Chris Ault

Chris Ault (born November 8, 1946) is the former college football head coach of the University of Nevada Wolf Pack and currently a consultant for the Kansas City Chiefs. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002, seven years after his first retirement from coaching in 1995.

Ault won his 200th college football game October 9, 2009 when his Wolf Pack beat Louisiana Tech 37–14. Ault is credited as the creator of the "Pistol Offense," which he instituted at Nevada in 2005. Since becoming the primary offense for Nevada, the Pistol has been used by other schools across the country. The San Francisco 49ers began employing the pistol offense with the emergence of former Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The Pittsburgh Steelers have also been seen using the Pistol from time to time. Since installing the Pistol, Nevada has won shares of two WAC titles—in 2005 (with Boise State) and 2010 (with Boise State and Hawaii).

Ault previously served as head coach from 1976 to 1992 and from 1994 to 1995, guiding the Wolf Pack from Division II to Division I-AA to Division I-A. He also served as Nevada's athletic director from 1986 to 2004, and was the school's starting quarterback from 1965 to 1967.

After the 2004 season, Ault fired head coach Chris Tormey. He named himself as the replacement three days later, with the approval of school president John Lilley and the Nevada Board of Regents. A member of the university's faculty senate expressed concern at the perceived conflict of interest, especially since the salary of the head football coach exceeds that of athletic director.

On December 28, 2012; Ault announced his retirement, effective at the end of the year. In an emotional press conference, Ault said the time had come to pass the program to a new coach. He had spent 41 years--all but seven years of his adult life--at Nevada as a player, coach or administrator.

Personal
Ault graduated from St. Catherine's Military School;graduated from Nevada with a bachelor's degree in Education in 1968 and went on to complete an MBA in 1971. He is married to Kathy Ault, and has three children: Lisa, Chris Jr., and Amy.