Top 25 winningest active high school football coaches

Jack Henzes, who is entering his 52nd year at Dunmore, had his team at 14-0 on the season while Jim Roth, heading into his 35th season at Southern Columbia Area, was also 14-0. Roth's team prevailed and eventually won the Class AA state championship with a 16-0 record.

Henzes and Roth begin the 2018 season as two of the top 25 active winningest coaches in the nation, according to research provided to MaxPreps by Steven Floyd of Calallen, Texas. Henzes, is No. 5 among active winning coaches with a career mark of 435-160-8. Roth is not far behind at No. 9 with a record of 412-63-2.

Oddly enough, the meeting between two of the nation's all-time winningest coaches was not a unique situation in 2017. Tommy Knotts of Dutch Fork (Irmo, S.C.), No. 17 on Floyd's list, defeated Dave Gutshall of Dorman (Roebuck, S.C.), No. 22, for the Class 5A state championship in South Carolina. Knotts has 403 wins while Gutshall has 383.

Meanwhile, Steubenville (Ohio) coach Reno Saccoccia topped Upper St. Clair (Pa.) coach Jim Render in the season opener last year. Saccoccia is tied for No. 25 with 371 wins, while Render is No. 18 with 397 wins.

John T. Curtis of John Curtis Christian School (River Ridge, La.), who is entering his 50th year of coaching, tops the active list with 569 wins and with an average total of 12 wins per season, Curtis could surpass all-time leader John McKissick of Summerville (S.C.) in the next five years. McKissick retired after the 2014 season with 620 all-time wins. Curtis, who has won a national record 26 state championships, ranks No. 2 on the all-time wins list and is over 80 wins ahead of No. 3 Mike Smith of Hampton (Va.), who has 484.

Of the top 25 active winningest coaches, all won at least eight games and all 27 (there is a three-way tie for No. 25) reached the playoffs. Seven won state titles last year and four coaches finished undefeated. All 27 coaches rank among the top 44 winningest coaches of all time.

Upper St. Clair's Render, meanwhile, is one of three coaches within reach of the 400-win milestone. He has 397 wins while Lea "Bill" Hurst of Centreville Academy (Miss.) has 392 wins and David Gentry of Murphy (N.C.) sits at 391 wins.

Ken Leonard of Sacred-Heart Griffin (Ill.), tied at No. 25 with 371 wins, is two wins away from passing Frank Lenti of Chicago Mt. Carmel, for the top spot in that state. Lenti retired after the 2017 season with 372 wins.

According to Floyd, 274 coaches have won at least 300 games with a high of 18 in Ohio and 17 in Pennsylvania. At least 10 other coaches have been identified with possibly 300 or more wins, but those totals could not be verified. Floyd also notes that win totals include on-field results and do not necessarily include forfeit wins and/or losses.

A total of 18 coaches joined the 300-win club last year with six others going over 400 wins.

As many as 25 coaches could go over 300 wins next year, including Brue Rollinson of Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), who has 287 career wins and whose team begins the season ranked No. 2 in the nation by MaxPreps.

Others within a few wins of 300 include Kevin Wallace of St. Xavier (Louisville, Ky.) with 299, and Merrill Pavlovich of Delano (Minn.), Jeff Herron of T.L. Hanna (S.C.) and Craig Ruecker of Tigard (Ore.) each with 298.

As for longevity, Jerry Pezzetti, who co-coaches Ankeny Centennial with his son Ryan, enters his 58th year of coaching. He trails only McKissick, who coached 63 years at Summerville, and fellow Iowan Dick Tighe, who coached 63 years at a variety of schools, on the all-time list of coaches with the longest tenure.

Other coaches with over 50 years over service include Ron Stolski of Brainerd (Minn.) with 56 years, Larry "Bud" Wright of Sheridan (Ind.) with 53 years and Henzes with 51.

Floyd has put in over 10 years of research on his list of all-time winningest coaches, consulting coaches associations, state association websites, Halls of Fame, newspapers, other historians and high school websites like MaxPreps. Floyd is a bank officer and the vice president of the Calallen Wildcat Touchdown Booster Club.

1. John T. Curtis
School: John Curtis Christian (River Ridge, La.)
Years: 49 (1969-present)
State Championships: 26
Last year: 11-2

2. Mike Smith
School: Hampton (Va.)
Years: 47 (1971-present)
State Championships: 12
Last year: 8-4

3. Robert Hyland
School: St. Mary's Springs (Fond du Lac, Wis.)
Years: 47 (1971-present)
State Championships: 15
Last year: 14-0, Division 6 state champion

4. Phil Danaher
School: Calallen (Corpus Christi, Texas) (1985-present)
Years: 44 (1974-present)
State Championships: 0
Other Schools: Dilley (1974-77), Hamshire-Fannett (78-84)
Last year: 13-1

5. Jack Henzes
School: Dunmore (Pa.) (1971-present)
Years: 51 (1966-69, 1971-present)
State Championships: 1
Other Schools: Wyoming Area (1966-69)
Last year: 14-1

6. John Herrington
School: Harrison (Farmington Hills, Mich.)
Years: 48-(1970-2017)
State Championships: 13
Last year: 11-4

7. Phillip Haywood
School: Belfry (Ky.) (1984-present)
Years: 43 (1975-present)
State Championships: 6
Other Schools: Prestonburg (1975-83)
Last year: 11-2

8. Bill Castle
School: Lakeland (Fla.)
Years: 42 (1976-present)
State Championships: 6
Last year: 10-1

9. Jerry Pezzetti
School: Ankeny Centennial (Ankeny, Iowa) (2013-present)
Years: 57 (1961-present)
State Championships: 2
Other Schools: Murray (1961), Melcher-Dallas (1962-68), Ankeny (1969-2012)
Last year: 9-3

9. C.J. Hamilton
School: Silver Lake (Kan.)
Years: 43 (1973-76, 1979-present)
State Championships: 8
Last year: 12-1

9. Jim Roth
School: Southern Columbia Area (Catawissa, Pa.)
Years: 34 (1984-present)
State Championships: 8
Last year: 16-0, Class AA state champion

12. Larry "Bud" Wright
School: Sheridan (Ind.) (1966-present)
Years: 53 (1965-present)
State Championships: 8
Other Schools: Mount Ayr (1965)
Last year: 9-3

12. Gary Rankin
School: Alcoa (Tenn.) (2006-present)
Years: 36 (1982-present)
State Championships: 13
Other Schools: Smith County (1982-89), Riverdale (1990-2005)
Last year: 13-2, Class AA state champion

14. Jim Hightower
School: St. Thomas More (Lafayette, La.) (1987-present)
Years: 43 (1975-present)
State Championships: 2
Other Schools: Catholic Point Coupee (1975-86)
Last year: 11-2

14. Curt Bladt
School: Harlan (Iowa)
Years: 40 (1978-present)
State Championships: 11
Last year: 10-2

16. Jerry Sinz
School: Edgar (Wis.)
Years: 43 (1975-present)
State Championships: 7
Last year: 11-1

17. Tommy Knotts
School: Dutch Fork (Irmo, S.C.) (2010-present)
Years: 34 (1983-2003, 2005-present)
State Championships: 10
Other Schools: Harding University (NC)(1983-88), West Charlotte (NC)(1989-99), Independence (NC)(2000-03, 05-09)
Last year: 13-1, Class 5A state champion

18. Jim Render
School: Upper St. Clair (Pa.) (1979-present)
Years: 48 (1970-present)
State Championships: 2
Other Schools: Carrollton (Ohio)(1970-71), Uniontown (1972-78)
Last year: 8-4

19. Lea "Bill" Hurst
School: Centreville Academy (Centreville, Miss.)
Years: 41 (1975-1994, 1997-present)
State Championships: 9
Last year: 10-3

20. David Gentry
School: Murphy (N.C.) (1984-present)
Years: 47 (1971-present)
State Championships: 6
Other Schools: Chatham (Va.)(1971-73), Edneyville (1977-83)
Last year: 12-3

21. Jim France
School: Manchester (Akron, Ohio) (1971-84, 1986-present)
Years: 47 (1970-84, 1986-present)
State Championships: 0
Other Schools: Coventry (1970)
Last year: 9-3

22. Dave Gutshall
School: Dorman (Roebuck, S.C.) (1993-present)
Years: 40 (1978-present)
State Championships: 5
Other Schools: Madison-Mayodian (N.C.)(1978-81), Kinston (N.C.)(1982), Cummings (N.C.)(1983-92)
Last year: 12-3

23. Ron Stolski
School: Brainerd (Minn.) (1975-present)
Years: 56 (1962-present)
State Championships: 0
Other Schools: Kensington (1962-63), Slayton (1964), Princeton (1965-70), Park Center (1971-74)
Last year: 9-3

24. Randy Allen
School: Highland Park (Dallas) (1999-present)
Years: 37 (1981-present)
State Championships: 3
Other Schools: Ballinger (1981-85), Brownwood (1986-90), Abilene Cooper (1991-98)
Last year: 15-1, Class 5A D1 state champion

25. (tie) Ken Leonard
School: Sacred Heart-Griffin (Springfield, Ill.) (1984-present)
Years: 38 (1980-present)
State Championships: 5
Other Schools: Gridley (1980-83)
Last year: 10-3

25. (tie) Ricky Black
School: Jackson Prep (Jackson, Miss.) (1991-present)
Years: 37 (1975-90, 1997-present)
State Championships: 12
Other Schools: Kosciusko (1975-79), Tupelo (1980-90)
Last year: 13-0, MAIS 4A state champion

25. (tie) Reno Saccoccia
School: Steubenville (Ohio)
Years: 35 (1983-present)
State Championships: 4
Last year: 15-0, Division IV state champion