Worst coach in the country goes to....

TheJON · Post by **TheJON** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:09 am

.....Karl Dorrell. Anyone dispute that? Walt Harris recently was fired, so he is no longer eligible for this award that probably should be named after him. I'd also throw in Dave Wannstedt, Glen Mason, Gary Pinkel, and Tommy Bowden. Those are all really bad coaches but I think Dorrell is tops.

So congrats UCLA on a great hire a few years ago. This guy has really turned that program into a national power. He's like the Vince Lombardi of college coaching except completely opposite!

Ken · Post by **Ken** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 1:22 pm

Yeah, Wanny pretty well sucks. No doubt about that. As a PSU alum I was happy as a lark when they hired that stiff. He can say the right things to the media and recruits, but when the turkey's on the table, the guy goes for the wings. (not really sure what that means, but it sounded right)

So many here in the 'burgh were ecstatic when Wanny was hired. I just didn't understand it. The fucking idiots that reside in this shithole get a freakin' woody when someone hires an alum. It's freakin' laughable.

Here's to hoping Pitt continues their idiocy and keeps Wanny around for years to come.

King Crimson · Post by **King Crimson** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:17 pm

Greg Robinson.

though, i'll concur that Dorrell is pretty bad. i saw him work his magic here in Boulder against CU. pregame, the Bruins are running all these funky sets and throwing the ball all over the place. they went 3 and out on their first possession, and then switched into "run it in to the line on 1st and second down, throw an incompletion, punt" for the rest of the game. CU had a decent team that year, but if there was one thing ol' Barney knew how to recognize and defend it was predictability.

TheJON · Post by **TheJON** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:57 pm

As a Chiefs fan, how could I have forgotten that piece of shit Greg Robinson. Yes, he most certainly is on that list.

As for Wannstedt, give the guy credit for somehow managing to actually do worse than Walt Harris. Props to him for that!

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:25 pm

Ferentz probably had more talent than any of the coaches you mentioned...and squeaked out a .500 season. And of those 6 wins, none of them were against ranked teams.

I'll give him my vote.

L45B · Post by **L45B** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:32 pm

Did you guys forget about me?

Sincerely,

Terry in Crapchester · Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:32 pm

I have to go with those who voted for Robinson. How's that coaching change working out, SUfan?

TheJON · Post by **TheJON** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:01 pm

Mgo,

The topic was worst coaches not worst coaching JOBS in 2006. Ferentz and his staff are great coaches that had a bad season. Everything got away from them this year. I think every coach has a year like that. Look at Miami and FSU this year. Or Michigan last year.

Now, the worst coaching jobs this year went to Ferentz, Bobby Bowden, Tommy Bowden, Larry Coker, John L Smith, Mike Belotti, and Dirk Coetter.

Cicero · Post by **Cicero** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:18 pm

Bobby hasnt "coached" in a decade. He still deserves the blame though.
My vote goes to John L.

Terry in Crapchester · Fri Feb 09, 2007 8:21 pm

With Signing Day having recently come and gone, there's all the more reason to put Robinson atop this list. But SUFan's reaction, or more correctly, lack thereof, is simply ponderous.

Some background: on the rare occasions that local sports talk radio does turn to college sports, SU is at the forefront of that discussion. This is a fanbase that is still bent about losing Dorsey Levens (to ND almost 20 years ago), Mike Hart (to Michigan 4 years ago) and Greg Paulus. Losing Mike Paulus? Crickets.

That simply defies explanation from where I sit. The only possibility is that SUfan is giving Robinson the sort of pass that Pasqualoni never would have gotten.

Let's look at this rationally. Any SUfan who expects his team to out-recruit the likes of ND and Michigan on a regular basis does not have a realistic appreciation for where the position his team occupies on college football's food chain. Greg Paulus? The kid had a dream of playing basketball at Duke. That might not have been in his best long-term interests, but every so often you encounter a kid like that. Not much any coach or his staff can do about it, either.

Mike Paulus? Now that's a horse of a different color altogether. Here's why.

Mike Paulus originally narrowed his choices to six schools. In addition to Syracuse, his choices included Michigan, Notre Dame, USC, North Carolina and Alabama. Rumor has it that Michigan and ND were his top two choices, and in an ordinary year, at least one of them would have offered him. So in an ordinary year, SU probably doesn't have much of a shot at him. But this wasn't an ordinary year. It was a very deep year for QB's, and both Michigan and ND were pursuing other QB's in addition to Paulus. And a bit of unusually good fortune fell into SU's lap: both Michigan and ND got their first choice QB's. Michigan got Mallett, beating out Texas, and ND beat USC for Clausen. That meant that neither of those two schools would offer Paulus.

So now that leaves him with four of his final six schools. Of those four, you can probably rule out Alabama for academics (sorry, SS, but it is ranked below the others academically), and USC for distance (his parents had stated an intent to watch his games, and they go to many of his brother Greg's Duke basketball games). So now you're down to two: Syracuse and North Carolina.

Had he gone to Syracuse, the possible storyline reads like something out of a Hollywood script: a once-proud program fallen upon recent hard times rises again, led by a hometown boy. Sounds too good to be true. Except that it was, or at least potentially was. But Mike Paulus turned his back on that for a school that wasn't exactly a traditional football power. And what's more, he made his committment before Butch Davis came to UNC.

If I'm SUfan, the local product who got away is not Dorsey Levens, nor Mike Hart, nor Greg Paulus. It's Mike Paulus. They didn't have much chance of landing any of the others. But they could have -- should have -- gotten Mike Paulus.

If SUfan applied the same standard to Robinson that he applied to Pasqualoni, Robinson would be gone already. But for some unknown reason, SUfan is not applying the same standard. I guess that's SUfan's right. But I'm not sure it's in the best long-term interests of his program.

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 8:27 pm

Excellent entries all-around, but let's not leave Ty Willingham out of this one.

After a once-great program is finally getting over the damage Weasel inflicted, Ty has managed to make recruiting even worse. The level of recruiting at UDub is mind-boggling...it takes an actual modicum of negative talent to be unable to recruit hometown kids in a major US city.

Cicero · Post by **Cicero** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 8:32 pm

Good post Terry. I think you're right.

Killian · Post by **Killian** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 8:38 pm

Dinsdale wrote:Excellent entries all-around, but let's not leave Ty Willingham out of this one.

After a once-great program is finally getting over the damage Weasel inflicted, Ty has managed to make recruiting even worse. The level of recruiting at UDub is mind-boggling...it takes an actual modicum of negative talent to be unable to recruit hometown kids in a major US city.

Shut the fuck up, racist!

Oh, you're not an ND fan?

Carry on.

Sin,
All Media

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 10:27 pm

Ken,

Judging by the stands of home games, I wouldn't think there were enough "fans" in the Burgh to make an audible noise good or bad on the hiring of Wanny.

Adelpiero · Post by **Adelpiero** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 11:05 pm

hey huskie fans, gary pinkel is your man.

1. has done a hell of a job at MU
2. very good recruiting at MU
3. gone to several bowl games at MU
4. has ties to washington
5. MU will even wrap him in a pink bow.

you can do it

SoCalTrjn · Post by **SoCalTrjn** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 11:08 pm

Id have to say the worst coach in D1 is Sylvester Croom, his team is outclassed and he is out coached in every conf game they play in

The Seer · Post by **The Seer** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 11:57 pm

TheJON wrote:.....Karl Dorrell. Anyone dispute that? Walt Harris recently was fired, so he is no longer eligible for this award that probably should be named after him. I'd also throw in Dave Wannstedt, Glen Mason, Gary Pinkel, and Tommy Bowden. Those are all really bad coaches but I think Dorrell is tops.

So congrats UCLA on a great hire a few years ago. This guy has really turned that program into a national power. He's like the Vince Lombardi of college coaching except completely opposite!

I commend you on your knowledge of college football. Your take is based on factual evidence, and your argument is rock solid. You have earned a new found respect from me on your college football aptitude... keep up the good work!

Adelpiero · Post by **Adelpiero** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 12:00 am

crooms is horrible

as is erickson(this guy is the king of piggybacking other coaches kids to winning seasons)

Carson · Post by **Carson** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 3:30 am

SoCalTrjn wrote:Id have to say the worst coach in D1 is Sylvester Croom, his team is outclassed and he is out coached in every conf game they play in

^^^^^^^^^
Major reason why Mike Shula got fired.

PSUFAN · Post by **PSUFAN** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 5:35 am

With all due respect, I'll submit Pete Carroll's last few predecessors. The turnaround there is nothing short of dramatic. Yes, he's good - yes, he motivates the kids well...but IMO it takes a special kind of talent to consistently underachieve at USC, as did his predecessors.

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 7:33 am

No love for Mike Stoops?

Absolutely horrrrrrible. Talk about a guy getting a job because of his last name...

As one of our local radio hacks always likes to say "We could take the next person on this show who calls in regards to CFB, and I GAURANTEE you he'd make a better coach than Mike Stoops."

His best recruiting tool? "Well, my brother won a championship!"

Terry in Crapchester · Sat Feb 10, 2007 10:57 am

PSUFAN wrote:With all due respect, I'll submit Pete Carroll's last few predecessors. The turnaround there is nothing short of dramatic. Yes, he's good - yes, he motivates the kids well...but IMO it takes a special kind of talent to consistently underachieve at USC, as did his predecessors.

Dinsdale wrote:No love for Mike Stoops?

Absolutely horrrrrrible. Talk about a guy getting a job because of his last name...

As one of our local radio hacks always likes to say "We could take the next person on this show who calls in regards to CFB, and I GAURANTEE you he'd make a better coach than Mike Stoops."

His best recruiting tool? "Well, my brother won a championship!"

I get where you're both going with these submissions. But I think the topic originally was "Worst Coaching Job this season." That rules out both of these nominations.

With respect to USC, nobody but the Poodle coached there this season (sin, Marcus). Of course, that being said, the line of disappointing coaching regimes at USC prior to him is breathtaking, particularly in hindsight (Tollner, Smith, John Robinson II and Hackett). There were some minor successes during that period of time (a few Pac-10 championships), but also 11 straight losses to ND and nothing even remotely close to a sniff at the national championship except for the '88 season. (In the interests of fairness, I should point out that ND is in a similar situation right now, coming off Davie and Willingham, and one could even throw in Holtz' last three seasons as well. But there have been some signs of improvement under Weis, and it's still too early to pull the plug on him.)

As for Mike Stoops, far be it from me to claim that he's a great coach. But in fairness, he did have Arizona moving in the right direction this season. Only time will tell if they can sustain that improvement, but for now, that's enough to rule him out of any discussion involving the worst coaching job this season.

The Seer · Post by **The Seer** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 11:12 am

Terry in Crapchester wrote:
I get where you're both going with these submissions. But I think the topic originally was "Worst Coaching Job this season." That rules out both of these nominations.

Don't know how you concluded from the title that is was this season only....

I believe it is more which coach STILL has his job despite his program under achieving this year and prior to this year; that way you can include program stupidity....

Mississippi Neck · Post by **Mississippi Neck** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 5:44 pm

SoCalTrjn wrote:Id have to say the worst coach in D1 is Sylvester Croom, his team is outclassed and he is out coached in every conf game they play in

Really? even the Bama game?

SoCalTrjn · Post by **SoCalTrjn** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 9:45 pm

difference was Bama did something about it, missistakey state keeping Croom has to be proof to their fans, students, alumns and prospects that a decent football team is not a priority of the school

KC Scott · Post by **KC Scott** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 9:56 pm

Adelpiero wrote:hey huskie fans, gary pinkel is your man.

1. has done a hell of a job at MU
2. very good recruiting at MU
3. gone to several bowl games at MU
4. has ties to washington
5. MU will even wrap him in a pink bow.

you can do it

Word.

Hell, we'll even send you some Wal Mart Alums to help you build a new weight room

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 12:51 am

Our genius AD's first-choice for NU was actually Wannstedt, thankfully Miami gave him one more season. Between jocking Wannstadt and Nutt I'm not sure which is worse.

Dorrall hired a new DC last year and is bringing in Jay Norvelle to be OC this year. At least the guy is out there making changes rather than doing the same old crap and hoping for the best. I don't think he'll make UCLA a power but they could become a consistent winner.

I throw my vote behind John L, MSU was a trainwreck. By the way, CONGRATS TO MSU ON A TOTALLY UNDERWHELMING HIRE. Mark D'antonio? What did he do at Cinci? Briles won CUSA at once-totally-crapy Houston. Solich got Ohio to their first bowl in 38-years. Mike Price? Bo Pelini? June Jones? Norm Chow? Patterson from TCU? Butch Jones from CMU? Granted some of those guys may have turned the job down but they could've gotten somebody better than D'antonio IMO.

King Crimson · Post by **King Crimson** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 6:42 pm

i think given the right situation, Briles has a chance to be pretty good somewhere. I sorta like watching Art's teams play.

The Seer · Post by **The Seer** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:47 am

Danimal wrote:

Dorrall hired a new DC last year and is bringing in Jay Norvelle to be OC this year. At least the guy is out there making changes rather than doing the same old crap and hoping for the best. I don't think he'll make UCLA a power but they could become a consistent winner.

Blaming, then firing, your assistants means never having to say I'm sorry and buys you
time....Total class....

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 3:50 am

I'm not saying Karl isn't passing-the-blame-game-buck by hiring new guys, but he is at-least trying other things. Which is more than some coaches do when they things aren't getting done.

Terry in Crapchester · Mon Feb 12, 2007 3:47 pm

Danimal wrote:By the way, CONGRATS TO MSU ON A TOTALLY UNDERWHELMING HIRE. Mark D'antonio? What did he do at Cinci?

Two bowl games in four seasons isn't bad for a program that had two bowl appearances prior to 1997 in its entire history, and where football is a very, very distant second to basketball. Note that I'm giving him credit for the International Bowl this year, although he didn't coach that game, since he was the coach for the regular season. http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/di ... istory.php

Throw in six seasons as an assistant at Michigan State, and it doesn't appear to be a terrible hire. There may have been better candidates out there, but as you mentioned, many had turned down Michigan State.

Time will tell how this works out. If Dantonio can keep the team on a relatively level plane, rather than exacerbate its pre-existing tendency to self-destruct, as John LLLLLL did, he should be an improvement.

TheJON · Post by **TheJON** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 6:19 pm

Terry,

Daontoni reminds me of someone........

John L Smith

Terry in Crapchester · Mon Feb 12, 2007 6:38 pm

JON,

In what way?

I remember John LLLLLL's interview at halftime of the tOSU game in '05. It plays like he lost whatever control he had over that team right then and there.

T1B

Worst coach in the country goes to....

Worst coach in the country goes to....

Re: Worst coach in the country goes to....