Some of the storied franchises in the NFL have an iconic coach’s name linked to their history, such as Vince Lombardi with the Green Bay Packers, Tom Landry with the Dallas Cowboys and John Madden with the Oakland Raiders. However, each NFL team also has had at least one major dud at the helm. We asked our NFL betting fans to pitch in, and here’s what they had to say.
Wilkinson was a dean of college coaching at Oklahoma, but he went 9-20 in the 1978 and 1979 seasons. To be fair, he hadn’t coached since 1963. He also came after Don Coryell, who might have been the Cards’ best coach ever.
Back before he was found on a motorcycle with the wrong woman, Petrino had a brief NFL stop between Louisville and Arkansas. In Atlanta, he went 3-10 and bolted before the season’s end, leaving each player a handwritten note.
Baltimore Ravens: Ted Marchibroda
Marchibroda had a great NFL pedigree, but here he went 16-31. The other two Ravens’ coaches have won Super Bowls, so while Marchibroda wasn’t awful, he was the worst here.
Between 1983 and 1984, Stephenson guided the team to a 10-26 records. He was the successor to Chuck Knox, who had Bills fans used to regular playoff appearances. His first season was an 8-8 campaign, but the second was a disastrous 2-14.
Seifert was terrific in San Francisco, but his 16-32 performance in Carolina (including a 1-15 record in 2001) may be why he’s not already in the Hall of Fame.
Brought in from the CFL for his offensive acumen, Trestman relied on an iffy quarterback in Jay Cutler and let the Bears’ defense turn awful. That’s why they went 5-11 in 2014.
For any coach with at least 50 games at the helm, Shula has a winning percentage of .268…the worst of anyone ever in the NFL.
Chudzinski sent six players to the Pro Bowl, but he only got one season with Cleveland. Why? They went 4-12.
He was very consistent..three straight 5-11 seasons. He was at the helm when the Cowboys fell to the Houston Texans in the Texans’ premiere as a franchise.
McDaniels traded Jay Cutler to Chicago for Kyle Orton before he coached a game, and then he traded Brandon Marshall away the next year. He started 6-0 with the Broncos, but then went 5-17 over the next season and a half.
His 2008 Lions went 0-16. The Lions have had a lot of awful coaches, but none who matched that.
Bengtson came after Vince Lombardi and had a decent record of 20-21-1 over three seasons, but he wasn’t Lombardi. You could also have put Ray Rhodes here…and Bart Starr.
Capers was the Texans’ expansion coach, but he is also the only Texans’ coach who couldn’t get a winning season. Capers did a great job getting the Panthers off the ground – but not Houston.
The Colts picked John Elway…and traded him to Denver. Instead, they chose Art Schlichter, whose gambling problems exiled him to the Arena Football League. Kush went 0-8-1 in the strike-shortened 1982 season.
In 2012, Mularkey took his team to a 2-14 record and was fired at the end of the season.
After a 2-1 interim record in 2011, he only went 2-14 in 2012. Andy Reid would come to town to replace him.
Saban’s seasons in Miami weren’t that bad (9-7 and 6-10) but he made the whole town mad by saying he wasn’t interested in the Alabama job…and then by taking it as fast as he could.
Steckel only lasted one season, going 3-13 in 1984. He is one of only three coaches (including Mike Zimmer and Norm Van Brocklin) who did not take the Vikings to the playoffs.
Rust was given the 1990 season, and the Pats went 1-15, the only win coming over the Indianapolis Colts.
Ditka was terrific in Chicago, but in New Orleans, he traded a whole draft class away. He went 15-33 over three forgettable seasons.
A great defensive coordinator, Arnsparger was one of many coordinators who could not coach a team well.
Holtz made history by taking six different NCAA teams to bowl games, but he only coached one season in the NFL. In 1976, his Jets went 3-10, and Holtz left with a game left in the season.
Al Davis fired Lane Kiffin over the telephone and called him a “flat-out liar.” Hard to beat that.
Kuharich got a huge 15-year contract in 1966 and was also the general manager. However, they only went 28-41-1 under him, including a 1969 season with a 1-13 record. Needless to say, he didn’t serve out the contract.
Austin was another Vince Lombardi assistant who struggled as a head coach. After three awful seasons, the Steelers replaced him with Chuck Noll.
He went 6-16, and he was the coach who drafted Ryan Leaf, one of the NFL’s biggest busts ever.
Singletary had no control over this team, and he underachieved with the same players that Jim Harbaugh would take to three NFC championship games in four years.
Mora signed a five-year deal before the start of the 2009 campaign, but his 5-11 record that year got him canned. He’s now the head coach at UCLA.
Spagnuolo oversaw a 1-15 season his first year in town, but they almost made the playoffs in 2010. they followed that up with a 2-14 2011, though.
He alienated a Pro Bowl quarterback in Josh Freeman and became notorious for having his players slam the opposition hard on victory formation plays at the end of games. He was let go after an 11-21 record in two seasons.
Peterson actually coached the team when they were the Houston Oilers, leading them to a 1-18 record over the 1972 and part of the 1973 seasons.
Spurrier is one of the legends of NCAA football, but he only won 12 games in two seasons and left after two years of his five-year deal.
Arizona Cardinals: Bud Wilkinson
Wilkinson was a dean of college coaching at Oklahoma, but he went 9-20 in the 1978 and 1979 seasons. To be fair, he hadn’t coached since 1963. He also came after Don Coryell, who might have been the Cards’ best coach ever.
Atlanta Falcons: Bobby Petrino
Back before he was found on a motorcycle with the wrong woman, Petrino had a brief NFL stop between Louisville and Arkansas. In Atlanta, he went 3-10 and bolted before the season’s end, leaving each player a handwritten note.
Baltimore Ravens: Ted Marchibroda
Marchibroda had a great NFL pedigree, but here he went 16-31. The other two Ravens’ coaches have won Super Bowls, so while Marchibroda wasn’t awful, he was the worst here.
Buffalo Bills: Kay Stephenson
Carolina Panthers: George Seifert
Chicago Bears: Marc Trestman
Cincinnati Bengals: David Shula
Cleveland Browns: Rob Chudzinski
Dallas Cowboys: Dave Campo
Denver Broncos: Josh McDaniels
Detroit Lions: Rod Marinelli
Green Bay Packers: Phil Bengtson
Houston Texans: Dom Capers
Indianapolis Colts: Frank Kush
Jacksonville Jaguars: Mike Mularkey
Kansas City Chiefs: Romeo Crennel
Miami Dolphins: Nick Saban
Minnesota Vikings: Les Steckel
New England Patriots: Rod Rust
New Orleans Saints: Mike Ditka
New York Giants: Bill Arnsparger
New York Jets: Lou Holtz
Oakland Raiders: Lane Kiffin
Philadelphia Eagles: Joe Kuharich
Pittsburgh Steelers: Bill Austin
San Diego Chargers: Kevin Gilbride
San Francisco 49ers: Mike Singletary
Seattle Seahawks: Jim Mora Jr.
St. Louis Rams: Steve Spagnuolo
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Greg Schiano
Tennessee Titans: Bill Peterson
Washington Redskins: Steve Spurrier
