College Football Coaches Who Were Major Losers

A football coach can make or break an entire team. There have been college football coaches in history who have taken teams from losing streaks to trophy rooms. Remember Jim Harbaugh? He made the Stanford Cardinals National Championship contenders after years . of them losing season after season. Coaches like Harbaugh deserve to be celebrated, but what about coaches who nearly wrecked entire teams? What about coaches like Walt Harris who nearly destroyed Standford's good name?

To find out who else joins Harris on this list of the worst of the worst college football coaches, you're going to have to read on.

Greg Robinson Didn't Do Much For Syracuse

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Greg Robinson didn't have a very positive influence on Syracuse University's sports history. He coached the university's football team for four years and only ever won five games. He only won one game in his first season coaching the team. It took a while for the school to realize what a dud he was, but they did end up firing him in 2008. That was two years after the NCAA came down hard on the school for violating several rules.

After leaving Syracuse, Robinson was hired by Michigan as the school's defensive coordinator in 2009.

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Ron Zook Got Illinois' Hopes Up Only To Knock Them Down Again

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Ron Zook was hired by Florida to take over for Steve Spurrier. Florida didn't appreciate him even though he did manage to win two straight seasons. He decided to leave Florida and take over the sports program at the University of Illinois.

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Illinois wasn't doing so well before Zook got there. At first, Zook was able to help his team win games and eventually rank within the top 30 teams in the country. After that, everything went downhill. Losses started piling up and the school finished the season 2-9. Zook was fired after the 2011 season with a 34-51 record.

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Dan Hawkins Was Tough To Get Along With

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Dan Hawkins took over as the University of Colorado head coach in 2005. At the time, Colorado fans were happy that their team was in such capable hands. He had already proven his ability to lead a team to the top by establishing a winning run at Boise State.

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Unfortunately, Colorado went 2-10 in his first season. He also failed to get along with team members' parents. One parent complained that he was working the boys too hard and he responded, "this ain't intramurals!"

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Lane Kiffin Never Got Fired From Tennessee (Because He Quit)

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Lane Kiffin is great at a lot of things. He knows how to recruit athletes can call plays like nobody's business. When it came to coaching for Tennessee, however, he left a lot to be desired.

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While Tennessee probably would have liked to fire him, Kiffin beat them to the punch and quit before they had a chance. He became the head coach at USC after leaving Tennessee. Three years later, he was fired on the tarmac. Today he coaches at Florida Atlantic University.

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Brady Hoke Did Well For Michigan, But Not Well Enough

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In 2011, Michigan hired Brady Hoke hoping that he would be the key to their team's victory. He actually won more than he lost and maintained a pretty good 31-20 record. That wasn't good enough for Michigan, though. He was fired and replaced by Jim Harbaugh.

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Before coaching at Michigan, Hoke's record was 47-50, so we're not quite sure why they hired him in the first place. In 2018, he was hired by the Carolina Panthers to be their defensive coordinator.

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Jon Embree Couldn't Break Colorado's Losing Streak

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Jon Embree was hired as Dan Hawkins' successor in Colorado: Jon Embree. After retiring from the NFL, Embree spent several seasons working with the Buffs' program. Now it was his turn to prove that he could lead a winning team.

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In two full seasons, Embree only won four games. Embree was fired, but Colorado hasn't been able to find a coach who can take them out of their losing streak. They've only won one season in the last ten years.

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Mike Locksley Was A Magnet For Trouble

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Mike Locksley was the head coach of the University of New Mexico football program from 2009 to 2011. Unfortunately, while he was at the university, he just couldn't manage to keep his nose out of trouble. He was accused of sexual harassment and age-based discrimination.

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He also punched one of his assistant coaches in the middle of a staff meeting. Not very professional behavior. Still, even after all that, he didn't get fired. The school did fire him for going 2-26 in two seasons, though.

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Rich Rodriguez Couldn't Make It Work In Michigan

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Rich Rodriguez was a legend in his day. He spent three seasons as the head coach for the University of Michigan. Michigan wanted him because he was so successful with Virginia's team. When he got to Michigan, he wasn't able to adjust to his new team's playing style. As a result, the Wolverines went 3-8 in his first season.

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The team actually did improve over time with Rodriguez's guidance, but it wasn't enough for Michigan and they ended up letting him go.

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Bill Callahan Couldn't Make His NFL Plays Work At The College Level

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Bill Callahan was a big name in sports before he was hired to coach college football. During his first season as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders the team went to the Super Bowl. Everyone expected that he'd be a pro at coaching college football.

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Sadly, like Rich Rodriguez at Michigan, Callahan failed to adjust his style of play and coaching to the college level. Under his leadership, the program suffered it's first losing season in four decades. He stayed with the program for four seasons, going 27-22 before getting fired.

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Charlie Weis Cost Notre Dame $40 Million

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Everybody thought that Charlie Weis would coach Notre Dame into the winner's circle. The school signed him to a ten-year $40 million contract at the end of 2004. At the time, he had just coached four successful seasons as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator.

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At first, Weis seemed to be a great fit for Notre Dame. Then everything unraveled in his third season when the school went 3-9. Weis struggled to stay afloat for two more years until the school finally fired him.

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Ellis Johnson Was A Disappointment For Southern Mississippi

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The University of Southern Mississippi was coming off 18 straight winning seasons when they hired Ellis Johnson as the head coach in 2012. He signed a four-year contract worth $700,000 a year. At his introductory press conference he proudly proclaimed, “I am convinced you can always be successful."

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However, some proclamations should never be made. Johnson went 0-12 in his only season with the program. For the next three seasons, the school paid him $2.1 million to stay as far away as he possibly could.

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Mike Price Never Actually Coached A Game

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Mike Price finally got a chance to play with the big boys in 2003 when he was hired by Alabama to be the head coach. Coming off 14 seasons running the Washington State football program, boosters in Tuscaloosa were sure they made the right choice.

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Everything fell apart when Price's vices got the best of him. Before he was able to coach a game, he was caught drinking heavily at a strip club. Shortly after an unidentified woman charged thousands of dollars to his credit card in hotel fees. Alabama fired him without hesitation, hiring Mike Shula as his replacement.

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J.B. "Ears" Whitworth Made Tuscalusa Regret Hiring Him

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The Crimson Tide were coming off a mediocre season in 1954 when they decided to make the move to hire J.B. "Ears" Whitworth as their head coach. The move immediately proved a mistake and Whitworth didn't win a single game his first year.

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The next two seasons, he managed to win four games, but lost the trust of the school. He was replaced by legendary coach Bear Bryant, who led Alabama from 1958 until 1982, winning 232 games and losing just 46.

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Bobby Petrino Was Having An Illicit Affair

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There's no denying the promise Bobby Petrino showed as the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks. His 34-17 record on the field speaks for itself. His unbecoming behavior off the field also speaks for itself, painting a picture of a troubled person who was given too much power.

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Petrino found himself in hot water in 2012 when he got into a motorcycle accident with the woman he was having an affair with. The woman, whom Petrino "gifted" $20,000, was 25-years-old and worked on the Arkansas team support staff. He was suspended briefly before being fired.

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Mike Haywood Only Lasted 16 Days

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It didn't take Pittsburgh long to hire, then fire, 2010 head coach Mike Haywood. Known best for being a wide receiver from Notre Dame, Pitt took on a chance on Haywood to bring a winning pedigree to the program. Little did they know how quickly they would regret it.

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Almost as soon as Haywood was hired he was arrested and charged with felony domestic battery of a minor. The victim had visible injuries and was also the mother of Haywood's child. Pitt fired the beleaguered coach as soon as he made bail; 16 days after hiring him.

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George O'Leary Wasn't Honest With His Employers

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Here's a doozy of a story! George O'Leary was hired by Notre Dame in 2001. Before being hired, he made a number of claims including earning multiple varsity letters at the University of New Hampshire and earning his masters degree from NYU.

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As soon as he was hired, his resume was torn apart. Coaches and players from New Hampshire claimed to not remember him. Worse, NYU denied ever awarding him a graduate degree. Notre Dame forced O'Leary to resign in shame, just five days after hiring him.

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Art Briles Was Accused Of Sexual Assault

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Art Briles coached Robert Griffin III to a Heisman Trophy before the wheels fell off his tenure as the head coach at Baylor University. The team was great on the field, but was so bad off it, their coach had to cover up their behavior.

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In 2015, a law firm revealed that Baylor's athletic department, including Briles, hindered investigation into student athletes accused of sexual assault by female students on campus. Briles was fired and sued the school for wrongful termination. In 2018, the NCAA was still investigating the case.

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Rick Venturi Lost More Games At Northwestern Than Anyone Else

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Northwestern hired Rick Venturi in 1978, where he went on to begin setting the division one record for most consecutive losses (34). It's not easy losing so many games in a row, and Venturi paid the price. In 1981 he was replaced with Dennis Green, who continued the losing streak for a time.

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Before Venturi turned Northwestern into a national embarrassment, the school wasn't exactly a powerhouse. They had suffered through several losing seasons and just wanted to see a little light at the end of the tunnel. Instead they got buried even deeper beneath the surface.

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Walt Harris Hasn't Coached Football Since 2010

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Walt Harris earned his pink slip from Stanford following a 1-11 season in 2006. Known for his odd playcalling, Harris had an affinity for punting on third down instead of fourth down. He was also considered too tough on the athletes, and was cited as the reason at least one quit the program.

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After leaving Stanford, Harris became the passing game at the University of Akron. In 2010 he spent one season as the offensive coordinator at California University of Pennsylvania. He has not coached football since.

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Barry Wilson Took Duke Down With Him

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When Steve Spurrier left Duke in 1989 as a top-20 program, no one predicted how quickly the school would fall back into obscurity. Barry Wilson took charge of the football team and suffered four straight losing seasons before being mercifully fired.

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It took the Blue Devils nearly 20 years to recover from the damage Wilson did. The school went through seven seasons with double digit losses and had just one winning season until David Cutcliffe was hired and led them to four straight bowl games.

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Paul Hackett Couldn't Coach An Excellent Team

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Paul Hackett had a long and storied career as a football coach in 1998 when USC hired him to bring glory to Southern California. His first season was a minor success and USC went 8-5. The next season he went 6-6 and then 5-7. Not looking to move backwards, USC fired him.

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In Hackett's place, the school hired Pete Carroll, who turned the program around immediately and won a National Championship. Carroll eventually grew too big for USC and moved onto coach the Seattle Seahawks, where he has appeared in two Super Bowls, winning one.

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Jack Crowe Lost A Very Important Game

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The Arkansas Razorbacks were held in high esteem when Jack Crowe took over the program in 1990. The team was coming off a 10-win season and was expected to compete for a National Championship. Instead, they went 3-8, falling victim to a seven game losing streak after a promising start.

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The next season finished under similar circumstances. Arkansas jumped out to a hot start, going 5-2 before finishing the season 6-6. The nail in Crowe's coffin came at the start of the next season, when Arkansas lost an embarrassing game to The Citadel, a Division 1-AA opponent. Crowe was fired immediately.

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John Blake Has The Worst Record At Oklahoma

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John Blake was given his only chance as a head coach in 1996 when Oklahoma hired him. In three seasons there, he never won more than five games, finishing with a dismal 12-22 record. Blake's tenure is considered the worst three year stretch in the history of the program.

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One thing Blake was credited for during his run was his ability to recruit. Two years after he left, Oklahoma won the National Championship. He was responsible for recruiting over half of the players on that team.

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Ron Prince Made K-State Regret Their Decisions

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Ron Prince immediately gave K-State's football program a boost when he came on in 2006. Full of energy, the 36-year-old was the youngest head coach in his division. The team finished his first season 7-6. The next year they fell back to earth going 5-7.

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At the beginning of his third season, the school signed him to a contract extension that would run through 2012. A poor recruiting class soured the glow of Prince, though, and the school finished below .500 for the second straight season. Afterwards he was fired, and was paid a $1.2 million buyout.

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Mike Shula Lost Wins For Violations

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Mike Shula is best known as the son of legendary head coach Don Shula. Unfortunately, his father's iconic shoes were too big to fill when Mike finally got his chance to be a head coach. For four years he ran the show at Alabama, going 10-23 in the process.

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His best year was 2005, when the team finished 10-2. Those ten wins were wiped off of Shula's record when the school was hit with NCAA sanctions for textbook violations. In total, Shula had 16 wins vacated.

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Derek Dooley Was Tennessee's Least Winning Coach

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Derek Dooley was hired into a no-win situation at the University of Tennessee. He was the third head coach in three years at the schools and was handed a team lacking confident who had lost several recruits. Unsurprisingly, he never finished a season over .500.

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When he was fired after three years, Dooley's overall record was 15-21. It was the worst record in the history of the school for a coach with more than two years in charge. He was replaced by Butch Jones.

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Butch Jones Got Crushed By Missouri

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Butch Jones had an up and down tenure with Tennessee. After two sub par seasons, he rejuvenated the failing program, going 9-4 in 2015 and 2016. The 2017 season, however, was filled will several embarrassing losses, including a devastating 50-17 crushing by Missouri.

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After the loss to Missouri, Tennessee fired Butch Jones. It was the school's worst loss to an unranked opponent ever, and someone had to pay the price . Brady Hoke took over as the team's interim head coach, but left for the NFL after the season.

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Will Muschamp Let Florida Down

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Will Muschamp was in a tough position following in Urban Meyer's footsteps at Florida. Meyer had won a National Championship with the program and left to take on a new challenge at Ohio. Muschamp went 7-6 his first season, finishing 98th in the nation in total offense.

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The next season the tide started to turn and Florida went 11-2, carried by their defense. The Gators started the next season 4-1 before losing seven in row. He was forced to step down after the next season, saying he was disappointed and didn't win enough games.

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Tyrone Willingham Couldn't Make It In Washington

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Before being hired by Washington, Tyrone Willingham had a strong head coaching record. Going 65-51 with Stanford and Notre Dame, Willingham was given a terrible team in Washington that needed a major attitude adjustment. He took the job seriously, showing up to players' classes unannounced to make sure they were attending.

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All the effort Willingham put in off the field didn't pay dividends on it. In four seasons he finished with a 11-37 record. His worst season was his last, when the team went 0-12. It was the school's first winless season in 119 years!

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Karl Dorrell Was Inconsistent At UCLA

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Karl Dorrell started his UCLA career with two unimpressive seasons, going 6-7 and then 6-6. His job was in question the next season until he guided the Bruins to a 10-2 record, saving his livelihood. The next season UCLA finished 7-6.

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In his final season at UCLA, the Bruins went 6-6 and played inconsistent football. Losses to several unranked opponents became the final straw for the University, who fired him and hired Baltimore Raven offensive coordinator Rich Neuhuisal to take over.

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Rick Venturi Only Won One Game At Northwestern

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Rick Venture was the head coach of the Northwestern Wildcats from 1978 until 1980. In those three seasons, he finished 1-31, which has to be the worst record in school history. His final season saw him coach the beginning the school's historic 34 game losing streak.

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Somehow, Venturi ended up becoming the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints. Both times he took over mid-season on an interim status. He went 1-10 with the Colts in 1991 and 1-7 with the Saints in 1996.

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Gary Crowton Was Forced To Resign

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Gary Crowton arrive at Brigham Young University with a bang, leading the team to a 12-2 record his first season. Expectations were high for a repeat performance the next season. Like most sequels, his sophomore effort was a letdown, and BYU went 5-7.

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Crowton's third season was even worse. The school went 4-8, but somehow didn't lose faith in the beleaguered coach. He was forced to resign after going 5-6 during the his fourth season. In 2018, Crowton was hired by Pine View High School to be their offensive coordinator.

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Joker Phillips Couldn't Get Kentucky Out Of A Rut

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Joker Phillips was handed the reigns at Kentucky after several successful seasons as the school's offensive coordinator. In his first season, the team went 6-7, a disappointing finish for the highly touted coach. Things only got worse from there. The next season the team went 5-7 and failed to make a bowl game.

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The next season for Phillips was the worst, and the team finished 2-10. Suddenly the name Joker had an unexpected double meaning. In 2017, he was hired by the Bengals as their wide receivers coach.

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Gerry DiNardo Gave Up On Indiana

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Before Gerry DiNardo was hired by Indiana to take over their football program, he was the head coach of the Birmingham Thunderbolts of the XFL. The team went 2-8, which Indiana should have seen a warning instead of a positive.

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DiNardo never found his footing with the Hoosiers. In three seasons he never won more than three game, ending his disastrous tenure with a 8-27 record. After leaving Indiana, DiNardo left the coaching world entirely, becoming an analyst for the Big Ten Network.

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Auburn Basically Paid Gene Chizik To Leave

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The only former head coach you'll see on this list with a National Championship title on his resume, Gene Chizik's fall at Auburn was just as historic as his rise. Hired by the school in 2009, Auburn went 8-5. The next year they went 14-0 and won the big game at the end.

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Looking for continued success, Chizik underwhelmed, following his championship season with a n 8-5 record, then falling 3-9 in his fourth and final one. Firing their head coach cost Auburn $11.1 million. That's a lot of money to send someone packing!

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Mike London Failed In Virginia

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Mike London was the head coach of he Virginia Cavaliers for six seasons. In that time he had one winning season. Amazingly, the school didn't fire London after going 4-8 during the 2015 season. Instead, hearing the calls for his termination from fans, London resigned.

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Two years after leaving Virginia, London became the head coach at Howard. His posted a winning record in his first season. It was his first since 2011. Now only time will tell if it will be his last.

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Kevin Steele Was Fired With Three Games Left In The Season

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Head coaching tenures don't get much worse than Kevin Steele's four years at Baylor. In his first campaign with the school in 1999, Steele went 1-10. Her followed it up with a 2-9 season, then two straight three win years.

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Steele's final game was a 62-11 loss to Texas Tech. Although he was fired with three games left in the 2002 season, Steele chose to coach the final three games as a lame duck coach. When the season ended, the school replaced him with Guy Morriss.

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Paul Wulff Couldn't Win In Washington

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Paul Wulff became the second alumni of Washington State to become he head coach when he was hired in 2008. Proving that sometime you shouldn't go home, Wulff went 9-40 over the next four years and was fired with the worst winning percentage in school history.

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Wulff's career didn't end there. He may not be a head coach anymore, but he is still a respected coordinator. He even spent the 2013 season in the NFL as an offensive assistant on Jim Harbaugh's staff with the 49ers.

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Dave Wannstedt Couldn't Live Up To His Name

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Dave Wannstedt was a decorated NFL coach when the University of Pittsburgh hired him in 2004. With his pedigree, the school expected instant success and bowl games to come their way. Despite a 42-31 overall record, he failed to advance the school to a bowl game, which signaled the end of his tenure.

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In 2010, Wannstedt resigned. On year later he joined the coaching staff of the Buffalo Bills under head coach Chan Gailey. His last job was in 2013 as the special teams coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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Bo Pelini Wasn't Good Enough For Nebraska

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Bo Pelini was the head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers from 2008 until 2014. During his tenure he never won less than nine games and probably doesn't desereve a spot on this list. Except he does, because he couldn't get over the "hump" despite all his success.

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At a certain point in a successful head coaches career, wins stop mattering. Pelini had no problem winning games, he had a problem winning the big one. The University fired Pelini after the 2014 season, despite his 67-27 record, because the school never won the conference with him.