30 Best College Football Coaches of All-Time
By Hayden Hyde
28. Bernie Bierman
- Career Record: 153-65-12
- Record at Each School: 9-9-3 at Montana, 8-8-1 at Mississippi State, 36-10-2 at Tulane, and 93-35-6 at Minnesota.
- Bowl Record: 0-1
- Honors and Awards: Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1955. 5 National Championships, 7 Big Ten Championships, and 3 Southern Championships.
Five national championships really say it all for Bernie Bierman.
Bierman played running back for the Minnesota Golden Gophers before taking over as their head coach in 1932. He won 93 games at Minnesota as their head coach and will be firmly ingrained in their program’s history.
After leading his team to a Big Ten championship in 1915, Bierman served as a marine in World War I. When his time with the military ended, he took over as the head coach at the University of Montana where he posted a pedestrian 9-9-3 record over three years. Bierman spent time selling bonds before returning to coaching as an assistant at Tulane before he was hired at Minnesota.
The Golden Gophers finished sixth in the Big Ten during his first season as head coach in 1932. However, he would only fail to finish first in the division twice over the next decade. Bierman led his team to three consecutive national titles from 1934-1936, something that may never happen again, and he would win two more in 1940 and 1941.
Next: Mack Brown