BYU has been playing football since 1922 and has had only 15 coaches in over 100 seasons. The Cougars have been lucky to have success with many of their coaches. Their last four coaches all have records over .500 each with at least one postseason win.
The Cougar's best coach was easily LaVell Edwards who coached in Provo for almost 30 years. Edwards coached in 361 games and finished with a 257-101-3 record. He was also inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, but Edwards sadly passed back in 2016.
So obviously BYU has had some great coaches in their football history. However, what about the ones that were not so successful? Well, I had to go back far to find some coaches who did not succeed at BYU, but here is my list of the three worst head coach hires in BYU football history.
Tally Stevens only coached for two seasons at BYU but was an assistant coach for three years before taking over. Stevens compiled just a 6-15 record as a head coach. After playing football in college at Utah State, Stevens cut his playing career short to serve in the United States Air Force.
Here is a break down of Steven's career at BYU.
- 1959: 3-7, 2-5 conference
- 1960: 3-8, 2-5 conference
Stevens was never able to get more than three wins in either of the seasons he was at the helm at BYU. After getting just two wins again in conference play, Stevens was fired and never got another coaching job.
Chick Atkinson had the second-worst win percentage in BYU football history and was the head coach for the Cougars for seven seasons. Atkinson had only one winning record in seven at BYU and never had a winning record in conference play.
Here is a break down of Atkinson's time with the Cougars.
- 1949: 0-11, 0-5 conference
- 1950: 4-5-1, 1-3-1 conference
- 1951: 6-3-1, 2-3-1 conference
- 1952: 4-6, 3-4 conference
- 1953: 2-7-1, 1-5-1 conference
- 1954: 1-8, 1-6 conference
- 1955: 1-9, 0-7 conference
Atkinson went winless in his first season with the Cougars, but that was his only winless season. However, in his final season, he went winless in conference play and was fired following the 1955 season.
Hal Mitchell has the worst win percentage in BYU football history. Mitchell played professionally for the New York Giants and after his pro career decided to get into coaching. Mitchell was never able to get a winning record at BYU and won only a total of four conference games.
Here is a breakdown of Michell's time at BYU.
- 1961: 2-8, 2-4 conference
- 1962: 4-6, 2-2 conference
- 1963: 2-8, 0-4 conference
Mitchell struggled in his last season with the Cougars and was unable to get a win in conference, which led to him being fired after the 1963 season.