Sam Neal Winningham (born October 11, 1926) is a former American football coach and player. He served as the head football coach at San Fernando Valley State College —now known as California State University, Northridge—from 1962 to 1968, compiling a record of 21–42–1. He went on to become the chair of the physical education department at CSUN. Winningham played college football at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he was a quarterback. Winningham was hired as the first head football coach at Valley State in 1960. He was the head football coach at Bent County High School in Las Animas, Colorado from 1950 to 1952 and Phoenix Union High School in Phoenix Arizona from 1953 to 1959, amassing a career high school football coaching record of 58–35–3. Winningham earned a master's degre