The poster "Kotite" and his "homage to one of the worst ever" inspired this thread and got me thinking - who are some of the worst ever?? ....other than Richie the K??
I'll nominate one - Ray Handley. Took over the NY GIants superbowl team in 1991 and quickly drove them into the ground. Lasted 2 years and was canned.
Was it Saban the bailed on the Fins? Spurrier's attempt was pretty silly too.
Edit: Leaders of boys not men.
Who was the guy that ran out on the Falcons by leaving a note in the locker room?
Quote:Greg Schiano, obviously.
Worst of all time?? No. He went like 5-11 this year, after posting a better record last year, IIRC. He's not been a good NFL HC, but by no means does he belong on a "worst of all time" list.
Quote:Who was the guy that ran out on the Falcons by leaving a note in the locker room?
Petrino....the same guy that just got the Louisville gig....who also ditched Louisville after a year, prior....
He might be the worst human being of all time.
Bill Peterson
Marty Mornhinweg
Bobby Petrino
Are three names I'd throw into the mix.
Quote:
<div>Bill Peterson
Marty Mornhinweg
Bobby Petrino
Are three names I'd throw into the mix.
</div>
What were some of their records, or reasoning for their inclusion?
People -- just don't name names - try to give a background story if possible.
Bill Peterson won ONE game in the 19 games he coaches for the Houston Oilers. He was a complete laughing stock in the NFL (though he was a great college coach). He has the worst record of any coach since the merger that had coached at least one full season.
Morninwheg will probably forever be remembered for electing to take the wind in overtime, and never getting the ball. He went 5-27 in 2 seasons in the NFL.
Petrino quitting on the Falcons qualifies him as a total loser.
Petrino is near the top of the list, as are Saban and Spurrier.
I'd also like to nominate Ed Biles, who once famously told his offense to punt on third down because of how horrible they were. Les Steckel, who was appointed to replace the legendary Bud Grant in Minnesota and rewarded that trust by going 3-13, alienating players and coaches, and forcing the Vikings to beg Bud Grant to come out of retirement. Rod Marinelli is also very high on the list, thanks to his 3-13 and 0-16 bookend seasons around a "good" 7-9. Rod Rust, who inherited a Patriots team not too far removed from a Super Bowl appearance and proceeded to go 1-15 with them, is up there. Lane Kiffin is also up there because of how his tenure in Oakland started, progressed and ended--and the 76-yard field goal attempt doesn't help him.
As tempting as it is to say Spurrier, who supposedly worked eight-hour days and did more golfing than coaching, is the worst NFL coach I can think of, my vote has to go to Petrino. It takes a special breed of chicken to pull what he did.
Quote:Petrino is near the top of the list, as are Saban and Spurrier.
I'd also like to nominate Ed Biles, who once famously told his offense to punt on third down because of how horrible they were. Les Steckel, who was appointed to replace the legendary Bud Grant in Minnesota and rewarded that trust by going 3-13, alienating players and coaches, and forcing the Vikings to beg Bud Grant to come out of retirement. Rod Marinelli is also very high on the list, thanks to his 3-13 and 0-16 bookend seasons around a "good" 7-9. Rod Rust, who inherited a Patriots team not too far removed from a Super Bowl appearance and proceeded to go 1-15 with them, is up there. Lane Kiffin is also up there because of how his tenure in Oakland started, progressed and ended--and the 76-yard field goal attempt doesn't help him.
As tempting as it is to say Spurrier, who supposedly worked eight-hour days and did more golfing than coaching, is the worst NFL coach I can think of, my vote has to go to Petrino. It takes a special breed of chicken to pull what he did.
Rod Rust is a really good suggestion! As is Steckel.
Quote:Bill Peterson won ONE game in the 19 games he coaches for the Houston Oilers. He was a complete laughing stock in the NFL (though he was a great college coach). He has the worst record of any coach since the merger that had coached at least one full season.
Morninwheg will probably forever be remembered for electing to take the wind in overtime, and never getting the ball. He went 5-27 in 2 seasons in the NFL.
Petrino quitting on the Falcons qualifies him as a total loser.
2 more good ones!
Marion Campbell
Bruce Coslet
Ray Perkins
Dave Shula
Dick Jauron
Gregg Williams
Kevin Gilbride
Palmer (former Jaguars offensive coordinator turned Browns head coach)
Dave Wannstedt
Just to name a few. BTW TJBender...great call on Biles and Steckel.
As many failed HC's the Lions have had, the worst was Daryl Rogers. This is a HC that once said something along the lines of what does one have to do to get fired around here! Rogers also was counting the pigeons on the Silverdome roof. Rogers did hire some Assistant Coaches that went on to have very good coaching careers. But his Offense Coordinator Bob Baker was as bad in his role that Rogers was as a HC. Rogers had no NFL experience prior to coming to the Lions. If there's a textbook case why it's very risky to hire someone to be an NFL HC without NFL experience, Rogers would be the illustration.
Quote:Greg Schiano, obviously.
You could do worse than that...Off the top of my Head Petrino.
Quote:Who was the guy that ran out on the Falcons by leaving a note in the locker room?
Petrino, he has to be at the top. First one that came to my mind.
Quote:As many failed HC's the Lions have had, the worst was Daryl Rogers. This is a HC that once said something along the lines of what does one have to do to get fired around here! Rogers also was counting the pigeons on the Silverdome roof. Rogers did hire some Assistant Coaches that went on to have very good coaching careers. But his Offense Coordinator Bob Baker was as bad in his role that Rogers was as a HC. Rogers had no NFL experience prior to coming to the Lions. If there's a textbook case why it's very risky to hire someone to be an NFL HC without NFL experience, Rogers would be the illustration.
What was Rogers previous job before being promoted to Lions head coach? What was the big lure in hiring him as head coach in the first place?
Quote:What was Rogers previous job before being promoted to Lions head coach? What was the big lure in hiring him as head coach in the first place?
As a Sun Devil alum, I can confirm that he was the head coach at Arizona State before going to Detroit. And, in the long tradition of Lions coaching hires, he wasn't a very good one.
Quote:What was Rogers previous job before being promoted to Lions head coach? What was the big lure in hiring him as head coach in the first place?
Daryl Rogers was the HC with Arizona St. Prior to that he was the Michigan St. HC. Kirk Gibson was a highly rated WR with MSU at that time but elected to have a professional baseball career instead.
WC Ford Sr. and GM Russ Thomas seemed set on hiring a College Head Coach that had a track record of passing and high scoring Offenses. Multiple candidates turned the Lions down. To the extent that Rogers wasn't hired until my birthday, February 6. As it turned out, Bob Baker was one of the least creative NFL Offensive Coordinators that the league has seen.
As for the category of worst NFL GM's, a solid case can be made that Russ Thomas was even worse than Matt Millen despite Thomas having a noticeably higher winning %. Thomas undermined the efforts of a number of Lions HC's that might have had much better results if an even average GM was in place. Thomas protected Mr. Ford's money like it was in the highest security fault at Ft. Knox. If I had to choose between Millen and Thomas ( if he was still alive ) as GM, I actually would take Millen, At least with Millen, the Lions were willing to spend money under his watch. Not to mention he was smart enough to draft Calvin Johnson. Thomas failed so badly as a talent evaluator that Mr. Ford took away that role from him in 1978 when Monte Clark was hired as HC.