The bad times are ones sports fans try and erase from their memories. However, some can’t be eliminated. These 32 coaches tried their best but delivered some of the worst performances by teams in the Super Bowl era.
Arizona Cardinals: Steve Wilks
Apology for the recency bias here, but the one-and-done Steve Wilks earns the nod. An awful season. Fired both coordinators during it and didn’t get a second look. The Cardinals are under .500 much of the time. Oklahoma’s legendary Bud Wilkinson suffered through a 9-20 tenure with the team in St. Louis.
Atlanta Falcons: Marion Campbell
Going to cut Norb Hecker a break since he ran the team from its inception. Not fair to hammer an expansion coach. Marion Campbell doesn’t get cut the same slack. How about a combined 17-51 mark in parts or all of six seasons?
Baltimore Ravens: Ted Marchibroda
Almost not fair since the team has had three head coaches in its time in Baltimore and Brian Billick and John Harbaugh each won Super Bowls. Marchibroda was the first Ravens coach and he went 16-31-1 from 1996-98.
Buffalo Bills: Jim Ringo
Talk about a franchise with rough luck. Four head coaches of the Bills have had sub-.300 winning percentages. Someone named Harvey Johnson went 1-13 in 1971. We will give the nod here to Jim Ringo, who went 3-20 over two seasons. Kay Stephenson and Hank Bullough are not far behind.
Carolina Panthers: George Seifert
Four coaches have run the Panthers. Dom Capers deserves a lot of credit for his 30-34 mark with an expansion team. George Seifert doesn’t get much as he went 16-32 in three seasons. Ouch. John Fox and Ron Rivera have followed with solid marks.
Chicago Bears: Abe Gibron
Abe Gibron edges John Fox. Gibron was 11-30-1 in three seasons. Fox was over .500 in Carolina and way below it in Chicago, going 14-34 in three seasons with the Monsters of the Midway.
Cincinnati Bengals: Dave Shula
Not the kind of list you would expect to see the last name “Shula” on. However, Don’s son, Dave, had a rough time as head man of the Bengals. He went 19-52 and didn’t sniff the playoffs.
Cleveland Browns: Hue Jackson
No explanation needed.
Dallas Cowboys: Dave Campo
Dave Campo is the only coach in Cowboys history with a sub-.500 winning percentage. He went 15-33 from 2000-02. Tough company to compete against but Campo made the decision easy with an awful patch for the Cowboys.
Denver Broncos: Josh McDaniels
Could have been either Josh McDaniels or Vance Joseph. They both had 11 wins over two seasons. McDaniels, however, is the dubious one as he didn’t get a chance to finish his second year, being shown the exit with four games left.
Detroit Lions: Marty Morhinweg
No shortage of choices with the powder blue. Came down to Marty Morhinweg, Steve Mariucci and Rod Marinelli. Morhinweg is the winner by a sliver thanks to a 5-27 mark from 2001-02
Green Bay Packers: Lindy Infante
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Former Packer stars Bart Starr and Forrest Gregg received consideration here. Would have been tough to put that stain on either of those greats. However, Lindy Infante managed to have a sub-.400 winning percentage from 1988-91 to spare the others the infamy.
Houston Texans: Dom Capers
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Hate to put an expansion coach on this but Dom Capers was so far and away the one with the worst record. Gary Kubiak wound up below .500 but he delivered two AFC South crowns. Capers delivered 18 wins … over four seasons and that can’t be ignored.
Indianapolis Colts: Rick Venturi
Now this is a tough tossup: Rod Dowhower went 5-24 over almost all of two seasons. Mike McCormick went 9-23. And the biggest loser meaning the winner here is Rick Venturi, who finished with a 1-10 mark in 1991. Another one-and-done.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Gus Bradley
The body of work over four seasons compiled by Gus Bradley (14-48) earns his the dubious distinction over Mike Mularkey and his 2-14, one-and-done performance,
Kansas City Chiefs: Romeo Crennel
A 4-15 mark over little more than a season qualified Romeo Crennel over Paul Wiggin, who went 11-24 between 1975 and most of 1977.
Los Angeles Chargers: Mike Riley
Mike Riley went 14-34 over three seasons as head coach in San Diego. He has a better winning percentage but worse overall time as Charger boss than Dan Henning and Kevin Gilbride.
Los Angeles Rams: Steve Spagnuolo
Sean McVay isn’t 35 and he has two 10-plus win seasons. Steve Spagnuolo coached the Rams in St. Louis for three years and won 10 games … total! Honorable mention to the King of Mediocrity, Jeff Fisher.
Miami Dolphins: Cam Cameron
Another one-and-done because it was so incredibly bad. Cam Cameron has a brilliant offensive mind. It didn’t translate to head coach, where he was 1-15 in 2007.
Minnesota Vikings: Les Steckel
A one-and-done 3-13 season merits bringing back the memory of Les Steckel. He was pretty much in a no-win situation, taking over from the legendary Bud Grant in 1984.
New England Patriots: Rod Rust
Neil Young has the famous album Rust Never Sleeps. In New England it could have been Rust Never Wins … almost. Rod Rust went 1-15 in 1990. His nearest competitor followed him when former Syracuse coach Dick MacPherson jumped to the NFL and went 8-24 over the next two years.
New Orleans Saints: Hank Stram
Rick Venturi, who made the list for the Colts, appears here having gone 1-7 when replacing Jim Mora at midseason. Interim won’t get you slammed here. An icon makes the list as Hank Stram (left) had no success in the Big Easy after being a legend in Kansas City. He went 7-21 from 1978-80. Mike Ditka isn’t far behind with a 15-33 mark as Saints coach.
New York Jets: Rich Kotite
It would be way to easy to name Bill Belichick, who coached for a day and was 0-0. Then again, there is Pete Carroll, who was 6-10 as Jets coach. The easiest of winners, though, is Rich Kotite and his 4-28 mark.
New York Giants: Bill Arnsparger
Bill Arnsparger came to the Giants with a strong defensive reputation in Miami. He didn’t make it work, though, as he went 7-28. Ray Handley was also in the picture with a 14-18 following two-time Super Bowl champ Bill Parcells.
Oakland Raiders: Lane Kiffin
Norv Turner was another assistant who didn’t fare as well in the top job. He went 9-23 from 2004-05. That is only topped by the memorable — and Raider fans think forgettable — tenure of the controversial Lane Kiffin, who was 5-15 over 2007 and a slice of 2008.
Philadelphia Eagles: Jerry Williams
Joe Kuharich started before the Super Bowl era and crept into the beginning of it, exiting in 1968. He was followed by Jerry Williams, who kept the bad times flowing with a 7-22-2 record from 1969 through some of 1971.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Bill Austin
Bill Austin went 11-28-3 from 1966-68. Since then the Steelers have had three brilliant minds … only three … running the team, Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin.
San Francisco 49ers: Chip Kelly
Chip Kelly didn’t fare anywhere near as well in the NFL as he did in college. His 2-14 mark in 2016 beats out another longtime college guy, Dennis Erickson, who went 9-23 over 2003-04.
Seattle Seahawks: Tom Flores
Tom Flores was true to the Silver and Black of the Raiders, one of their top-tier coaches. He didn’t work as well in Seattle, going 14-34 over three seasons.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Lovie Smith
Lovie Smith at 8-24 over 2014-15 gets a slim nod over Leeman Bennett, who had to follow the legendary John McKay, the Bucs’ expansion coach, and only won four games over two seasons. Far less was expected of Bennett than Smith.
Tennessee Titans: Bill Peterson
A duel to the finish of their Oilers/Titans careers. Bill Peterson gets the slimmest of nods thanks to a 1-18 mark against the 3-20 record of Ken Whisenhunt. This one could have gone either way.
Washington Redskins: Steve Spurrier
For all the hullabaloo over the hiring and firing of Steve Spurrier, his 12-20 mark comes off far worse than anyone else who ran Washington. A colossal disaster.
