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Updated list of state's all-time winningest football coaches

12/02/2024, 10:00am CST

By Travis Wilson

Edgar's Jerry Sinz is second on the career wins list and this year captured his ninth WIAA state title, tying recently retired Bob Hyland of St. Mary's Springs for the most in Wisconsin

The end of the football season is in the rearview mirror, which means it is time to update the football coaching wins list record book.

A total of 62 coaches in state history have at least 200 wins, the threshold to be included on the all-time list. Of those, 10 were active in the 2024 season.

Of note, the state's winningest coach will hang it up this year, as Saint Mary's Springs head man Bob Hyland ends his career with a record of 522-118-2. The Ledgers were shocked in the first playoff game, falling to Winnebago Lutheran, a team they'd beaten handily just a week earlier, ending the legendary career of Hyland, who won nine WIAA state titles and eight in WISAA.

Second place belongs to Edgar's Jerry Sinz, who guided the Wildcats to a Division 7 state title, his ninth championship, as he has 483 victories and just 93 losses.

Third place also belongs to an active head coach, with Catholic Memorial's Bill Young moving his career record to 413-127 after a Division 3 runner-up finish.

Scott Erickson of Iola-Scandinavia and Scott Erickson of Hurley are no longer tied on the list as they had been coming into the season. Hurley's Erickson is now 236-105 after moving to 8-player this year, while Iola-Scandinavia's Erickson is 235-104. Ironically, they've only faced each other once, with Scott Erickson getting the win...of Iola-Scandinavia that is. The T-Birds took down the Northstars 35-6 in a 2020 culminating event game.

The only coach to reach the 200 career win mark this year and join the list was Cuba City's Guy Kopp, who now sports a career record of 202-111 after a 9-2 season with the Cubans.

Waunakee's Pat Rice remains the top coach in winning percentage (minimum 200 career wins), as he sports a a 0.886 career mark, winning 342 games with just 44 losses, as he stepped down after the 2023 season.

Saint Mary's Springs' Bob Hyland still has the lead with nine WIAA state titles, joining the eight he captured in WISAA. Edgar's Jerry Sinz moved into a tie for WIAA championships with Hyland after guiding the Wildcats to a D7 title this year. John Hoch of Lancaster and Pat Rice of Waunakee are second with seven. Bill Young has five WIAA titles to go with four in WISAA.

Records only include varsity wins as head coach.

*denotes active coach

Wisconsin Career Coaching Records

Rank	Name	School	Active	Wins	Losses	Ties	Total games	New %
1	Bob Hyland	Saint Mary’s Springs		522	118	2	642	0.815
2	Jerry Sinz	Edgar	*	483	93	0	576	0.839
3	Bill Young	Catholic Memorial	*	413	127	0	540	0.765
4	Bob Raczek	Pacelli		360	165	2	527	0.685
5	Dick Basham	Marquette		350	87	0	437	0.801
6	Pat Rice	Waunakee		342	44	0	386	0.886
7	John Hoch	Lancaster		327	117	0	444	0.736
8	Joe LaBuda	Menomonie		321	60	0	381	0.843
9	Bill Turnquist	West De Pere		303	144	1	448	0.677
10	Dave Keel	Homestead		292	70	0	362	0.807
11	Ken Belanger	Frederic		288	211	0	499	0.577
12	Ron Grovesteen	Evansville		283	121	0	404	0.7
13	Phil Datka	Germantown		280	156	0	436	0.642
14	Jim Bylsma	Cambria-Friesland		279	136	0	415	0.672
15	Wayne Steffenhagen	D.C. Everest		278	80	0	358	0.777
16	Chuck Raykovich	Chippewa Falls	*	274	195	0	469	0.584
17(tie)	Win Brockmeyer	Wausau		265	43	14	322	0.845
17(tie)	John Koronkiewicz	Waupaca		265	90	0	355	0.746
17(tie)	Tom Taraska	Arrowhead		265	96	0	361	0.734
20	Dan Pedersen	Elk Mound		261	128	0	389	0.671
21	Doug Miller	Waterloo/Dodgeland		255	125	0	380	0.671
22	Walt Kroll	Columbus Catholic		243	105	2	350	0.697
23	Ken Biegel	Wis.Rapids/Northland Pines		241	109	4	354	0.686
24(tie)	Cal Tackes	Stratford		236	48	0	284	0.831
24(tie)	Keith Hensler	Mukwonago		236	104	3	343	0.692
24(tie)	Scott Erickson	Hurley	*	236	105	0	341	0.692
27	Scott Erickson	Iola-Scandinavia	*	235	104	0	339	0.693
28	Bob Nodolf	Cambridge		234	76	2	312	0.753
29	Mike Moreau	Hilbert/Kaukauna		232	81	0	313	0.741
30(tie)	Al Urness	Port Washington		230	79	2	311	0.743
30(tie)	Jerry Fitzgerald	Stevens Point		230	117	2	349	0.662
32	John Nowak	Premontre/Notre Dame		225	115	0	340	0.662
33	Alex Hilber	Mayville/Cassville		224	45	0	269	0.833
34	Paul Engen	Appleton North/Appleton West		223	123	2	348	0.644
35	Mike Strebel	Peshtigo		222	94	2	318	0.701
36	Jerry Leiterman	Denmark		221	102	5	328	0.681
37(tie)	Mike Hahn	Sun Prairie		220	110	2	332	0.666
37(tie)	Terry Laube	Owen-Withee	*	220	143	0	363	0.606
39	Jerry Schleim	Milton		218	119	1	338	0.646
40(tie)	Pat Martin	Monroe		217	82	0	299	0.726
40(tie)	Avitas Ripp	Richland Center/North Crawford/Weston		217	107	0	324	0.67
40(tie)	Tim Wagner	Johnson Creek	*	217	151	0	368	0.59
43	Ed Rux	Oconomowoc		216	92	2	310	0.7
44	Steve Klister	Wrightstown	*	215	69	0	284	0.757
45(tie)	Ron Schultz	Fall Creek		211	79	4	294	0.724
45(tie)	Dennis Murphy	Black Hawk		211	123	4	338	0.63
47	Jack Gregory	Edgerton		209	130	1	340	0.616
48(tie)	Gary Hanson	Cashton		208	64	6	278	0.759
48(tie)	Larry Thurston	Poynette		208	81	1	290	0.719
50	Bob Lieberman	Manawa		207	72	5	284	0.738
51(tie)	Dan Juedes	Sheboygan Falls		206	60	0	266	0.774
51(tie)	Jim Haluska	Saint Thomas More		206	60	4	270	0.77
51(tie)	Jerry Usgaard	River Ridge		206	108	1	315	0.656
54	Stan Grove	Hamilton		204	106	1	311	0.658
55(tie)	Gayle Quinn	Waunakee		203	81	4	288	0.712
55(tie)	Al Minnaert	Holy Name/Edgewood		203	136	0	339	0.599
55(tie)	Richard Salava	Eleva-Strum		203	136	2	341	0.598
58(tie)	Don Dalton	Burlington		202	57	1	260	0.779
58(tie)	Earl Wilke	Edgewood		202	69	19	290	0.729
58(tie)	Dave Richardson	Verona/Dominican/Assumption/Holy Name		202	110	0	312	0.647
61	Roger Meyer	Horicon		201	145	0	346	0.581

About the Author

Travis Wilson serves as the WisSports.net General Manager, Football Editor, and contributing writer for other parts of the site. Wilson was selected as part of the Sports 40 Under 40 list by Coach & AD Magazine and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association for 2019. The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) named Travis the 2015 recipient of the Dave McClain Distinguished Service Award. He currently serves on the WFCA Executive Board and is a member of the Executive Board of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association. A graduate of Richland Center High School and Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Travis was a three-sport athlete in high school (football, baseball, basketball), inducted to the Richland Center High School Hall of Fame in 2023, and currently resides in Reedsburg. You can follow him on Twitter at @travisWSN.

For the latest and most up to date football news and recruiting information, follow Travis on Twitter @travisWSN. Email story ideas, recruiting info, etc. to Travis at travis(at)wissports.net.