Most Overrated College Football Coaches

They promise a lot, but never deliver.

Most Overrated College Football Coaches

College football coaches like to promise things. They do this because it gets fans excited and makes them think they're the one: the savior to their beloved teams. But they don't always deliver.

And if you make enough promises and don't follow through on them, we start to get a better idea of exactly what kind of coach you are. In no short order, it's how you become overrated.

These are the most overrated coaches in college football history — guys who didn't deliver the goods.

50. Paul Dietzel

Number of seasons coaching: 20 (1955-74)

Schools: LSU (1955-61), Army (1962-65), South Carolina (1966-74)

Record: 109-95-5

Winning percentage: .533

National championships: 1 (1958)

Bottom Line: Paul Dietzel

One of the few coaches to win a national championship and make this list, Paul Dietzel did not start out with a bang and ended with a whimper.

His first three seasons at LSU were unremarkable — two losing seasons and a .500 record in 1957 — before he struck gold in 1958 when the Tigers went 11-0 and won a national title.

But Dietzel left LSU after the 1961 season for Army and his career spiraled into mediocrity at West Point and then at South Carolina. He never even won another bowl game and posted losing records in seven of his final 10 seasons.

49. John Cooper

Number of seasons coaching: 24 (1977-2000)

Schools: Tulsa (1977-84), Arizona State (1985-87), Ohio State (1988-2000)

Record: 192-84-6

Winning percentage: .691

National championships: None

Bottom Line: John Cooper

John Cooper was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and spent the last 16 seasons of his career leading Power Five schools, but his career became defined by his failure against Michigan while coaching at Ohio State.

Cooper went 2-10-1 against the Wolverines, and three of those losses (in 1993, 1995 and 1996) cost Ohio State a shot at the national title and the Rose Bowl.

Also of note were Cooper's Big Ten titles — he won three, but none outright.

48. Charlie Strong

Number of seasons coaching: 10 (2010-19)

Schools: Louisville (2010-13), Texas (2014-16), South Florida (2017-19)

Record: 74-53

Winning percentage: .583

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Charlie Strong

Charlie Strong was the only coach retained after Ron Zook was fired at Florida in 2004 and Urban Meyer took over. The defensive coordinator parlayed that success into a head coaching job at Louisville.

Strong was dynamite at Louisville, where he went 23-3 over his last two seasons before taking over at Texas, where he guided the Longhorns to three consecutive losing seasons before he was fired.

Strong added another losing season to his resume in 2019 at South Florida when the Bulls went 4-8.

47. Tommy Tuberville

Number of seasons coaching: 21 (1995-2008, 2010-16)

Schools: Ole Miss (1995-98), Auburn (1999-2008), Texas Tech (2010-12), Cincinnati (2013-16)

Record: 159-99

Winning percentage: .616

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Tommy Tuberville

No coach in the history of college football did less with more than Tommy Tuberville.

He has managed to coach 21 seasons at big-time programs and won exactly one conference title, going 13-0 at Auburn in 2004 as the Tigers were shut out of the BCS Championship Game.

Tuberville was beloved among Auburn fans for one reason alone — he won six straight games against rival Alabama at one point. Tuberville turned his success at Auburn into big paydays at both Texas Tech and Cincinnati, where his tenures can best be described as lackluster.

46. R.C. Slocum

Number of seasons coaching: 14 (1989-2002)

Schools: Texas A&M

Record: 123-47-2

Winning percentage: .721

National championships: None

Bottom Line: R.C. Slocum

The only head coaching job of R.C. Slocum's career was at Texas A&M, where he lasted 14 seasons and never had a single losing season.

But for all the good Slocum did as coach of the Aggies, you can't ignore the bad. The biggest example of this is Slocum's 3-8 record in bowl games.

His biggest failures came in the Cotton Bowl, where Texas A&M lost three straight times from 1991 to 1993, then again in 1997.

45. Mark Richt

Number of seasons coaching: 18 (2001-18)

Schools: Georgia (2001-15), Miami (2016-18)

Record: 171-64

Winning percentage: .728

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Mark Richt

Some people might consider Mark Richt a great coach. He won at least 10 games in 10 different seasons, five SEC titles and one ACC title.

However, there's something huge missing from his resume that we can't overlook, and that's a national title. Heck, we'd even give Richt more credit if he had just played for a national title during his tenure at Georgia or at Miami.

But Richt never did and constantly seemed to break under the weight of great expectations.

44. James Franklin

Number of seasons coaching: 10 (2011-present)

Schools: Vanderbilt (2011-13), Penn State (2014-present)

Record: 80-38

Winning percentage: .678

National championships: None

Bottom Line: James Franklin

When a coach is making close to $6 million per year — what Penn State pays James Franklin — at some point you're going to have to start sniffing around at a national title.

Franklin's success with the Nittany Lions has been weirdly placed. It's great to win bowl games but we shouldn't pretend playing one or two spots out of the College Football Playoff on a regular basis means success.

Even in the one year Penn State won the Big Ten Championship Game under Franklin, in 2016, the Nittany Lions lost the Rose Bowl to USC, and Franklin still has never guided a team to the CFP.

43. Joe Tiller

Number of seasons coaching: 18 (1991-2008)

Schools: Wyoming (1991-96), Purdue (1997-2008)

Record: 126-92-1

Winning percentage: .578

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Joe Tiller

If you're surprised to see Joe Tiller on this list, we kind of were as well.

But a closer look at his tenure at Purdue shows that Tiller wasn't as good a coach as we all probably thought. He never won 10 games in a season and finished fourth or worse in the Big Ten nine times.

Tiller, who died in 2017, played in just one major bowl game in his career, the same year he won his lone Big Ten title in 2000, and lost in the Rose Bowl.

42. Mark Stoops

Number of seasons coaching: 8 (2013-present)

Schools: Kentucky

Record: 44-44

Winning percentage: .500

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Mark Stoops

As long as big-time college football programs retain a somewhat-fresh memory of how great a coach Bob Stoops was at Oklahoma, his brothers will continue to be gifted with jobs at those same big-time college football programs.

That Mark Stoops coaches at Kentucky, the one school in the SEC where football takes a backseat, means he'll continue to get a pass for making sure the Wildcats stay somewhat respectable (around .500) and sprinkle in a 10-win season once a decade.

Hey, now that we think about it, he could be the SEC's version of Kirk Ferentz.

41. Glen Mason

Number of seasons coaching: 21 (1986-2006)

Schools: Kent State (1986-87), Kansas (1988-96), Minnesota (1997-2006)

Record: 123-121-1

Winning percentage: .504

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Glen Mason

In 21 seasons as a head coach at Kent State, Kansas and Minnesota, Glen Mason managed to never win a conference title and never even play in a major bowl game.

Mason famously took the job at the University of Georgia, then reversed course several days later in 1995, but he still left Kansas one year later to take the job at Minnesota.

That's where Mason's mediocrity really hit its stride. He coached the Gophers for 10 years and never finished above fourth place in the Big Ten.

40. Murray Warmath

Number of seasons coaching: 20 (1952-71)

Schools: Mississippi State (1952-53), Minnesota (1954-71)

Record: 97-84-10

Winning percentage: .534

National championships: 1 (1960)

Bottom Line: Murray Warmath

Murray Warmath led Minnesota to its lone national title in football in 1960, and when he died in 2011, the Minnesota governor declared March 21 Murray Warmath Day. Which is awesome.

It doesn't change the fact that half of Warmath's 18 seasons coaching the Gophers ended with losing records, and in two other seasons, they were just one game above .500.

Oh, and that national title? That was when the national championship was voted on before bowl games. And Minnesota lost the Rose Bowl that season.

39. Kirk Ferentz

Number of seasons coaching: 22 (1999-present)

Schools: Iowa

Record: 162-104

Winning percentage: .609

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Kirk Ferentz

University of Iowa football fans must be some of the most patient people in the world. Kirk Ferentz went 4-19 in his first two seasons before reeling off five consecutive winning seasons.

A closer look at Ferentz's coaching career reveals that, more often than not, the Hawkeyes have been pretty average under Ferentz.

They've had four or more losses in 15 of his 22 seasons and own only one win in a major bowl game, the 2009 Orange Bowl.

38. Houston Nutt

Number of seasons coaching: 15 (1997-2011)

Schools: Boise State (1997), Arkansas (1998-2007), Ole Miss (2008-11)

Record: 103-81

Winning percentage: .560

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Houston Nutt

Houston Nutt is a great example of why you don't want to promise too much in your opening news conference.

When Nutt took over at Arkansas, he mentioned a national championship, and despite having a lot of success at the school, he never even came close to delivering on that promise. And they turned on him.

He got another shot at Ole Miss but went winless in his final two seasons after the school was forced to vacate six wins over the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

37. Jim Harbaugh

Number of seasons coaching: 10 (2007-10, 2015-present)

Schools: Stanford (2007-10), Michigan (2015-present)

Record: 76-39

Winning percentage: .661

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Jim Harbaugh

Jim Harbaugh, on paper, isn't overrated at all. If you take into account his success as an NFL head coach as well, he's pretty incredible.

But coaching careers don't just exist on paper, and when you take into account the expectations at Michigan, where Harbaugh was once a star quarterback, and him constantly popping off about this and that, you start to get worn out.

And for approximately $6 million per year, Harbaugh is still 0-5 against Ohio State and 2-10 against teams ranked in the top 10.

36. Pat Fitzgerald

Number of seasons coaching: 15 (2006-present)

Schools: Northwestern (2006-present)

Record: 99-79

Winning percentage: .556

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Pat Fitzgerald

Expectations are a little different at Northwestern, where academics rule the day over athletics.

But former Northwestern All-American linebacker Pat Fitzgerald, the Wildcats' coach since 2006, is getting paid almost as much as anyone in the Big Ten and has the facilities bestowed upon other big-time programs — including a $280 million football facility — so his career should get the same kind of scrutiny.

To that end, Northwestern went 3-9 in 2019, and teams have posted a losing record in Big Ten play seven times under Fitzgerald.

35. Spike Dykes

Number of seasons coaching: 14 (1986-99)

Schools: Texas Tech

Record: 82-67-1

Winning percentage: .550

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Spike Dykes

How did Spike Dykes coach Texas Tech for as long as he did?

One way to look at it is Dykes was able to survive because he did the opposite of what many coaches on this list did — his teams played well in rivalry games. Specifically, Dykes won six games against the University of Texas, which is still a record for Texas Tech.

Dykes also became the first Texas Tech coach to lead the team to seven bowl games, even though he went 2-5 in those bowl games.

34. Bobby Ross

Number of seasons coaching: 20 (1982-99, 2004-06)

Schools: Maryland (1982-86), Georgia Tech (1987-99), Army (2004-06)

Record: 103-101-2

Winning percentage: .505

National championships: 1 (1990)

Bottom Line: Bobby Ross

Bobby Ross' coaching career is a testament to another era.

He was given multiple years of losing records to turn around big-time programs at Georgia Tech and Army, and his crowning achievement, a national title at Georgia Tech in 1990, came via the coaches' poll and not via a win in any bowl game.

Ross was actually hired by Georgia Tech after winning three ACC titles at Maryland, but in his last season with the Terrapins, he went 5-5-1. And in 20 seasons as a head coach, Ross won 10 games just once, in 1990.

33. June Jones

Number of seasons coaching: 16 (1999-2014)

Schools: Hawaii (1999-2007), SMU (2008-14)

Record: 112-84

Winning percentage: .571

National championships: None

Bottom Line: June Jones

June Jones is a great example of an NFL head coach who used that cache to secure a plum job in the college ranks.

After Jones was fired by two NFL teams in succession, the Atlanta Falcons and San Diego Chargers, he took over at the University of Hawaii. The amount of success Jones had at Hawaii was unprecedented in nine seasons, capped by a 13-1 season in 2007 and a berth in the Sugar Bowl.

Then, he bolted for SMU and tanked, going 36-43 before he was fired early in his seventh season.

32. Dennis Franchione

Number of seasons coaching: 21 (1992-2007, 2011-15)

Schools: New Mexico (1992-97), TCU (1998-2000), Alabama (2001-02), Texas A&M (2003-07), Texas State (2011-15)

Record: 127-111

Winning percentage: .534

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Dennis Franchione

Dennis Franchione had as good of an eye for talent as possibly any coach in his era.

He brought in an unknown recruit at New Mexico named Brian Urlacher, and when he became the coach at TCU, he had the good sense to turn the offense over to junior running back LaDainian Tomlinson.

But Franchione earned a reputation for doing teams dirty on the way out the door (he liked to tell players via teleconference) and was 4-16 against ranked teams during his time at Texas A&M.

31. Bobby Collins

Number of seasons coaching: 12 (1975-86)

Schools: Southern Miss (1975-81), SMU (1982-86)

Record: 89-46-3

Winning percentage: .656

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Bobby Collins

Bobby Collins' record looks pretty decent on paper, doesn't it? Don't believe what you see. We're putting him on the overrated list because of how much he cheated when he was the head coach at SMU from 1982 to 1986.

Collins was one of the big reasons SMU received the only "death penalty" punishment handed out in NCAA history because of a massive pay-for-play scandal.

Collins was a finalist for the Mississippi State job in 1990 but never coached football again after leaving SMU.

30. Tom Herman

Number of seasons coaching: 6 (2015-present)

Schools: Houston (2015-16), Texas (2017-present)

Record: 47-19

Winning percentage: .712

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Tom Herman

Firing Charlie Strong and hiring Tom Herman away from the University of Houston seemed like a no-brainer for Texas.

In the first three seasons since then, everyone that was part of the hire and every right-thinking Texas fan saw why that was flat-out wrong. Despite playing in the state with the greatest collection of high school football talent and for a school with almost unlimited resources, Herman can't figure out how to win the Big 12.

The 2019 season was a colossal head-scratcher. The Longhorns regressed to 8-5 after going 10-4 in 2018 and winning the Sugar Bowl.

29. Rick Neuheisel

Number of seasons coaching: 12 (1995-200, 2008-11)

Schools: Colorado (1995-98), Washington (1999-2002), UCLA (2008-11)

Record: 87-58

Winning percentage: .600

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Rick Neuheisel

Here's what Rick Neuheisel's career boiled down to before he was hired by UCLA before the 2008 season. He had two good seasons at the University of Colorado with Bill McCartney's old recruits and one good season at the University of Washington when he cheated his brains off.

Once put in charge of his alma mater, UCLA, where he was once a star quarterback, Neuheisel had a losing record in three out of four seasons before he was fired.

28. George Perles

Number of seasons coaching: 12 (1983-94)

Schools: Michigan State

Record: 68-67-5

Winning percentage: .489

National championships: None

Bottom Line: George Perles

George Perles' career record took a big hit in his final season, which officially went into the books as 0-11 after an academic scandal.

Even without the scandal, which led to Perles' firing, his job was probably in peril with a 5-6 record, Michigan State's fourth consecutive season of .500 or worse.

Perles' teams only finished in the Top 25 three times and his best year was in 1987, which was capped by a Big Ten title, Rose Bowl win and No. 8 spot in the final polls.

27. Hal Mumme

Number of seasons coaching: 8 (1997-2000, 2005-08)

Schools: Kentucky (1997-2000), New Mexico State (2005-08)

Record: 31-64

Winning percentage: .326

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Hal Mumme

Can you imagine what would happen if an SEC football program hired its head coach straight from NCAA Division II? Well, it happened in 1997 when Kentucky plucked Hal Mumme out of Valdosta State.

Mumme's approach to football was pretty single-minded. He wanted to throw the ball as much as he could, regardless of personnel.

Mumme was bad in four seasons at Kentucky, but somehow worse in four seasons at New Mexico State.

26. Charles McClendon

Number of seasons coaching: 18 (1962-79)

Schools: LSU

Record: 135-61-7

Winning percentage: .682

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Charles McClendon

Another coaching relic from a different era, Charles McClendon somehow lasted 18 seasons at LSU without coming close to a national title and winning just one SEC title, in 1970, the same season the Tigers lost in the Orange Bowl.

What's even more incredible about McClendon keeping his job for that long was his record against two of LSU's most hated rivals. He went 4-7-1 against Ole Miss and 2-14 against Bear Bryant and Alabama.

McClendon still holds the LSU career record for wins (135), losses (61) and bowl losses, with six.

25. Ron Prince

Number of seasons coaching: 3 (2006-08)

Schools: Kansas State (2006-08)

Record: 17-20

Winning percentage: .459

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Ron Prince

Ron Prince was really the worst. He almost single-handedly ran Kansas State's program into the ground in three short seasons (after it took two decades to build it up) and managed to alienate and bully people along the way.

How Kansas State ever came to the decision to hire him in the first place is beyond the bounds of human reasoning, but signing him to a secret $3 million contract that paid out after he was fired and was unknown to most of the school's administration was even more of a head-scratcher.

A truly terrible coach who was overrated the moment he was hired.

24. Pat Hill

Number of seasons coaching: 15 (1997-2011)

Schools: Fresno State

Record: 112-80

Winning percentage: .583

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Pat Hill

Pat Hill did more with one successful season than perhaps any coach in college football history.

Hill's penchant for showmanship was never more on display than when he went 11-3 in 2001 and convinced the country Fresno State was a powerhouse team even though a big part of that was having future No. 1 overall pick David Carr.

On top of that, Fresno State won only one WAC title during Hill's tenure, also in 2001.

23. Mike Stoops

Number of seasons coaching: 8 (2004-11)

Schools: Arizona

Record: 41-50

Winning percentage: .451

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Mike Stoops

Just to make it totally clear — being a good coach is not a transitive property. The University of Arizona was hoping it was when the school hired Mike Stoops, younger brother of legendary Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops.

In Mike Stoops' first five seasons in Arizona, he had three losing seasons, and the program's 8-5 record and second-place finish in the Pac-10 in 2009 was the highlight of his time in Tucson.

Mike Stoops was fired after a 1-5 start in 2011.

22. Mike Locksley

Number of seasons coaching: 6 (2009-11 2015, 2019-present)

Schools: New Mexico (2009-11), Maryland (2015, 2019-present)

Record: 6-40

Winning percentage: .130

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Mike Locksley

If you find yourself wondering how in the world Mike Locksley is getting another chance as a head coach, that's fair.

Locksley posted back-to-back 1-11 seasons at the University of New Mexico in his first two seasons and brought a boatload of drama along with him. He was fired after an 0-4 start in ,2011 then went 1-5 as an interim head coach at Maryland.

That convinced the Terrapins to hire him, and he went a career-best 3-9 with the Terrapins in 2019 to improve his career winning percentage to .130.

21. Mike Price

Number of seasons coaching: 24 (1989-2002, 2004-12, 2017)

Schools: Washington State (1989-2002), UTEP (2004-12, 2017)

Record: 131-146

Winning percentage: .473

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Mike Price

Even though Mike Price won a lot of games at Washington State, including two Pac-10 titles in 14 seasons, he didn't win on as consistent a basis as you might think.

Price actually had eight losing seasons in his time at Washington State and kept that momentum going at UTEP, where he closed out his career with eight consecutive losing seasons.

That means that out of 24 seasons as an FBS head coach, Price's teams posted a losing record an astonishing 16 times.

20. Lovie Smith

Number of seasons coaching: 5 (2016-present)

Schools: Illinois

Record: 15-34

Winning percentage: .306

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Lovie Smith

It's not hard for a failed NFL coach to cash in on a lucrative college coaching job after his career has fallen flat in the pros. Colleges look at these hires as a recruiting and publicity bonanza. But it doesn't always work out very well.

Lovie Smith is a prime example of this. After going 8-24 in two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Smith was hired at the University of Illinois.

The Illini had a losing record in each of Smith's first four seasons, including a 2-10 record and 0-9 mark in Big Ten play in 2017.

19. Bo Pelini

Number of seasons coaching: 7 (2008-14)

Schools: Nebraska

Record: 67-27

Winning percentage: .713

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Bo Pelini

Bo Pelini is one of several Nebraska coaches to make this list, which is as much a result of his own behavior as well as the unrealistic expectations of Nebraska fans.

Pelini's time with the Huskers was especially egregious because he had such a terrible way of interacting with, well, everyone, and seemed to have a penchant for getting caught on tape trashing fans and administration.

Pelini actually won four Big 12 titles at Nebraska before he was fired. Then, he had three losing seasons in five years at Youngstown State before being named defensive coordinator at LSU in 2020.

18. Scott Frost

Number of seasons coaching: 5 (2016-present)

Schools: UCF (2016-17), Nebraska (2018-present)

Record: 28-22

Winning percentage: .560

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Scott Frost

What's the proper sample size to tell if a coach can cut it at a Power 5 school? Scott Frost has had two seasons to come up with an answer at Nebraska and shown he's not up to the task by going 9-15 in that stretch despite being paid $5 million per year.

Frost's tenure at Nebraska, so far, is defined by a player he didn't want. Frost turned away Heisman Trophy winner, national champion and 2019 No. 1 overall draft pick Joe Burrow before the 2018 season, when he wanted to come play for the Huskers.

Frost didn't think Burrow could beat out incoming freshman Adrian Martinez. That's the definition of an overrated coach — one who can't spot talent.

17. Randy Edsall

Number of seasons coaching: 21 (1999-2015, 2017-present)

Schools: Connecticut (1999-2010, 2017-present), Maryland (2011-15)

Record: 98-127

Winning percentage: .436

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Randy Edsall

There is an alternate universe where Randy Edsall is considered a good football coach. Wait, that's actually the one we live in.

Edsall is a terrific example of pushing coaches forward to reward mediocrity. In 21 seasons, he's never won 10 games and was scooped up by Maryland after winning a Big East title despite going 8-5 in 2010.

And that's where the bottom fell out. Edsall went 22-34 in five seasons with the Terrapins, then was hired back by UConn.

16. Brady Hoke

Number of seasons coaching: 14 (2003-14, 2017, 2020-present)

Schools: Ball State (2003-08), San Diego State (2009-10), Michigan (2011-14), Tennessee (2017), San Diego State (2020-present)

Record: 78-72

Winning percentage: .520

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Brady Hoke

Brady Hoke's hire by Michigan in 2010 was hard to understand. Why were the powers that be at one of the country's most prestigious, powerful programs so impressed with a coach who'd just finished tied for third in the Mountain West?

The Wolverines got worse in each of Hoke's four seasons before cratering at 5-7 in 2014. Hoke was hired back by San Diego State after the 2019 season, where he'll finally have a chance to capture that elusive MWC championship.

15. Bill Callahan

Number of seasons coaching: 4 (2004-07)

Schools: Nebraska (2004-07)

Record: 27-22

Winning percentage: .551

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Bill Callahan

Nebraska fell into the trap of hiring an NFL coach with questionable credentials when they hired Bill Callahan. The Huskers paid for it dearly.

In four seasons, Callahan did his best to run the program into the ground (much like he'd done with the Oakland Raiders) and was fired after he went 5-7 in 2007, his second losing season with Nebraska. Under Callahan's watch, the Huskers broke a 35-year bowl streak and went 1-10 against teams ranked in the Top 25.

If the Huskers trailed at halftime under Callahan, that was a wrap as well. They went 0-17 when they trailed at the break.

14. Will Muschamp

Number of seasons coaching: 9 (2011-14, 2016-present)

Schools: Florida (2011-14), South Carolina (2016-present)

Record: 54-46

Winning percentage: .540

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Will Muschamp

Florida's 11-2 record in 2012 came in Will Muschamp's second season as head coach, and despite a loss in the Sugar Bowl, the future seemed bright. It was a mirage.

Muschamp came back to earth with a 4-8 record in 2013, then was fired after going 6-5 in 2014. He hasn't been any better with South Carolina and was firmly entrenched on the hot seat after a dismal 4-8 season in 2019.

Muschamp's 25 losses in his first four seasons also are a South Carolina record.

13. Paul Hackett

Number of seasons coaching: 7 (1989-92, 1998-2000)

Schools: Pittsburgh (1989-92), USC (1998-2000)

Record: 32-38-1

Winning percentage: .458

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Paul Hackett

There's always going to be an excuse, and Paul Hackett had plenty of them. What he couldn't get around was that two different major college football programs got demonstrably worse with him leading the way.

At Pittsburgh, he went 13-20-1 and bottomed out with a 3-8 record in his fourth season.

At USC, he finished last in the Pac-10 in his final season and watched from afar as Pete Carroll took a group of mostly players he recruited and turned them into a national power.

12. Bret Bielema

Number of seasons coaching: 12 (2006-17)

Schools: Wisconsin (2006-12), Arkansas (2013-17)

Record: 97-58

Winning percentage: .626

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Bret Bielema

Bret Bielema had a tremendous amount of success at Wisconsin and led the Badgers to three consecutive Rose Bowls but lost the first two and quit to become the coach at Arkansas before the third.

Bielema openly stated his desire to coach in the SEC, and in a "be careful what you wish for" scenario, he got routinely thumped in five seasons leading the Razorbacks.

Bielema had a losing record in SEC play four out of his five seasons with Arkansas and was famously fired while walking off the field following a 48-45 loss to Missouri in the 2017 regular-season finale.

11. Rich Rodriguez

Number of seasons coaching: 16 (2001-10, 2012-17)

Schools: West Virginia (2001-07), Michigan (2008-10), Arizona (2012-17)

Record: 118-83

Winning percentage: .587

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Rich Rodriguez

Rich Rodriguez was flying high when he left West Virginia to become the coach at Michigan before the 2008 season, but his career cratered from that point on, including coaching the worst Michigan season in school history in his first year.

The culture Rodriguez created at Michigan was even more harmful — toxic to the point where you can make an argument they still haven't recovered from it to this day.

At Arizona, he was just as bad on and off the field and was fired after myriad accusations of sexual harassment and extramarital affairs.

10. Kliff Kingsbury

Number of seasons coaching: 6 (2013-18)

Schools: Texas Tech

Record: 35-40

Winning percentage: .467

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Kliff Kingsbury

Let's give Kliff Kingsbury some credit right off the bat. He recruited and developed Patrick Mahomes and deserves props for him becoming the quarterback he is today.

But that's about where we draw the line, because Kingsbury seemed to get more chances at Texas Tech than any modern coach should have, with four losing seasons in six years.

And when he was finally fired, he got a promotion and became an NFL head coach for the Arizona Cardinals, where he went 5-10-1 in his first season. Some guys have all the luck.

9. Tyrone Willingham

Number of seasons coaching: 14 (1995-2008)

Schools: Stanford (1995-2001), Notre Dame (2002-04), Washington (2005-08)

Record: 76-88-1

Winning percentage: .464

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Tyrone Willingham

Sometimes, colleges will take a chance on a coach after one good season. This is almost certainly a mistake.

Ty Willingham was Stanford's coach for seven seasons and was pretty average for the first six, including three losing records. But he went 9-3 in 2001 before Notre Dame decided to take a chance on him. Willingham's stiff personality didn't win over any fans, and he was out after three seasons of steady decline.

Washington was the next to roll the dice on Willingham, where he posted four straight losing seasons and finished with an 0-12 mark in 2008.

8. Ron Zook

Number of seasons coaching: 10 (2002-11)

Schools: Florida (2002-04), Illinois (2005-11)

Record: 57-65

Winning percentage: .467

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Ron Zook

Ron Zook had the unadmirable task of following Steve Spurrier as Florida's head coach and of becoming Florida's coach as the internet was starting to explode.

What's that got to do with it? The same day Zook was hired, someone started a website called FireRonZook.com — not that big of a deal today, but it grabbed plenty of headlines in 2002.

Zook made a career of being average to bad. In 10 seasons as a head coach, he never won 10 games and had a losing record in four out of seven seasons with Illinois.

7. Willie Taggart

Number of seasons coaching: 11 (2010-present)

Schools: Western Kentucky (2010-12), South Florida (2013-16), Oregon (2017), Florida State (2018-19), Florida Atlantic (2020-present)

Record: 56-62

Winning percentage: .475

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Willie Taggart

At least you can say Willie Taggart is consistent. In his first 10 seasons as a head coach, he went 7-5 or 8-5 four times, 2-10 twice and recorded five losing seasons.

The lone outlier in that stretch was a 10-2 season at South Florida in 2016 that he parlayed into the head coaching job at Oregon, where he spent one season before bolting to Florida State.

Taggart seemed truly clueless leading the Seminoles and was fired after a 5-7 record in 2018 and a 4-5 start in 2019.

6. Steve Sarkisian

Number of seasons coaching: 7 (2009-15)

Schools: Washington (2009-13), USC (2014-15)

Record: 46-35

Winning percentage: .568

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Steve Sarkisian

We're still trying to figure out how Steve Sarkisian got the opportunities he did, because in no way, shape or form should he have been gifted with the plum jobs he got.

Sarkisian parlayed his one year as offensive coordinator at USC into the head coaching job at the University of Washington, where he earned the nickname "Seven Win Steve" by winning seven games three years in a row.

He parlayed that into the head coaching job at USC, where he was fired early in his second season. Sarkisian reportedly showed up to several practices drunk and, according to his assistant coaches, even coached a game against Arizona State under the influence.

5. Charlie Weis

Number of seasons coaching: 7 (2005-09, 2012-14)

Schools: Notre Dame (2005-09), Kansas (2012-14)

Record: 41-49

Winning percentage: .456

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Charlie Weis

Charlie Weis turned his success as the offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots, where he won three Super Bowls in five seasons, into one of the best jobs in all of college football at Notre Dame, which was also where he went to college.

Weis was good enough in his first two seasons with the Fighting Irish that he received a 10-year contract extension. When he was fired by Notre Dame after the 2009 season, it ensured he would be paid for almost another decade.

Now, that's money for nothing.

4. Gene Chizik

Number of seasons coaching: 6 (2007-12)

Schools: Iowa State (2007-08), Auburn (2009-12)

Record: 38-38

Winning percentage: .500

National championships: 1 (2010)

Bottom Line: Gene Chizik

Auburn fans were beside themselves when Gene Chizik was hired as head coach in 2009 following a 2-10 record at Iowa State in 2008.

Chizik's masterstroke of genius at Auburn (and for his career) was the recruitment of quarterback Cam Newton, the most sought-after junior college player in the country. Newton's one season at Auburn in 2010 etched itself in football lore as the Tigers went 14-0, he won the Heisman, and Auburn won the national title.

Chizik went 8-5 in 2011, then 3-9 and 0-8 in SEC play in 2012 before he was fired.

3. John Mackovic

Number of seasons coaching: 16 (1978-80, 1988-97, 2001-03)

Schools: Wake Forest (1978-80), Illinois (1988-91), Texas (1992-97), Arizona (2001-03)

Record: 95-82-3

Winning percentage: .536

National championships: None

Bottom Line: John Mackovic

John Mackovic's career is really a testament to groupthink among college football athletic directors.

Mackovic was 5-6 in his final college season at Wake Forest in 1980 and went 30-34 as the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs before Illinois hired him in 1988. Texas hired Mackovic in 1992 after he went 6-5 in his final season at Illinois. He went 4-7 in his final season at Texas before Arizona hired him, and he posted three straight losing seasons in Tucson to end his career.

Mediocrity never looked so good.

2. Mike Riley

Number of seasons coaching: 18 (1997-99, 2003-17)

Schools: Oregon State (1997-99, 2003-14), Nebraska (2015-17)

Record: 112-99

Winning percentage: .531

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Mike Riley

Sometimes numbers tell the story best. Mike Riley went 8-14 in two seasons at Oregon State, then was named head coach of the San Diego Chargers, where he went 14-34 in three seasons, including going 1-15 in 2000.

Oregon State welcomed him back in 2003. He went 93-80 in 12 seasons. And after going 5-7 in 2014, he was named head coach at Nebraska, where he went 19-19 in three seasons. In 17 seasons as a college head coach, Riley never won a conference title.

While Riley is overrated, he's one of the good guys. Which we can't say for most of the dudes on this list.

1. Lane Kiffin

Number of seasons coaching: 9 (2009-13, 2017-present)

Schools: Tennessee (2009), USC (2010-13), Florida Atlantic (2017-19), Ole Miss (2020-present)

Record: 62-34

Winning percentage: .646

National championships: None

Bottom Line: Lane Kiffin

Lane Kiffin is the king of overrated college football coaches and continues to fail forward in his career. He landed on his feet once again when he was hired by Ole Miss after the 2019 season.

The son of longtime NFL defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin got his first college head coaching job at Tennessee in 2009, where he went 7-6 in one season before bouncing to USC for four years. Kiffin was famously fired by USC athletic director Pat Haden on the tarmac at LAX following a loss to Arizona State and rebooted his career as an offensive coordinator at Alabama.

Then, he had three successful seasons at Florida Atlantic before Ole Miss came calling. Ain't America great?