Worst College football coaching hires of all-time

Coaching carousel season has kicked off with multiple coaches in college football being fired. Every program is hoping to upgrade and be a contender when they hire their new coach.

Some of them completely whiff, and the program pays the price. With this list, we look at the 10 worst coaching hires of the last 15 years.

10. Mike Riley- Nebraska

This was a hire that just didn’t seem right from the start. Riley had some success at Oregon State, but it was on the downturn when Nebraska brought him in.

They hired him in large part because of his positive reputation as one of the nicest guys in college football, as opposed to the abrasive Bo Pelini who they had just let go.

There were positives, but Riley lost 12 of his last 18 games, which included a loss against Northern Illinois. It took Nebraska 7 years to finally start digging out of that hole and get it turned around with Matt Rhule.

9. Darrell Hazell- Purdue

Hazell received praise from notable people in the industry and seemed like the right move for Purdue after going 11-2 his last year at Kent State.

Instead, poor recruiting and staff hires made a dying program worse. They went 1-11 in Hazell’s first year, and he won a total of nine games before being fired midway through his fourth year.

8. Willie Taggart- Florida State

This was the homecoming that was the dream job for Taggart. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a nightmare. Florida State had issues behind the scenes that led to Jimbo Fisher leaving for Texas A&M.

Despite this, Taggart was shooting for the stars, but made a number of missteps that sent Florida State backwards. He made poor staff hires, poor recruiting decisions, and his team struggled to the point that he was fired less than two years in because the program was deteriorating.

7. Kevin Sumlin- Arizona

Sumlin arrived at Arizona after a tenure at Texas A&M that started with Johnny Manziel taking the program to unforeseen heights, and ended with multiple disappointing and underwhelming seasons.

The program was stuck at mediocre when Sumlin got there, but it quickly got much worse. The team regressed in each of Sumlin’s three years, and he was fired with the program in shambles after going 0-5 in the shortened 2020 season that finished with a 70-7 loss to Arizona State.

6. Jeremy Pruitt- Tennessee

Just getting Pruitt hired was a debacle in Knoxville. Tennessee was going to hire Greg Schiano, but fans revolted on social media, and the university backed out of the deal. Pruitt was the next man up.

During his tenure, Tennessee failed to get back to the days of Phillip Fulmer that the fans expected. His last season was a 3-7 disaster, and he was fired, leaving the program in scandal after NCAA violations. Whenever a coach is fired for cause as Pruitt was, that’s the first sign of underlying problems.

5. David Beaty- Kansas

Kansas was arguably the worst program in the Power Five in the 2010s, and David Beaty’s tenure is a large reason for that.

He was hired from Texas A&M where he was the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator, a questionable move from the start. He proceeded to only win six games in four full seasons.

4. Chris Ash- Rutgers

Ash inherited a program in a bad spot after off field turmoil resulted in the firing of Kyle Flood. The situation only got worse. Ash came in with no ties to the area, and the poor recruiting resulted in poor results on the field.

They were not only one of the worst programs in the Power Five, they were one of the worst programs in the country. In year three, they went 1-11, including a 55-14 loss to a Kansas team that finished 3-9. After a 1-3 start in year four, Ash was fired.

3. Les Miles- Kansas

Sorry Kansas fans, your program had multiple bad hires in a row, and it’s why your program was at the bottom for years. Miles was brought to Kansas as a national championship winner, and there were hopes the former leader at LSU could turn around a dying program.

Instead, it went from bad to worse. Miles went 3-18 through two seasons and was forced out after an investigation into inappropriate conduct by Miles with female students while he was at LSU.

2. Chad Morris- Arkansas

Morris was an underwhelming hire as although SMU did improve in his time there, his record was 14-22. Not the resume you typically want as a fan of an SEC school, especially one that had just made a couple bad investments.

The Razorbacks just never got off the ground as Morris went 4-18 and was fired after 10 games in his second season. Those 18 losses included games against Colorado State, North Texas, San Jose State and Western Kentucky.

1. Ellis Johnson- Southern Miss

In 2011, Southern Miss went 12-2 winning their conference championship and bowl game. Head coach Larry Fedora left for a bigger job at North Carolina, as often happens at successful non-power conference programs.

Johnson was brought in and lasted only one year. After going 12-2 the year before, Southern Miss went 0-12 in 2012. Does any more need to be said?

Jacob Rudy is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jar7371@psu.edu.