The San Jose State Spartans college football team represent San Jose State University in the Mountain West Conference. The Spartans competed in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) College Division in the years 1921–1968. In 1969, the team moved to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I.
The program has had 29 different head coaches in its 106 seasons of existence (through 2023), including one who had multiple tenures as coach. Many coaches throughout the Spartans football history have won multiple National and Conference Awards and have been enshrined into multiple Hall of Fame's including Pop Warner (associate coach with the Spartans), Bob Bronzan, Terry Shea, John Ralston, Dick Tomey and Brent Brennan. Many former players who were taught by these innovate coaches have gone on to become some of the greatest football coaches of all time including Bill Walsh, Dick Vermeil and Terry Donahue.
Coaches
| No. | Coach | Tenure | Seasons | Win | Loss | Tie | Pct. | Bowls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James E. Addicott | 1893–1898 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | .500 | 0 |
| 2 | Jess Woods | 1899 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | .643 | 0 |
| 3 | James E. Addicott (totals included on line 1) | 1900 | ||||||
| 4 | Fielding Yost | 1900 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 |
| 5 | David Wooster | 1921–1922 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 1 | .250 | 0 |
| 6 | Hovey C. McDonald | 1923 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| 7 | Ernesto R. Knollin | 1924–1928 | 5 | 13 | 22 | 2 | .378 | 0 |
| 8 | Mush Crawford | 1929–1931 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 4 | .333 | 0 |
| 9 | Dudley DeGroot | 1932–1939 | 8 | 60 | 19 | 8 | .736 | 0 |
| 10 | Ben Winkelman | 1940–1941 | 2 | 16 | 4 | 3 | .761 | 0 |
| 11 | Glenn Hartranft | 1942 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 0 | .778 | 0 |
| 12 | Wilbur V. Hubbard | 1946–1949 | 4 | 36 | 11 | 1 | .761 | 2 |
| 13 | Bob Bronzan | 1950–1956 | 7 | 32 | 30 | 5 | .515 | 0 |
| 14 | Bob Titchenal | 1957–1964 | 8 | 33 | 45 | 1 | .424 | 0 |
| 15 | Harry Anderson | 1965–1968 | 4 | 13 | 26 | 0 | .333 | 0 |
| 16 | Joe McMullen | 1969–1970 | 1.33 | 3 | 10 | 0 | .231 | 0 |
| 17 | Dewey King | 1970–1972 | 2.67 | 10 | 20 | 1 | .339 | 1 |
| 18 | Darryl Rogers | 1973–1975 | 3 | 22 | 9 | 3 | .691 | 0 |
| 19 | Lynn Stiles | 1976–1978 | 3 | 18 | 16 | 0 | .529 | 0 |
| 20 | Jack Elway | 1979–1983 | 5 | 35 | 20 | 1 | .634 | 1 |
| 21 | Claude Gilbert | 1984–1989 | 5 | 38 | 30 | 1 | .558 | 2 |
| 22 | Terry Shea | 1990–1991 | 2 | 15 | 6 | 2 | .696 | 1 |
| 23 | Ron Turner | 1992 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 0 | .636 | 0 |
| 24 | John Ralston | 1993–1996 | 4 | 11 | 34 | 0 | .244 | 0 |
| 25 | Dave Baldwin | 1997–2000 | 4 | 18 | 27 | 0 | .400 | 0 |
| 26 | Fitz Hill | 2001–2004 | 4 | 14 | 33 | 0 | .298 | 0 |
| 27 | Dick Tomey | 2005–2009 | 5 | 25 | 35 | 0 | .417 | 1 |
| 28 | Mike MacIntyre | 2010–2012 | 3 | 16 | 21 | 0 | .432 | 0 |
| 29 | Kent Baer | 2012 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1 |
| 30 | Ron Caragher | 2013–2016 | 4 | 19 | 30 | 0 | .388 | 1 |
| 31 | Brent Brennan | 2017–2023 | 6 | 33 | 47 | 0 | .413 | 3 |
| Totals | 1893–2023 | 10 | 517 | 538 | 38 | .490 | 13 |