Nov 22, 2014; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators head coach Will Muschamp calls a timeout against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels during the second quarter at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Hiring the right head coach is a hard thing to do. But some are obviously stupid. Here are the 10 dumbest college football coaching hires the last decade.
Athletic directors at major programs are usually judged on their football hires. College football is the lifeblood of an athletic program, and it is also the hardest sport to find the right coach in.
Fans can probably forgive an athletic director if a hire does not work out. What is not forgivable, however, is a hire that was clearly stupid in the first place.
And plenty of those have happened in the past decade.
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It is one thing to hire Randy Shannon at Miami and him not work out. He was qualified, had been with the school for years, and was needed at that point.
However, it is something completely different for some of these guys mentioned on this list. The respective administrations should have known immediately that they would be huge failures.
And they didn’t.
As we rank the stupidity of these coaching hires, one of the factors taken into account is the candidates that were available at the time, which means we only include big-name schools. You can’t fault small programs for bad hires when they do not have many options.
Also, there are some cases where hires like these work out well. But if they don’t the A.D. has to be held accountable for taking a risk that did not pay off.
So these are the coaching hires that may have forced athletic directors to resign. These are the ones that fan bases look back on with misery for decades.
Here is how the 10 dumbest college football coaching hires rank over the past decade.
Next: Begin Slideshow
Next: #9: Ron Zook
Next: #8: John L. Smith
Next: #7: Lane Kiffin
Sep 28, 2013; Tempe, AZ, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lane Kiffin reacts during the first half against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
That was a dumb thought process by then-A.D. Mike Garrett. But to be fair, this hire is not going to be as high on the dumb list as others because of what Kiffin walked into.
Make no mistake, it was a bad hire, and Steve Sarkisian was better for the job. But Kiffin did have one 10-2 season there, and he was dealing with a program that got hit with probation and no depth due to the loss of scholarships.
As a result, injuries caused a massively disappointing 2012 season and start to 2013. Had he inherited the program in better shape, he probably could have succeeded.
Kiffin is only on this list because, in the end, he did not succeed, and he did not have the qualifications to be hired at a school like USC in the first place.
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7
Lane Kiffin
2010-2013, USC Trojans
Based on his qualifications and many people among the USC faithful, Lane Kiffin should be much higher on their list. And they have a point.
Kiffin was hired after one 7-6 record with the Tennessee Volunteers based on all the undeserved hype he generated that one year there. However, the staff he appeared to have with him and the trajectory of the program at Tennessee at the time made it seem like he would be able to do that quicker if he went home to USC.
That was a dumb thought process by then-A.D. Mike Garrett. But to be fair, this hire is not going to be as high on the dumb list as others because of what Kiffin walked into.
Make no mistake, it was a bad hire, and Steve Sarkisian was better for the job. But Kiffin did have one 10-2 season there, and he was dealing with a program that got hit with probation and no depth due to the loss of scholarships.
As a result, injuries caused a massively disappointing 2012 season and start to 2013. Had he inherited the program in better shape, he probably could have succeeded.
Kiffin is only on this list because, in the end, he did not succeed, and he did not have the qualifications to be hired at a school like USC in the first place.
Next: #6: Tim Brewster
Next: #5: Brady Hoke
Nov 8, 2014; Evanston, IL, USA; Michigan Wolverines head coach Brady Hoke in the first half against the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Next: #4: Ed Orgeron
Oct 9, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans interim coach Ed Orgeron at pep rally at the Tommy Trojan statue in advance of the football game against the Arizona Wildcats. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Next: #3: Will Muschamp
Sep 20, 2014; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Florida Gators coach Will Muschamp watches the action in the second quarter of their game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama won 42-21. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
Next: #2: Lane Kiffin
Oct 25, 2014; Knoxville, TN, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin (left) before the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
When Mike Hamilton hired Kiffin to replace Fulmer in 2008, he was hiring a guy who had no college head coaching experience and clearly did not want to be at Tennessee but took the best job available to him.
Then he shelled out as much money to bring Kiffin’s “Hall of Fame” staff with him, which was his selling point to Hamilton and is, by the way, an incredibly dumb reason to hire somebody. But what is more egregious is the number of qualified candidates Hamilton passed on to bring in Kiffin.
In 2009, Charlie Strong and Brian Kelly were two very qualified candidates to bring in as head coach. But instead, Hamilton turned first to Butch Davis and then to Kiffin.
Well, by trying to make the smart hire, he paid for it as Kiffin left after one year and brought in a recruiting class in which half the guys were gone from the program in two years. But don’t worry.
Kiffin’s departure only gave Hamilton a better chance to out-stupid himself.
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2
Lane Kiffin
2009, Tennessee Volunteers
Yes, Lane Kiffin gets to be on this list twice. And he was a much more stupid hire the first time around.
When the USC Trojans hired Lane Kiffin, they brought on a guy who would stay as long as he could, who at least had a bit of a resume when it comes to recruiting as a head coach at Tennessee, and showed an ability to generate hype.
When Mike Hamilton hired Kiffin to replace Fulmer in 2008, he was hiring a guy who had no college head coaching experience and clearly did not want to be at Tennessee but took the best job available to him.
Then he shelled out as much money to bring Kiffin’s “Hall of Fame” staff with him, which was his selling point to Hamilton and is, by the way, an incredibly dumb reason to hire somebody. But what is more egregious is the number of qualified candidates Hamilton passed on to bring in Kiffin.
In 2009, Charlie Strong and Brian Kelly were two very qualified candidates to bring in as head coach. But instead, Hamilton turned first to Butch Davis and then to Kiffin.
Well, by trying to make the smart hire, he paid for it as Kiffin left after one year and brought in a recruiting class in which half the guys were gone from the program in two years. But don’t worry.
Kiffin’s departure only gave Hamilton a better chance to out-stupid himself.
Next: #1: Derek Dooley
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