Worst College Football Coaching Hires of All Time

#76
#76
I know hindsight is 20/20 and he won a NC, but Jimbo to FSU was the beginning of the end in Tallahassee. He burned that program down, pice by piece. That is the one mistake Bowden ever made.

He will do the same wherever he goes.......

That had little to Jimbo and with the administration not caring about football
 
#78
#78
You have to admit, the Mike Price situation has to be one of the funniest events in CFB this century though.

"Roll Tide" indeed.
Or as Mike Price said while fully engaged with said woman of ill repute, "It's rolling baby". My standard answer when someone shoots a "Roll Tide" at me.
 
#79
#79
We hired Dooley, Jones, and Pruitt back to back. That’s a pretty crappy run.
Doesn't warrant a new thread, but an interesting topic.. a string of bad hires. Bama had it with the "Mikes". Mike Shula, Mike Dubose and Mike Price. Then enter Francisioni ( i know, spelled wrong, but I'm in a hurry).

So it can happen to anyone. Listening Florida???
 
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#80
#80
The criteria for "worst" is kind of subjective. Let's face it, the coach who follows Satan at Bama who goes 9-3 will be the "worst" ever coach.

I didn't see a mention of Zook who would fall into the "worst" since he took a program that historically achieved high marks and was mediocre.

Mike Riley at Nebraska deserves a mention.

Didn't see Joker Phillips at UK... of course, it's UK and they really didn't have football during his time.

And can't mention Kentucky without Hal Mumme lol

Charlie Strong at Texas never really was able to get anything going (I've always considered him the Derek Dooley of Texas)

Lovie Smith (thankfully his plane is still circling) was a huge hype and complete lackluster performance at Illinois.

Tim Beckman, Art Briles and DJ Durkin all have levels of "worst" in them... going from bad to worst.

I'll get slammed for this, but Kirk Ferentz deserves a mention. Literally at Iowa for two decades in the weak West division and only gets two Big 10 Championships in his tenure?

I wouldn't put Ferentz in "worst" by any means, but I do think he's overrated.
 
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#81
#81
Not with the culture he installed.......that’s all on him

If you read the articles on FSU, the administration basically gave him little to work with. The culture wasn’t great when he left and he didn’t recruit in 2017 but FSU was way more greatly damaged hiring Willie Taggart than Jimbo.
 
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#82
#82
If you read the articles on FSU, the administration basically gave him little to work with. The culture wasn’t great when he left and he didn’t recruit in 2017 but FSU was way more greatly damaged hiring Willie Taggart than Jimbo.
I know way more people in Tallahassee than I do in Knoxville. Jimbo was a major reason in the sh!+ show that is FSU right now. Much more than media reports and articles say. His demands were ridiculous. Taggart was a disaster, but the hire was based on the crap left behind.
 
#83
#83
I know way more people in Tallahassee than I do in Knoxville. Jimbo was a major reason in the sh!+ show that is FSU right now. Much more than media reports and articles say. His demands were ridiculous. Taggart was a disaster, but the hire was based on the crap left behind.

Even still…83-23, three ACC titles and a national title doesn’t make it one of the worst hires ever lol. Was Fulmer one of the worst hires of all time because of what happened after 2008?
 
#84
#84
Even still…83-23, three ACC titles and a national title doesn’t make it one of the worst hires ever lol. Was Fulmer one of the worst hires of all time because of what happened after 2008?
If you ask some on VN.....the answer is yes.

I did say in my original post about Jimbo that he did win the NC, but did it with a group that I could have coached.......

Of course he’s not the worst, but as an honest FSU admirer, he did a ton of damage to a once proud program in a very short span of time. It was a bad hire.......in the long run
 
#85
#85
Doesn't warrant a new thread, but an interesting topic.. a string of bad hires. Bama had it with the "Mikes". Mike Shula, Mike Dubose and Mike Price. Then enter Francisioni ( i know, spelled wrong, but I'm in a hurry).

So it can happen to anyone. Listening Florida???

Oh please let it happen to Florida. I want them at Vandy levels of bad.
 
#86
#86
It’s that time of year where college football coaches are getting fired and hired.

Which coach would make the list of Top 5 worst hires of all time?
The sad part is that you could make a legit argument that we may have 2 of the 5.
GBO!!
 
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#88
#88
I know way more people in Tallahassee than I do in Knoxville. Jimbo was a major reason in the sh!+ show that is FSU right now. Much more than media reports and articles say. His demands were ridiculous. Taggart was a disaster, but the hire was based on the crap left behind.

LOL Maybe it's below the belt, but Candi Fisher is a legend in Tallahassee.
 
#89
#89
Rarely do I agree with you, but Weis is one of the worst hires of all time, and he can claim the title at both Notre Dame and Kansas.

Gerry Faust has got to be really high on the list. In what world should a coach move directly from high school to Notre Dame?
That also was in the true glory days of when ND would be perpetually overrated. They still are sometimes, but not to the extent they were then.

In Faust's 5 seasons there, ND was ranked #4, #20, #5, #8, and #13 in the preseason. Their best season any of those years was 7-5.
 
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#90
#90
If you ask some on VN.....the answer is yes.

I did say in my original post about Jimbo that he did win the NC, but did it with a group that I could have coached.......

Of course he’s not the worst, but as an honest FSU admirer, he did a ton of damage to a once proud program in a very short span of time. It was a bad hire.......in the long run
Right on the money. I also have much respect for the legacy Coach Bowden built at FSU, and will forever despise Jimbo for the damage he did. Even though he won a NC there, he left that program in far worse shape than when he succeeded Coach Bowden. A truly great coach in any sport, at any level, does not leave a program in worse shape when he leaves than when he arrives.
 
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#91
#91
Right on the money. I also have much respect for the legacy Coach Bowden built at FSU, and will forever despise Jimbo for the damage he did. Even though he won a NC there, he left that program in far worse shape than when he succeeded Coach Bowden. A truly great coach in any sport, at any level, does not leave a program in worse shape when he leaves than when he arrives.
Preach it!!!!!
 
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#92
#92
My Tennessee hot take is that Kiffin leaving didn’t kill us. Even Dooley was able to get a top 10 class off the back of Kiffin that year and the previous year Kiffin’s 2009 class had some talent. The problem was hiring Dooley. If we hired Sumlin we probably go 8-4 in year one. Or even if we just promoted Kippy Brown or hired Cutcliffe and surrounded him with elite recruiters Tennessee would have been fine.

But Hamilton was an idiot and panicked
People always want to point the finger at coaches for the reason of our issues. Mike Hamilton is the biggest reason for our failure over the past 15 years. Not the only, but he’s the biggest reason.
 
#93
#93
People always want to point the finger at coaches for the reason of our issues. Mike Hamilton is the biggest reason for our failure over the past 15 years. Not the only, but he’s the biggest reason.
Thing is...as much as I agree with that the further you get away from Hammy's departure the harder it is to continue saying that. Hamilton has been gone since June 2011. The current predicament we are in ultimately lies at the feet of Fulmer, who brought Pruitt in, and the reason Phil was involved to begin with was because another AD other than Hammy (Currie) completely botched a coaching search and was fired himself. And that's not even mentioning Dave Hart.

Hammy got the ball rolling, but everybody that has followed him has been unable in one way or another to stop it from rolling in a negative direction. Ultimately what this boils down to is that we've had horrible, horrible, athletic directors over the years. They've all played a part, perhaps even an equal part to Hammy. Maybe White/Heupel are the guys to fix it.
 
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#99
#99
1. Taggart (FSU)
2. Kiffin (UT)
3. Kiffin (USC)
4. Curley Hallman (LSU)
5. Ellis Johnson (SM)
6. Ed Orgeron (OM)
7. Zook (UF)
8. Weis (ND)
9. Willingham (UW)
10. Muschamp (UF)
11. McElwain (UF)
12. Within a few years Kiffin (OM) - give it time
 
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1. Taggart (FSU)
2. Kiffin (UT)
3. Kiffin (USC)
4. Curley Hallman (LSU)
5. Ellis Johnson (SM)
6. Ed Orgeron (OM)
7. Zook (UF)
8. Weis (ND)
9. Willingham (UW)
10. Muschamp (UF)
11. McElwain (UF)
12. Within a few years Kiffin (OM) - give it time

Kiffin on the list three times🤣😂🤣
 

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