—	—	—	—
–	unknown	1897	1	0	1	0	.000	—	—	—		—	—	—	—
—	no team	1898	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		—	—	—	—
2	Arthur Kendel	1899–1900	7	1	4	2	.286	—	—	—		—	—	—	—
—	no team	1901–1904	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		—	—	—	—
3	Samuel E. Abbott	1905	4	0	2	2	.250	—	—	—		—	—	—	—
—	no team	1906–1916	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		—	—	—	—
4	Ralph Glaze	1917–1918	9	2	7	0	.222	—	—	—		—	—	—	—
5	William E. Search	1919–1921	12	1	10	1	.125	—	—	—		—	—	—	—
6	George Cooper	1922–1927	47	15	29	3	.351	4	21	—		—	—	—	—
7	Bill Saunders	1928–1931	29	12	13	4	.483	10	12	1		—	—	—	—
8	John W. Hancock	1932–1943 1946–1953	160	77	78	5	.497	—	—	—		—	1	2	—
—	no team	1944–1945	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		—	—	—	—
9	Joe Lindahl	1954–1962	83	36	43	4	.458	—	—	—		—	—	—	—
10	William C. Heiss	1963–1965	28	12	14	2	.464	—	—	—		—	—	—	—
11	Bob Blasi	1966–1984	181	107	71	3	.599	—	—	—		—	—	5	—
12	Ron Simonson	1985–1988	43	13	30	0	.302	—	—	—		—	—	—	—
13	Joe Glenn	1989–1999	133	99	34	0	.744	70	28	—		10	5	3	2
14	Kay Dalton	2000–2005	69	38	31	0	.551	—	—	—		—	—	1	—
15	Scott Downing	2006–2010	56	9	47	0	.161	—	—	—		—	—	—	—
16	Earnest Collins, Jr.	2011–2019	100	28	72	0	.280	19	53	—		—	—	—	—
17	Ed McCaffrey	2020–2022	22	6	16	0	.273	4	12	—	.250	—	—	—	—

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. ^[3]
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. ^[4]
4. When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss. ^[5]

References

1. Shafer, Ian. "Northern Colorado (All seasons results)". College Football Reference. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
2. "McCaffrey will not return as Northern Colorado head football coach". Northern Colorado Bears. November 21, 2022.
3. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived from the original on August 22, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
4. Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on November 24, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
5. Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on October 22, 2009. Retrieved October 22, 2009.