Chris Ault

Bio

Chris Ault coached at Nevada for 28 seasons, becoming the winningest coach in school history (233-109-1) and guiding the Wolf Pack to new heights. He led Nevada from Division II, to I-AA glory, ultimately ending up in I-A’s Mountain West Conference. Ault is believed to be the only coach in NCAA history to win conference championships at three levels at the same school, winning 10 conference titles overall. He also led the Wolf Pack to 16 postseason appearances, including 10 bowl games in 12 FBS seasons. In 1991, Nevada trailed Weber State 49-14 in the third quarter to rally and win 55-49. The comeback victory set an NCAA record en route to Ault receiving the Eddie Robinson Award as national coach of the year for Division I-AA. He was also named the Coach of the Century in 1999 by the Reno-Gazette-Journal and was honored with the Chevrolet-ABC Award as the coach of the year in 1978. After initially leaving coaching following the 1995 season, he returned to the Nevada sidelines in 2004. Ault created the Pistol Offense, a scheme now employed by hundreds of teams at every level of football, which led to a number of record-breaking stats: He became the only coach in FBS history whose teams led the nation in passing yards per game 457.9 (1995) and rushing yards per game 344.9 (2009) and the only coach in college football history to have three 1,000-yard rushers in the same season (2009). With his final career victory vs. New Mexico (2012), Ault set the record for the most wins by an FBS coach at his alma mater, passing former Alabama coach and Hall of Famer Bear Bryant.