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Chris Ault
Head Coach
25th Season
Nevada, 1968 and 1971
Simply put, Chris Ault is University of Nevada football.
As the coach enters his 25th season guiding the Wolf Pack program, one that he grew from the Division II level to a current streak of four-straight FBS bowl appearances, this year also marks Ault’s 38th year at the university. His experience at Nevada began as a student-athlete when he starred at quarterback in the 1960s and continued with his unparalleled success as a coach and athletics director.
This season comes with great opportunities – a season opener at Notre Dame and a 12-game schedule that will be as challenging as it will be entertaining. And on the horizon this season is an accomplishment that only 51 men have every accomplished, in all divisions of the NCAA: 200 victories as a head coach. Ault is just two wins away from the milestone.
When he was asked to return to the sidelines for the 2004 season, Ault made a bold promise – that winning at Mackay Stadium was paramount and once that was established, the Wolf Pack could move toward winning championships and bowl games. And the coach, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, has delivered.
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Nevada coach Chris Ault |
The 2007 season was capped by a program-record third straight bowl appearance. The year produced the Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year Colin Kaepernick and Ault’s Pistol offense again led the conference in rushing.
And the offseason brought another cherished honor to the Ault trophy case. In the spring of 2008, the San Bernardino County Chapter of the National Football Federation named the annual quarterback of the year award as the “Chris Ault Quarterback Player of the Year Award.”
“Ault's accolades go beyond the honor of being named for a quarterback award,” said Jeffrey Johnston, a chapter official. “What went into the decision was he was not only a great quarterback in his day but also the contributions he continues to make to the game of football. He's had a great career as a coach, and he has influenced the lives of countless players.”
Last year furthered Ault’s reputaion as one of the great offensive minds in college football as another season’s worth of evolution of the Pistol offense gave the Pack the WAC Player of the Year in Kaepernick and the rushing champion (Vai Taua) for the third time in four seasons.
Now in his sixth season of his third stint at the helm of his alma mater, Ault has turned the corner in restoring championship-caliber football to the University of Nevada. With his squad sporting its highest team grade-point average in years and five solid recruiting classes in the fold, excitement surrounds Ault and the Wolf Pack as it prepares for another run at the conference championship and bowl bid in 2009.
In 2006, Ault directed Nevada to an 8-5 overall record, the program's second straight winning season. He guided the team to a 5-3 record in the WAC and the school's second straight bowl appearance, a narrow 21-20 loss to the University of Miami in the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho. Seven of his players received All-WAC postseason honors.
In 2005, Ault directed Nevada to a 9-3 overall record, the team's best in nine years. The Wolf Pack tied for first in the WAC with a 7-1 league mark, securing Ault's eighth conference crown as a head coach with a thrilling, nationally televised victory over then 16th-ranked Fresno State. The team then capped off its outstanding season with a 49-48 overtime victory over Central Florida in the 2005 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.
For his efforts, Ault was named the WAC Coach of the Year by his peers, his sixth conference coach-of-the-year accolade. He also coached 10 all-conference honorees, the second-most by any WAC member in 2005, including Offensive Player of the Year B.J. Mitchell.
Ault has the fifth-most wins and the one of the top 20 winning percentages among active Division I-A coaches. In 24 years as head coach, he has amassed a 198-91-1 ledger, won eight conference championships and taken his teams to the postseason 12 times, including six bowl appearances.
The winningest coach in school history, Ault has the distinction of being the first coach in the nation to lead a team to a bowl berth in its first year as an NCAA I-A (now FBS) program. In 1992, Ault guided the Wolf Pack to the Big West Conference championship and a berth in the inaugural Las Vegas Bowl.
On Dec. 3, 2003, then-University President John Lilley appointed Ault as head football coach. Ault, who had held the positions of director of athletics and head football coach from 1986 to 1995, had no desire to repeat the dual responsibilities and relinquished his duties as the head of the athletics department. It is rare for a Hall of Fame coach to return to the sidelines, but that is exactly what Ault has done.
Ault was first hired at Nevada in 1976 to resurrect Wolf Pack football. In 17 years in his first tour of duty, he guided the program from a non-conference NCAA II affiliation into the Big Sky Conference and from I-AA domination to I-A distinction in the Big West Conference, including a bowl berth in Nevada’s first year at college football’s highest level. He would go on to win Big West titles in each of his three years as head coach at the I-A level: in 1992, 1994 and 1995. In 1991, he engineered the greatest comeback in NCAA history (35 points vs. Weber State) and has directed 26 second half come-from-behind wins.
After a one-year hiatus from football in 1993 and serving only as athletics director after holding both posts for seven years, he returned to the sidelines for the 1994 and 1995 seasons, promptly winning back-to-back Big West Conference titles and a second appearance in a bowl game with the 1995 Las Vegas Bowl. In 1996, he stepped aside to devote all of his time to his duties as athletics director.
Ault’s tremendous success on the field was recognized in the summer of 2002 when he was inducted into the National Football Foundation’s College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind. At age 55 when he was enshrined, Ault was one of the youngest coaches to ever be elected to the Hall of Fame and the only Nevada coach so honored.
Ault’s association with the University of Nevada dates to 1965 when the San Bernardino, Calif., native came here as a quarterback. Four decades later, he has left his mark in the record book as a quarterback, championship coach and respected administrator.
In 1998, he was named Nevada’s Football Coach of the Century as part of the 100 Years of Wolf Pack Football celebration. The next year, he was voted the Northern Nevada Coach of the Century by the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Among his many coaching honors, Ault was included in Sports Illustrated’s list of the 50 greatest sports figures of the 20th century from the state of Nevada in 1999 and has been elected into four halls of fame. In 1991, he was inducted into UNLV’s for his role as an assistant coach on the school’s 1974 undefeated team; in 1993, the University of Nevada’s for his accomplishments as head coach; in 1997, Pacific High School’s for his success as a prep standout in San Bernardino; and in 2002, the creme-de-la-creme, the College Football Hall of Fame for his accomplishments as a head coach.
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| Coach Ault and quarterback Colin Kaepernick |
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Ault’s fierce competitiveness led the university administration to name him athletics director in addition to his head coaching duties in the summer of 1986. He held just the athletics director title from 1996 through March of 2004.
Unparalleled success as an administrator followed him at his alma mater, and a glance around at the impressive athletics facilities and office complex demonstrate his foresight and fundraising ability. Beginning with Nevada’s across-the-board jump from Division I-AA to Division I-A in 1992 and continuing through the University’s proactive pursuit of on-field excellence, Ault has cultivated a deep-seeded community pride in the Nevada program.
Two of his final endeavors as athletics director have left a lasting imprint on Wolf Pack sports. He was the driving force behind the funding of tuition and fee waivers for both state universities to help meet the rising cost of education and spearheaded the fundraising efforts for the construction of Pack Village, a state-of-the-art training, strength and equipment facility with expanded locker rooms, football offices and meeting rooms. The first two phases of the project were completed in 2004 and 2005 with the final phase slated for completion in 2008.
Ault received his bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Nevada in 1968 and earned his master’s in administration in 1971. He is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Fraternity.
He has been married to his wife, Kathy, for 41 years. They have three children, all of whom attended Nevada – Lisa, Chris Jr., and Amy – as well as nine grandchildren. Ault was born Nov. 8, 1946 in San Bernardino, Calif.
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Courtesy: Nevada
