College football is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world, but these 10 head coaches deserved a chance to do more at the schools from which they were fired.
When you take on the mantle of head coach in a college football program, you are well aware of the pressure that comes with the job, as well as the potential for being relieved of your duties at any time.
Some coaches walk into a no-win situation, and simply can’t get things fixed fast enough. Others happen to fall into the wrong place at the wrong time, and simply don’t get a fair shake based on the results of other programs.
There are coaches who may do well with the on-field job, but for whatever reason, simply have a conflict of interest or personality with the athletic director or university higher-ups. Some rub people the wrong way, fans and foes alike, and aren’t long for their jobs.
It can be based on perception, it can be based in reality, and it can be a snap decision because someone sees another more palatable coach on the horizon. There are also coaches on this list who dared challenge the wishes of an AD, and it cost them their job.
Some coaches and schools have actually improved their situations, while others have seen both parties on a downhill slops since the unneeded change.
For whatever the reason, and however difficult it may be, these ten coaches were fired (or encouraged to step away) when they really should have been retained and given more time.
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No. 10: Mark Mangino – Kansas, 2009
Head Coaching Years: 12002-2009
Overall record with school: 50-48
Reason for dismissal: Allegations of player abuse
This was a tough one, and I wavered back and forth as to whether or not the quick-tempered Mangino was deserving of more time at Kansas. When you look at the pocket of success Mangino had at an otherwise non-existent school during the football season, it’s almost an easy call.
But the allegations of player abuse, the tirades caught on camera, and the NCAA violations and penalties – including academic fraud – really cloud the body of work Mangino did while at Kansas.
Perhaps the Kansas brass acted too brashly, and that some further training or counseling could have been given to Mangino to address his obvious anger management problems. However, a quiet “resignation” seemed best for everyone at the time.
Since Mangino’s departure, Kansas’ record on the gridiron is 12-60, including a winless 2015 season. I guess as long as Bill Self is keeping things on the winning track at Allen Fieldhouse, KU is fine with football frailty.
Next: Michigan
No. 9: Rich Rodriguez – Michigan, 2011
Head Coaching Years: 2008-2010
Overall record with school: 15-22
Reason for dismissal: Job performance
It may seem hard to defend a guy who had a losing record, but being given only three years at a school like Michigan may be a bit much to ask. And while the Michigan faithful are currently enamored with Jim Harbaugh, the span between Rich Rod and Harbaugh was rocky indeed.
Michigan Wolverines
Rodriguez was the sexy hire for any program in 2008, having turned the West Virginia Mountaineers into a national power. He came to Michigan on the heels of the legendary Lloyd Carr, who retired after 13 seasons as head coach in Ann Arbor.
Following a guy who had been a fixture was tough enough, but then trying to turn what was a pounding run-based offense into a aerial show like he built at WVU was making things even more difficult for Rodriguez.
As with many first-year coaches, RR had little success, finishing with a 3-9 record. But as his recruits began filtering in, and the team became accustomed to his schemes, the record steadily improved over the next two years, finishing at 7-5 in 2010. However, 7-5 in Michigan isn’t good enough, regardless of what long-term goal you’re attempting to accomplish.
That, along with continued rumors and accusations of violating NCAA policies on practice times, spelled the end for Rodriguez and the Wolverines.
Next: USC
No. 8: Ed Orgeron – USC, 2013
Head Coaching Years: 2013 (Interim)
Overall record with school: 6-2
Reason for dismissal: Athletic Director decision
In the never-ending saga of “The Next Pete Carroll” in Southern California, Ed Orgeron barely had a bit part, but he was certainly deserving of a starring role.
While Orgeron was never truly hired as head coach, and was never actually “fired” (although I guess if you hold a job and then it’s not offered to you to continue it, you’ve been fired) he still belongs on this list as he was never really given the opportunity to continue the good work he started after being dubbed with the dubious “interim” label following the mid-season sacking of Lane Kiffin in 2013.
Orgeron took a completely lost and desolate season and spun it into gold for the Trojans, who finished the season 10-4 after a shoddy 3-2 start to the season under Kiffin.
He had the ears and respect of the players, and he’s well-known for his recruiting prowess. Why the now-defunct athletic director Pat Haden opted not to retain Oregon as his full-time head coach is still baffling.
Orgeron was vocally upset with the decision, and his angry words and resignation prior to the bowl game didn’t help his case on a national level, but considering how things have typically gone down in Tinsel Town over the past decade, that’s not surprising.
Keeping Orgeron in place as head coach may have saved USC a lot of the embarrassment witnessed over the Steve Sarkisian reign, and the Trojans might once again be in the national title discussion instead of breaking in yet another new head coach.
Next: Georgia
No. 7: Mark Richt – Georgia, 2015
Head Coaching Years: 2001-2015
Overall record with school: 145-51
Reason for dismissal: Athletic Director decision
There may be no tougher decision to replace a head coach to either defend or argue against than that of Mark Richt in 2015.
The overall body of work speaks volumes about a guy who ran one of the cleanest programs in the nation (say what you will about player arrests, Richt never covered anything and regularly dismissed guys from his program), and one of the most successful in terms of wins.
However, a decade without an SEC title, a losing record against ranked opponents, and continued struggles against rivals Florida, Alabama and South Carolina were more than Georgia fans and athletic director Greg McGarity were prepared to overlook.
It’s always a dicey thing when you tell a guy who’s averaged over 10 wins per season for 15 years to shove off, and the fact is, Georgia may very well be better off with Kirby Smart in the big chair, and Richt certainly isn’t complaining about his new gig in Miami.
But time has shown that replacing a long-time winning coach for “not winning enough” or “the right games” ends up becoming a disastrous downhill slide for a major program (feel free to chime in at any time, Tennessee, Nebraska and Texas fans).
Next: Nebraska
No. 6: Frank Solich – Nebraska, 2003
Head Coaching Years: 1998-2003
Overall record with school: 58-19
Reason for dismissal: Job performance
Much like Richt in 2015, Frank Solich found himself having success, just not the right kind, and it cost him his job with the Cornhuskers in 2003.
Had the Big Red nation known what was to come with the middling Bill Callahan and volatile Bo Pelini at the helm, they might have opted to keep Solich around for a bit longer. Now under second year coach Mike Riley, the Cornhuskers are still a work in progress.
Despite winning more games than both Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne, Solich came under heavy criticism for only winning one conference title in his six years, and was blamed for the drop-off in offensive production in a conference that was seeing a steady increase in both points and yardage.
Nothing can be certain, but it seems that those in power in Lincoln jumped the gun while salivating for NFL seasoned coaches to bring their program back to prominence. Sometimes good things have to be built slowly, and results-driven hiring and firing can (and did) backfire.
Solich has since moved on to Ohio University, where he’s had moderate success, while Nebraska has floundered and is once again building under a new coach.
Next: Auburn
No. 5: Terry Bowden – Auburn, 1998
Head Coaching Years: 1993-1998
Overall record with school: 47-17-1
Reason for dismissal: Athletic Director decision
With Terry Bowden, we have another case of a coach butting heads with his AD, and deciding to step down before the official firing became public.
Auburn Tigers
Bowden had Auburn rolling for a while, Following Pat Dye, and inheriting NCAA sanctions, scholarship reductions and postseason bans, Terry Bowden coached the Tigers to an undefeated season in 1993. While it meant little due to Auburn’s probationary status, it seemed a sign that Bowden was going to stick around for quite a while.
However, a few years later when athletic director David Housel refused to give Bowden any assurance of his position (despite losing only 12 games in five crippled seasons), he saw the writing on the wall. His contentious relationship with former Auburn trustee Bobby Lowden only added fuel to the fire, and Bowden checked out midway through the 1998 season.
While the Tigers have had some pockets of success since Bowden’s departure, one has to think that had this relationship survived, there would be a few more trophies sitting around in Auburn.
Next: Boston College
No. 4: Jeff Jagodzinski – Boston College, 2008
Head Coaching Years: 2007-2008
Overall record with school: 20-8
Reason for dismissal: Athletic Director decision
Here’s a case where ruling with an iron fist can come back to bite you. Did Jagodzinski do what he was specifically told not to do by his AD in interviewing with the New York Jets? Absolutely.
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Die he deserve to be fired over it? Most would say no.
Jagodzinski brought Boston College into the national spotlight, and made Matt Ryan a household name long before he was dropping crucial snaps in the Georgia Dome. He brought two division titles and one top ten finish in two years, but then made the crucial mistake.
The Jets were looking for a head coach, and Jags decided he wanted to throw his name in the hat. He went on the interview, was fired by athletic director Gene DeFilippo the next day, and the Jets hired Rex Ryan.
Can you imaging Boston College playing now with Jags’ high-flying aerial attack against some of these pass-whipped ACC defenses?
In retrospect, it would seem that both BC and the Jets would have been better off with Jagodzinski as head coach, but (as the meme says) that’s none of my business.
Next: Ole Miss
No. 3: David Cutcliffe – Ole Miss, 2004
Head Coaching Years: 1999-2004
Overall record with school: 44-29
Reason for dismissal: Job performance
Things might be great in Oxford now (or maybe not, depending on how the prying eyes of the NCAA see things this year), but the struggle was real for quite a while after David Cutcliffe was dismissed.
Ole Miss Rebels
Cutcliffe came to Ole Miss a highly-decorated assistant, having coached practically every aspect of Tennessee’s offense that was imaginable over 17 years. He also helped Peyton Manning become Peyton Manning,
When Cutcliffe came to Oxford, the Ole Miss football program was middling at best and it was believed he could inject some life into a stagnant offense.
Enter Eli Manning.
Manning arrived as a Rebel in Cutcliffe’s second full season on the job, and he immediately made an impact, with the Cutcliff-Manning magic working their way to the Rebels’ first 10-win season in 30 years in 2003.
But, despite that10-win mark, five straight winning seasons, and guiding the team to four bowl games, Cutcliffe was fired by Ole Miss’s Athletic Director Pete Boone in December 2004 after Ole Miss started the season with a 4–7 record and tallied three consecutive losses to LSU in the process.
Lose to the rivals, lose your job, no matter what your overall body of work says. Ole Miss’ loss has absolutely been Duke’s gain.
Next: Texas Tech
No. 2: Mike Leach – Texas Tech, 2009
Head Coaching Years: 2000-2009
Overall record with school: 84-43
Reason for dismissal: Athletic Director decision
Mike Leach and Texas Tech were the college football edition of the ugly divorce, with neither party wanting to give in to the other side.
Leach had the Red Raiders doing things no one believed could be done, and Dave Campbell’s Texas Football was touting them as the possible “best team in Texas” in 2008. While they did finish with just a single loss during that season (to Oklahoma), they were shut out of the three-way Big 12 tiebreaker with the Sooners and Texas Longhorns.
But it wasn’t Leach’s job performance that led to his downfall. Like so many others, treatment of players and off-field issues came into question.
Accusations by former ESPN analyst Craig James as to the treatment of his son Adam, who was playing for Leach at the time, led to a spiraling downward slide of finger-pointing and lawsuits, including an injunction sought by Leach which would have allowed him to coach in the Alamo bowl after his firing in 2009.
It’s a shame things came down to a series of ugly court battles, because there was something special happening in Lubbock under Leach.
Next: Auburn, Part 2
No. 1: Tommy Tuberville – Auburn, 2008
Head Coaching Years: 2000-2009
Overall record with school: 85-40
Reason for dismissal: Athletic Director decision
And finally we return to the plains of Auburn, where last we left the War-Tigers, they had pushed out undefeated season-winning coach Terry Bowden.
But as luck would have it, in 2000, Tommy Tubervile came to Auburn fresh off his mediocre stint as head coach at Ole Miss. But it didn’t take long for Tuberville’s defensive-minded philosophy to take root with the Tigers, and by his second full year on the job he had Auburn in the SEC championship game.
First place finishes in the SEC West became a regular thing for Tuberville and the Tigers, including an undefeated 2004 season which saw Auburn unfairly squeezed out of the insidious BCS system. But for whatever bizarre reason, there always seemed to be unrest surrounding Tuberville’s job, and whispers of other candidates being looked at by the school.
Just a year before that undefeated season, former trustee Bobby Lowden (remember him from the Bowden fiasco?) was sticking his nose in where it didn’t belong, and was trying to woo Bobby Petrino to come to Auburn. I see a pattern developing here.
Next: 10 Post-Spring, Preseason CFB Hot Takes
Despite only one losing season, an SEC title, an undefeated season and a 5-3 bowl game record, Tommy Tuberville was gone in 2009. Athletic director Jay Jacobs claimed Tuberville voluntarily resigned, but the turn of events leading up to his departure would indicate there was more going on.