20 best college football coaches without a national championship
By Brad Weiss
Fisher DeBerry
, Air Force, Wofford
When you think of Air Force football, you have to think of Fisher DeBerry. The head coach of the Falcons football program from 1984-2006, DeBerry established himself as a Hall of Fame head coach. In fact, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame back in 2011, and has forever left his mark on the Air Force Athletics Department.
Aside from being the best head coach in the history of the football program, DeBerry also coached the baseball team for a short while. However, it was his work on the gridiron that lands him on our list of the top-20 college football coaches to never win it all. During his time with the Falcons, DeBerry racked up 169 victories, winning the WAC three times, and finishing as high as No. 8 in the country.
Though he had an illustrious career at Air Force, there are two seasons that really stand out. In both 1985, and 1998, his teams finished the season with a 12-1 record. It was the 1985 team that finished No. 8 in the AP Poll, which is very impressive for an Air Force football team. For his efforts, DeBerry won both the Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award, and the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award, which the NCAA gives to their Coach of the Year.
DeBerry would finish his collegiate coaching career coaching baseball at Wofford, but it was his 23 seasons as Air Force that made him a legend in the coaching world. He had 17 winning seasons during his time at the helm of the Falcons, earning 12 bowl bids.