Over Christmas break, I began compiling individual win-loss records for all the state’s football coaches from 1946 to the present. In doing so, I was able to come up with a coaching leaderboard of sorts… the coaches with at least 100 career victories.
For some reason, the list was a lot shorter than I anticipated. I guess I thought there were more coaches who “defined” programs, leading them for a long enough period to get into the 100-victory range. I guess not…. Even so, the short list is still impressive.
The table below lists the coaches who have won at least 100 football games from 1946 to the present, and it’s only for coaches’ records with Wyoming teams (any out-of-state records aren’t considered). As always, the list is limited by both time and the information to which I have access; if the coach isn’t listed with the team pages, he wouldn’t make this list. Some coaches might not make this list for that reason. Don’t consider this list full or complete. It’s just the best I can do right now.
| 100-victory club | |||
| Coach | Wins | Losses | Ties |
| Dayton, Todd | 242 | 49 | 0 |
| Deti, John E. | 197 | 80 | 6 |
| Deti, John R. | 188 | 102 | 2 |
| Fullmer, Jerry | 174 | 82 | 0 |
| McDougall, John | 156 | 115 | 2 |
| Eskelsen, Joel | 147 | 81 | 0 |
| Gray, Walter | 140 | 87 | 0 |
| Moon, Mike | 136 | 79 | 1 |
| Scherry, Rick | 133 | 84 | 1 |
| Hill, Art | 131 | 92 | 3 |
| Hoff, Dallas | 130 | 94 | 5 |
| Bailey, Harold | 128 | 92 | 0 |
| Mirich, Carl | 123 | 100 | 1 |
| Keith, Bruce | 117 | 82 | 0 |
| Harshman, Steve | 114 | 64 | 0 |
| Dinnel, Don | 113 | 61 | 0 |
| Fackrell, Kay | 109 | 74 | 0 |
| Petronovich, Pete | 105 | 88 | 4 |
| Bartlett, Doug | 102 | 73 | 0 |
| Smith, Ben | 101 | 33 | 0 |
| Almost there (90+) | |||
| Bullington, Mark | 92 | 19 | 0 |
| Gamble, Tony | 93 | 55 | 2 |
| Miller, Barry | 97 | 83 | 1 |
| Steege, Rich | 91 | 119 | 0 |
From what I can find, current Cokeville coach Todd Dayton is far and away the winningest coach in state history. Dayton, who took over the Panthers’ coaching duties in 1980, has led his team to 242 victories, including 16 state championships.
John E. Deti, aka John Senior, the longtime coach at Laramie who took over the Plainsmen program in 1944, ranks second. His career record is most likely closer to 206-86-8, with a 1944 record of 5-3-1 and a 1945 record of 4-3-1 (check out my Laramie history page to see more on the Plainsmen and their coaches). His son, John R. Deti, aka John Junior, is third all-time with 188 victories, most of those with Laramie — not a bad family legacy.
Outside of Cokeville and coach Dayton, the state’s winningest active coach is Natrona’s Steve Harshman, who has won 114 games in 19 seasons leading the Mustangs. It’s no surprise Harshman is where he is — he’s been at his post longer than any other active coach in the state, execpt for Dayton. Time-wise, Hulett’s Steve Colling is third (Colling has led the Red Devils for 18 seasons and has 70 career victories), but victories-wise it’s Southeast coach Mark Bullington that’s closest to Harshman (and Dayton, of course) with his 92 victories in 11 seasons with the Cyclones.
The records for all coaches aren’t posted anywhere on the site yet, as I’d like to get a few more coaches’ names banked before I post anything more official-looking. But, for now, it’s fun to look at what I’ve got.
–patrick
I also realized today that Kay Fackrell also coached Lyman in 1978… bumping his career record to 111-79.
–patrick
Carl Selmer deserves mention on this list: During the nine years of his tenure as Worland’s Head Football Coach he compiled an overall record of 80 Wins, 14, Losses, and 2 Ties. Of special note; during the years of 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, and 1956 his Worland teams won successive State Championships. It should be pointed out that most of the 14 losses came at the hands of much larger Wyoming schools such as Casper and Sheridan. Worthy of special reference is the fact that his teams lost only one conference game in 6 years. Moreover, in the 1954, 1955, and 1956 seasons his high school coached teams in Worland were undefeated and were tied only twice.
Unfortunately Selmer had to leave Worland to coach with Bob Devaney at Wyoming and Nebraska. He was the had coach at Miami U, assistant at Nortre Dame, Kasas State and other colleges. During his college coaching career Coach Selmer coached in 2 National Championship Games, participated in 5 Orange Bowls, 2 Sun Bowls, 1 Cotton Bowl, 1 Liberty Bowl, and 1 Hula Bowl.
Pingback: WHSFB HQ — The Wyoming high school football blog » Blog Archive » All-time coaches records updated