List of Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football seasons

This is a list of seasons completed by the Western Kentucky college football program. The Hilltoppers represent the Western Kentucky University (WKU) in Conference USA. WKU plays its home games at Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Kentucky.^[1]

Seasons


Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs	Coaches^#	AP^°
M. A. Leiper & Roy C. Manchester (Independent) (1913)
1913	Leiper / Manchester	1–0
Leiper / Manchester:		1–0
J. L. Arthur (Independent) (1914–1916)
1914	J. L. Arthur	1–2
1915	J. L. Arthur	1–4–2
1916	J. L. Arthur	3–2
J. L. Arthur:		5–8–2
1917	No team
1918	No team
1919	No team
L. T. Smith (Independent) (1920–1921)
1920	L. T. Smith	0–1
1921	L. T. Smith	2–4–1
L. T. Smith:		2–5–1
Edgar Diddle (Independent) (1922–1925)
1922	Edgar Diddle	9–1
1923	Edgar Diddle	5–4
1924	Edgar Diddle	4–5
1925	Edgar Diddle	3–5–1
Edgar Diddle (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1926–1928)
1926	Edgar Diddle	4–4–1	1–2–1	19th
1927	Edgar Diddle	5–4	2–4	T–18th
1928	Edgar Diddle	8–1	5–1	3rd
Edgar Diddle:		38–24–2	7–6–1
Carl Anderson (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1929)
1929	Carl Anderson	7–3	3–3	T–16th
James Elam (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1930–1931)
1930	James Elam	8–1–1	6–1	6th
1931	James Elam	8–4	7–1	4th
James Elam:		16–5–1	13–2
Ernest R. Miller (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1932)
1932	Ernest R. Miller	8–1	6–0	1st
Ernest R. Miller:		8–1	6–0
Jesse Thomas (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1933)
1933	Jesse Thomas	6–2	5–1
Carl Anderson (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1934–1937)
1934	Carl Anderson	4–2–2	4–1–1	T–6th
1935	Carl Anderson	7–3	5–2	13th
1936	Carl Anderson	4–4	3–2	T–14th
1937	Carl Anderson	7–1–1	3–0–1	T–3rd
Carl Anderson:		24–9–3	18–8–2
Gander Terry (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1934–1937)
1938	Gander Terry	7–2	4–1	T–8th
1939	Gander Terry	7–1–1	5–1–1	T–5th
1940	Gander Terry	7–1–1	4–1–1	T–5th
1941	Gander Terry	4–5–1	3–1–1	T–6th
Gander Terry:		25–9–3	16–4–3
Arnold Winkenhofer (Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1942)
1942	Arnold Winkenhofer	3–4–1	2–0–1	T–6th
Arnold Winkenhofer:		3–4–1	2–0–1
1943	No team
1944	No team
1945	No team
Jesse Thomas (Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1946–1947)
1946	Jesse Thomas	2–6	1–3
1947	Jesse Thomas	3–4–2	1–3
Jesse Thomas:		11–12–2	7–7
Jack Clayton (Ohio Valley Conference) (1948–1956)
1948	Jack Clayton	5–4	2–3	5th
1949	Jack Clayton	5–4	2–3	6th
1950	Jack Clayton	6–2–2	3–1–2	2nd
1951	Jack Clayton	4–5	2–4	6th
1952	Jack Clayton	9–1	4–1	T–1st	W Refrigerator
1953	Jack Clayton	6–4	2–3	4th
1954	Jack Clayton	7–3	3–2	T–2nd
1955	Jack Clayton	3–6	1–4	5th
1956	Jack Clayton	5–4	2–3	T–3rd
Jack Clayton:		50–33–2	21–24–2
Nick Denes (Ohio Valley Conference) (1957–1967)
1957	Nick Denes	5–3–1	1–3–1	T–4th
1958	Nick Denes	4–5	2–4	T–5th
1959	Nick Denes	5–4	3–3	4th
1960	Nick Denes	2–6–1	1–4–1	T–6th
1961	Nick Denes	6–3	4–2	3rd
1962	Nick Denes	5–3	3–3	5th
1963	Nick Denes	10–0–1	7–0	1st	W Tangerine	8
1964	Nick Denes	6–3–1	3–3–1	T–3rd
1965	Nick Denes	2–6–2	1–5–1	7th
1966	Nick Denes	5–5	3–4	6th
1967	Nick Denes	7–1–1	5–1–1	2nd
Nick Denes:		57–39–7	33–32–5
Jimmy Feix (Ohio Valley Conference) (1968–1981)
1968	Jimmy Feix	7–2–1	5–2	T–2nd		17	19
1969	Jimmy Feix	6–3–1	5–2	2nd
1970	Jimmy Feix	8–1–1	5–1–1	1st		9	12
1971	Jimmy Feix	8–2	6–1	1st		12	6
1972	Jimmy Feix	7–3	5–2	2nd
1973	Jimmy Feix	12–1	7–0	1st	W Grantland Rice (NCAA Division II Semifinal) L Camellia (NCAA Division II Championship)	2	3
1974	Jimmy Feix	7–3	5–2	T–2nd
1975	Jimmy Feix	11–2	6–1	T–1st	W Grantland Rice (NCAA Division II Semifinal) L Camellia (NCAA Division II Championship)	3	3
1976	Jimmy Feix	4–5–1	3–4	T–4th
1977	Jimmy Feix	1–8–1	1–5–1	8th
1978	Jimmy Feix	8–2	6–0	1st			T–4
1979	Jimmy Feix	5–5	3–3	4th
1980	Jimmy Feix	9–1	6–1	1st			5
1981	Jimmy Feix	6–5	4–4	T–4th
Jimmy Feix (Division I-AA independent) (1982–1983)
1982	Jimmy Feix	5–5
1983	Jimmy Feix	2–8–1
Jimmy Feix:		106–56–6	68–28–2
Dave Roberts (Division I-AA independent) (1984–1988)
1984	Dave Roberts	2–9
1985	Dave Roberts	4–7
1986	Dave Roberts	4–6–1
1987	Dave Roberts	7–4			L NCAA Division I-AA First Round		11
1988	Dave Roberts	9–4			L NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal		13
Dave Roberts:		26–30–1
Jack Harbaugh (Division I-AA independent) (1989–1998)
1989	Jack Harbaugh	6–5
1990	Jack Harbaugh	2–8
1991	Jack Harbaugh	3–8
1992	Jack Harbaugh	4–6
1993	Jack Harbaugh	8–3					19
1994	Jack Harbaugh	5–6
1995	Jack Harbaugh	2–8
1996	Jack Harbaugh	7–4
1997	Jack Harbaugh	10–2			L NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal		5
1998	Jack Harbaugh	7–4					19
Jack Harbaugh (Ohio Valley Conference) (1999–2000)
1999	Jack Harbaugh	6–5	4–3	T–3rd
2000	Jack Harbaugh	11–2	7–0	1st	L NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal		5
Jack Harbaugh (Gateway Football Conference) (2001–2002)
2001	Jack Harbaugh	8–4	5–2	T–2nd	L NCAA Division I-AA First Round		12
2002	Jack Harbaugh	12–4	7–1	T–1st	W NCAA Division I-AA Championship		1
Jack Harbaugh:		91–68	22–6
David Elson (Gateway Football Conference) (2003–2006)
2003	David Elson	9–4	5–2	T–3rd	L NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal		7
2004	David Elson	9–3	6–1	2nd	L NCAA Division I-AA First Round		11
2005	David Elson	6–5	4–3	T–4th
2006	David Elson	6–5	4–3	T–4th
David Elson (NCAA Division I FCS independent) (2007)
2007	David Elson	7–5
David Elson (NCAA Division I FBS independent) (2008)
2008	David Elson	2–10
David Elson (Sun Belt Conference) (2009)
2009	David Elson	0–12	0–8	9th
David Elson:		39–43	19–17
Willie Taggart (Sun Belt Conference) (2010–2012)
2010	Willie Taggart	2–10	2–6	9th
2011	Willie Taggart	7–5	7–1	2nd
2012	Willie Taggart	7–6^{[n 1]}	4–4	5th	L Little Caesars Pizza
Willie Taggart:		16–20	13–11
Bobby Petrino (Sun Belt Conference) (2013)
2013	Bobby Petrino	8–4	4–3
Bobby Petrino:		8–4	4–3
Jeff Brohm (Conference USA) (2014–2016)
2014	Jeff Brohm	8–5	4–4	T–3rd (East)	W Bahamas
2015	Jeff Brohm	12–2	8–0	1st (East)	W Miami Beach		24
2016	Jeff Brohm	11–3^{[n 2]}	7–1	T–1st (East)	W Boca Raton
Jeff Brohm:		30–10	19–5
Mike Sanford Jr. (Conference USA) (2017–2018)
2017	Mike Sanford Jr.	6–7	4–4	T–3rd (East)	L Cure
2018	Mike Sanford Jr.	3–9	2–6	T–6th (East)
Mike Sanford Jr.:		9–16	6–10
Tyson Helton (Conference USA) (2019–present)
2019	Tyson Helton	9–4	6–2	T–2nd (East)	W First Responder
2020	Tyson Helton	5–7	4–3	3rd (East)	L LendingTree
2021	Tyson Helton	9–5	7–1	1st (East)	W Boca Raton
2022	Tyson Helton	9–5	6–2	T–2nd	W New Orleans
2023	Tyson Helton	8–5	5–3	4th	W Famous Toastery
Tyson Helton:		40–26	28–11
Total:		615–426–30 (.588)
National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth
^†Indicates Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, BCS, or CFP / New Years' Six bowl. ^#Coaches Poll. ^°AP Poll prior to 1987, The Sports Network poll from 1987 through 2007, and the AP Poll from 2008 onwards..

Notes

^ Willie Taggart departed WKU before the bowl game, which was coached by Lance Guidry.
^ Jeff Brohm departed WKU before the bowl game, which was coached by Nick Holt.

References

^ "Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Historical Data". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on July 1, 2014. Retrieved December 18, 2023.

[2] Willie Taggart departed WKU before the bowl game, which was coached by Lance Guidry.

[3] Jeff Brohm departed WKU before the bowl game, which was coached by Nick Holt.

[record-1] "Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Historical Data". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on July 1, 2014. Retrieved December 18, 2023.

[1]

[n 1]

[n 2]

v t e Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football
Venues	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium (1968–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Eastern Kentucky: Battle of the Bluegrass Middle Tennessee: 100 Miles of Hate Murray State: Battle for the Red Belt
Culture & lore	Big Red "Stand Up and Cheer"
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1913 1914 1915 1916 1917–1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold