Worst head coach/manager ever?

On New Mexico Lobos football...

Bob Davie is mentioned in this but Mike Locksley has NOT been mentioned. Locksley went 2-26 AND was suspended for assaulting an assistant coach.

 

Getting those players is a huge part of a college coach's job, so I wouldn't write off the talent on his teams as a reason to dismiss Switzer's success at Oklahoma.

 

That's some enlightened shit right there. Can I suggest forming an exploratory committee for the 2016 presidential election?

 

Any coach who's won it all at both the college and professional level--as have Larry Brown and Barry Switzer--should not be mentioned anywhere near this discussion.

 

Kotite did have two winning records and made the playoffs once when he was with the Eagles, so you really can't say that he's the worst of all-time.

Of Jets history? You betcha, although Lou Holtz sure gave him a run for his money.

 

Ears Whitworth. Went 4-24-2 in three seasons at Alabama. His departure led to the hiring of one Paul W. Bryant.Whitworth went 0-10 his first season at Bama. He went 22-27-2 in five seasons at Oklahoma A&M before that.

 

Rod Marinelli. It takes a special talent to go 0-16 in the NFL, and he lost seven of the last eight games the previous season. So 1-23, with a coach who exposed himself at a Wendy's and another, his son-in-law, who was his defensive coordinator. Brought in a bunch of free agents who won him a Super Bowl in Tampa. All were stiffs.

 

There's a photo in the FSU athletic department of the coaching staff under Peterson one season, about 1963 or 1964. The assistants included Bowden, Parcells, Joe Gibbs and Don James.
Might be the strongest staff of assistants in NCAA history.

 

Yes there is.
Rich Kotite.
Or Ray Handley.
Or Leeman Bennett.

 

Bill Peterson's death made for the most entertaining obit I have ever read, mostly because I had never heard of him before the day he died. I remember they moved a separate take of his quotes, the best of which was:

"Go back to you days in the bible, do you think David just picked up that rock and got lucky and hit Goliath? No sir, he came home after work every day and set old beer bottles and tomato cans on the fence and practiced."

 

Leeman Bennett? You mean the Leeman Bennett who took the Falcons to the playoffs three times in five seasons?

No.

If you want to go Falcons, how about one of Bennett's predecessors -- and successors. Marion Campbell's .298 winning percentage is the worst in NFL history for a coach with at least 80 games. Only David Shula (.268 in 71 games) and Bert Bell (.179 in 58) have worse records among coaches with at least 50 games. And Campbell is 46 games under .500 for his career (34-80-1), more than any other coach in the history of the league, according to pro-football-reference.com.

And yet somehow, Falcons owner Rankin Smith hired him again in 1987 after having fired him in 1976 for going 6-19. Predictably, Campbell was 11-32 in his second stint with Atlanta.

"Swampy" is as nice a guy as you'll ever want to meet and was an excellent defensive coordinator, but he's in the running for worst NFL head coach of all time.