Bad Coaching Hires
- Thread starter Van Everyman
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That Al Groh team was up 14-0 in last game of the season against future SB champ Ravens. Lost 34-20 off some crazy shit and then Ravens buzz sawed through the playoff.
safety
Pick 6
2 punt return TDs
Ravens scored 34 and Dilfer threw for 99 similar to last Pats game
As a few folks have mentioned Rod Rust (and rightfully so), I will say that the 1990 Pats would have won something like 3 or 4 tops games under Belichick. That team was bereft of anything remotely resembling talent in all 3 phases of the game. Vincent Brown, Marv Cook, Chris Singleton, Irving Fryar, Tim Goad, Maurice Hurst, and Andre Tippett (who was significantly limited with injury) were the only true NFL players on that roster. To be fair, some of the veterans on the team were quality players at one point until age and injury caught up to them.
The other issue is that the team turned the #1 and subsequent season's #8 picks into Pat Harlow, Leonard Russell, and Eugene Chung. Which is why some of us never complain too much about Belichick's draft busts.
Fairbanks is a fascinating what if. The third leg of the 70's NFL HC "Chuck" troika along with Noll and "Ground Chuck" Knox. According to BB, his systems still influence the franchise today. His wikipedia page is pretty interesting. He was plagued by scandal at the collegiate level and plagued by the Sullivan's money shenanigans at the pro level. Didn't know/forgot that he had reached a contract extension with Stingley right before the game in which Stingley was paralyzed. Ever the class act, Chuck Sullivan then reneged on the deal that Monday and this is cited as why Fairbanks finally left that year.
His last coaching stint with the USFL Generals combined the best of both of his worlds as he signed Hershel Walker before his NCAA eligibility was up and was later fired by... Donald Trump.
His last coaching stint with the USFL Generals combined the best of both of his worlds as he signed Hershel Walker before his NCAA eligibility was up and was later fired by... Donald Trump.
What's the worst group of coaches in a single division in a single year?
The worst I could come up with was the 2002 NFC North:
Dick Jauron
Marty Mornhinweg
Mike Tice
Mike Sherman
The worst I could come up with was the 2002 NFC North:
Dick Jauron
Marty Mornhinweg
Mike Tice
Mike Sherman
1999 NFC West is pretty bad.
Jim Mora Jr
Steve Spagnolo
Mike Singletary
Ken Whisenhunt
That is a really bad group, and two of them (Jauron and Sherman) have strong MA ties.
The 9ers went through a wide group of bad coaching hires for a while.
Dennis Erickson, Mike Nolan, Mike Singletary. For a while the owners didn't seem to care or sort of didn't want ti be there, ever since Ed Debartolo was forced to sell to his sister. Plus there was the time when the entire FO was gutted and taken to Cleveland with Carmen Policy, outgoing team President.
Then they hired Harbaugh. He threw his tantrums and all but was good and took them to 3 straight NFCCG and one Super Bowl, ti be followed by Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly (notably right after they got their new stadium).
The horrible slate of coaches and OCs was surely why Alex Smith's career ended up that way.
Dennis Erickson, Mike Nolan, Mike Singletary. For a while the owners didn't seem to care or sort of didn't want ti be there, ever since Ed Debartolo was forced to sell to his sister. Plus there was the time when the entire FO was gutted and taken to Cleveland with Carmen Policy, outgoing team President.
Then they hired Harbaugh. He threw his tantrums and all but was good and took them to 3 straight NFCCG and one Super Bowl, ti be followed by Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly (notably right after they got their new stadium).
The horrible slate of coaches and OCs was surely why Alex Smith's career ended up that way.
I see that slate of coaches and raise you:
Barry Switzer
Chan Gailey
Dave Campo
Bill Parcells
Wade Phillips
Jason Garrett
Mike McCarthy
That's a very underwhelming group. And the results, or lack thereof, speak for themselves: a .520 regular season win percentage and a 4-10 playoff record in the 26 seasons since their title in Super Bowl XXX.
*Yes, I realize there are many other franchises that have gone through worse.
While the results speak of themselves you could do a lot worse than Wade Phillips and Bill Parcells.
Chan Gailey was highly rated when he was hired.
Yes, which is why I allowed that other franchises have had worse. Though it could be argued that Phillips's success was largely due to the Parcells roster (I call this the Barry Switzer phenomenon) but Parcells never had a chance because he was merely brought in to goose the vote for the new stadium. Once that vote was locked in, Jones started doing his thing and that relationship was doomed.
As for Chan Gailey, I seem to recall Troy Aikman threatened to quit when they hired him. I know for sure he hated him - and playing for him - and may or may not have had a hand in Gailey getting the axe after just two seasons.