List of Wheaton Thunder head football coaches

The Wheaton Thunder football program is a college football team that represents Wheaton College in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, a part of the Division III (NCAA). The team has had 23 head coaches since its first recorded football game in 1900.^[1] The current coach is Jesse Scott who first took the position for the 2021 season.^[2]

Key

Key to symbols in coaches list
General		Overall		Conference		Postseason^{[A 1]}
No.	Order of coaches^{[A 2]}	GC	Games coached	CW	Conference wins	PW	Postseason wins
DC	Division championships	OW	Overall wins	CL	Conference losses	PL	Postseason losses
CC	Conference championships	OL	Overall losses	CT	Conference ties	PT	Postseason ties
NC	National championships	OT	Overall ties^{[A 3]}	C%	Conference winning percentage
†	Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame	O%	Overall winning percentage^{[A 4]}

Statistics correct as of the end of the 2023 college football season, except the conference win/loss/tie statistics are incomplete.

No.	Name	Term	GC	OW	OL	OT	O%	CW	CL	CT	PW	PL	CCs	NCs
–	No coach	1900	2	0	2	0	.000	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
X	No team	1901–1911	0	0	0	0	–	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
–	No coach	1912	1	0	1	0	.000	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
X	No team	1913	8	3	5	0	.375	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1	Jasper Turnbell	1914–1915	13	6	7	0	.462	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2	Bob Robinson	1916	8	3	5	0	.375	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
–	No coach	1917	6	3	3	0	.500	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
X	No team	1918	0	0	0	0	–	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3	Rex Gary	1919–1920	12	5	6	1	.458	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4	Robert S. Woodruff	1921	8	6	2	0	.750	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
5	Jack Conley	1922–1924	21	8	11	2	.429	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
6	Dave Gillespie	1925	8	1	7	0	.125	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
7	Ed Coray	1926–1928	22	5	14	3	.295	0	0	1	—	—	—	—
8	Vic Gustafson	1929–1934	46	14	27	5	.359	0	6	0	—	—	—	—
9	Wendel Smith	1935	8	2	5	1	.313	0	1	0	—	—	—	—
10	Mysterious Walker	1936–1939	29	11	14	4	.448	0	2	0	—	—	—	—
11, 14	Harvey Chrouser	1940–1941, 1946–1960	146	104	34	8	.740	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
12	Albert Graff	1942	9	5	3	1	.611	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
13	Carl E. DeVries	1943–1945	19	11	5	3	.658	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
15	Jack Swartz	1961–1968	71	41	30	0	.577	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
16	Mal Pearson	1969–1970	18	4	13	1	.250	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
17	Gary Taylor	1971–1972	18	2	16	0	.111	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
18	Dewey King	1973–1979	63	29	34	0	.460	0	3	0	—	—	—	—
19	Clift Schimmels	1980	9	2	7	0	.222	0	1	0	—	—	—	—
20	Jim Rexilius	1981	9	2	7	0	.222	0	1	0	—	—	—	—
21	J. R. Bishop	1982–1995	128	84	43	1	.660	8	14	0	1	1	1	—
22	Mike Swider	1996–2019	261	209	52	0	.801	140	34	0	15	11	9	—
23	Jesse Scott	2020–present	46	37	9	—	.804	32	4	0	2	2	0	—

^ Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played.^[3]
^ A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.
^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.^[4]
^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.^[5]

^ Shafer, Ian. "Wheaton College (All seasons results)". College Football Reference. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
^ "Jesse Scott is named Wheaton's head football coach". Wheaton College Athletics. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
^ Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2009.