Texas Football: 10 greatest head coaches all-time for the Longhorns

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8. Dave Allerdice, 1911-1915

In terms of winning percentage alone, Dave Allerdice deserves to make the list of the 10 greatest coaches in Texas program history. Allerdice posted a record of 33-7 (.825 winning percentage) during his five seasons with the Longhorns. That included a three-year-long run where Texas put up a record of 22-2. Texas even went undefeated in eight games in 1914.

The problem for Allerdice in a historical context is the fact that current rating systems don’t look at that great three-year run with too much favor. Texas didn’t crack the top three teams in the country in the Simple Rating System from 1912-1914, despite losing no more than one game in any of those seasons.

Lighter schedules before joining the SWC a couple of years later are to thank for this team rating issue for Allerdice’s Longhorns.

7. Clyde Littlefield, 1927-1933

There aren’t many head coaches in any program’s history that wore as many hats with a university as Clyde Littlefield did with Texas. While employed at the University of Texas-Austin, Littlefield coached football, track & field in multiple events, and led the way for many conditioning and training initiatives for the athletic department.
Littlefield even was on the staff for the US in track & field in the 1952 Summer Olympics.
This is all not to take away from the run that Littlefield had with the Longhorns in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He registered a solid record during his time as the Texas head coach of 44-18-6 (.691 winning percentage).
There were two conference titles that Littlefield would win in his seven seasons with Texas.
Texas really peaked during Littlefield’s stint as the head coach in 1930, where they finished up with a record of 8-1-1 boasting one of the most dominant defenses in the entire country.