Comments and Standards
National High School Football
Coaching Records
  • When considering if a coach fits in the public or private school category, I go with the school where
    he spent most of his career.
  • Why do I care if a coach was with a public or private school?
  • I feel its important to recognize those who have won 300+ games with the athletes given
    them by district/city/county boundaries versus those who benefit from different standards.
  • I am in no way taking anything away from private school coaches - they earn every one of
    their victories - but do have benefits that public school coaches do not.
  • 3 Coaches that have been listed as 300+ game winners who are not included on my list:
  • Bob Rankin - South Carolina - I have found him listed for 313 career wins and for 248
    career wins - unable to verify either.
  • Walter Brooks - Utah - 308 career victories which appears to have been done in other than
    11-man football.
  • Mike Mahlen - Minnesota - 325+ career victories in 9-man football
  • Why Ray Akins (Gregory-Portland, Texas) is not on the list:
  • Some will say that Akins has 302 coaching victories.  Tony Reyes (deceased) and I, along
    with Joe Lee Smith, the noted historian of Texas High School Football, have determined that
    not to be the case. Wes Underwood (deceased) of Collier-Sharp  has also confirmed this..
  • The confusion lies with Akins' early coaching career. Records had indicated that Akins
    coached in 1951 and 1952 at Lometa High School and left that school with a record of 12-6-
    2 and then began coaching at Goldthwaite in 1953. Tony Reyes contacted a 1953 graduate
    of Goldthwaite and determined, through high school annuals, that Akins was head coach at
    Goldthwaite in 1952, not at Lometa. Joe Lee Smith's records, confirms that Goldthwaite
    finished the 1952 season with a record of 0-10-0. That leaves his 1951-1952 coaching
    totals at 5-14-1, a difference of 7 wins.
  • Various sources, including the Gregory-Portland trophy case, may show Akins with 300+
    career victories, but the truth is that he retired 7 wins short of 300.
  • The change regarding Akins coaching record at Goldthwaite was discovered in 2004.
  • Please click here for more in-depth information on Akin's coaching career.
  • As noted elsewhere, this list is for 11-man football only.
  • For many of the top active coaches, I personally emailed them and confirmed their records.
  • With the exception of Texas football coaches (Joe Lee Smith gets all of the credit here) I have not
    determined the full accuracy of their records - forfeits, varsity versus sub-varsity, etc. The King of
    High School Football Stats in Texas - Joe Lee Smith - has done wondrous research over the years
    and he has confirmed the accuracy of each Texas coach on the list.