Who Is The Worst Coach To Win A National Title?

MegaVars

All-American
Nov 17, 2002
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Helms Athletic Foundation crowned the 1982 SMU team as National Champs. If that counts, then I'm going with Bobby Collins as the worst coach to win a NC. Regardless of his win/ loss record he successfully got his team the death penalty, can't get any worse than that...IMO.
 

Dallas4Bama

Suspended
Sep 27, 2006
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Miles has been the coach at LSU for 7 complete seasons - how much more time has to pass?
You're welcome to believe he's a great coach. I believe he's just smart enough to not mess up what CNS started and left. Tell me you don't believe the worst coach in the country couldn't come in here next year and if he left s&c, scheduled practices, the entire process basically in place that he couldn't keep the wheels on this thing for a while. You'd have to literally be Comer, who looked like a deer in the headlights from day one, to screw it up.
 

RollTide1224

All-American
Feb 18, 2008
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Spartanburg, SC
You're welcome to believe he's a great coach. I believe he's just smart enough to not mess up what CNS started and left. Tell me you don't believe the worst coach in the country couldn't come in here next year and if he left s&c, scheduled practices, the entire process basically in place that he couldn't keep the wheels on this thing for a while. You'd have to literally be Comer, who looked like a deer in the headlights from day one, to screw it up.
He didn't say he was a great coach, he is saying he isn't the worst coach to ever win a national championship. I think miles has done enough to separate himself from Saban. His win percentage is high he was in the national champ game this year an should have another possible championship team next year. One bad game against bama doesn't make him the worst coach of all time.

I'd go with Coker. Don't even think its close.
 

BradtheImpaler

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Nov 16, 2010
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Coker.

As has been stated, he took over a program that was absolutely stocked with NFL talent and ran it into the ground. Butch Davis tossed him the keys to a Bentley, and within a few years he had seized the engine up and the car was up a pole a'la Jerry from the State Farm ads.
 

CHATTBRIT

Hall of Fame
Dec 3, 2003
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Falling Water, TN
I'm not hearing Tressel who won on a very dubious call with a TD by a player who should not have been playing because of improper benefits which Tressel knew about (not proven, but I believe he knew because he knew Clarett in his home town)
 

AlabasterBama

3rd Team
Dec 14, 2006
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I'm still going with Johnny Majors. Overall record is 185–137–10.

Look at career record at each school

Iowa State 1969-1972
3-7
3-7
5-6
8-4
5-6-1

Pitt 1973 - 1976
6-5-1
7-4
8-4
12-0

Tennessee 1977-1992
4-7
5-5-1
7-5
5-6
8-4
6-5-1
9-3
7-4-1
9-1-2
7-5
10-2-1
5-6
11-1
9-2-2
9-3
5-3

Pitt (Again) 1993-1996
3-8
3-8
2-9
4-7


That's 11 losing seasons aout of 29

Not to mention he lost 4 or more games in a season 21 out of 29 times. Guys Johnny Majors is the worst coach to win a National Title.
 

81usaf92

TideFans Legend
Apr 26, 2008
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South Alabama
why are alot of you saying mac brown. atleast he wins BCS games and can bring a national championship trophy home against USC, in an offensive shootout, in LA, and against pete caroll. I think i would throw stoops and tressels name out there b4 i would throw his. imo
1.chizik
2.coker
3miles
4.stoops
5.tressel
6fulmer
7mac
 

TommyMac

Hall of Fame
Apr 24, 2001
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Mobile, Alabama
I'm still going with Johnny Majors. Overall record is 185–137–10.

Look at career record at each school

Iowa State 1969-1972
3-7
3-7
5-6
8-4
5-6-1

Pitt 1973 - 1976
6-5-1
7-4
8-4
12-0

Tennessee 1977-1992
4-7
5-5-1
7-5
5-6
8-4
6-5-1
9-3
7-4-1
9-1-2
7-5
10-2-1
5-6
11-1
9-2-2
9-3
5-3

Pitt (Again) 1993-1996
3-8
3-8
2-9
4-7


That's 11 losing seasons aout of 29

Not to mention he lost 4 or more games in a season 21 out of 29 times. Guys Johnny Majors is the worst coach to win a National Title.

You make some good points, but Majors' record at ISU dwarfs the chizzer's.
 

selmaborntidefan

TideFans Legend
Mar 31, 2000
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You make some good points, but Majors' record at ISU dwarfs the chizzer's.
If you compare the first two years, Majors was 6-14 and Chizik 5-19. Not a big gap there. Extrapolate it to same number of games & Majors would be 7-17, not a big difference at all.
 

GreatDanish

Hall of Fame
Nov 22, 2005
6,079
0
0
TN
I'm still going with Johnny Majors. Overall record is 185–137–10.

Look at career record at each school

Iowa State 1969-1972
3-7
3-7
5-6
8-4
5-6-1

Pitt 1973 - 1976
6-5-1
7-4
8-4
12-0

Tennessee 1977-1992
4-7
5-5-1
7-5
5-6
8-4
6-5-1
9-3
7-4-1
9-1-2
7-5
10-2-1
5-6
11-1
9-2-2
9-3
5-3

Pitt (Again) 1993-1996
3-8
3-8
2-9
4-7


That's 11 losing seasons aout of 29

Not to mention he lost 4 or more games in a season 21 out of 29 times. Guys Johnny Majors is the worst coach to win a National Title.
That is a relatively poor career, but he was maintained as a head coach for a major program for 29 years.

Yet another reason I think Coker is a no-brainer (no pun intended) here is because he lasted 6 seasons in big boy ball, and will probably never coach a major program again. He finally got a job (after three years of nobody wanting him even as a coordinator) at a start up program, whose final three candidates were Coker, a co-defensive coordinator from Tulsa (not a program with a strong defensive record), and the HC at Northwest Missouri State. And, in all reality, they likely hired Coker primarily for his name recognition.

I could probably write a book justifying Coker as the worst championship coach ever. But, I think I have said previously, Chizik isn't out of the water by any means. He could compete with Coker, depending on the next few years. But, he will have to drive AU's program into the ground to compete with Coker. Again, Coker took the most talented program in modern history and made the program completely irrelevant within 6 years. His teams did not improve even once.
 
I

It's On A Slab

Guest
Tuberville.

He won the Opelika People's National Championship in 2003. :cool2:
 

BAMA1979

All-American
Nov 15, 2006
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Mobile
I don't mind Fulmer being in the discussion. I don't think he's the right answer, but if we're just talking about BCS era, he's absolutely in the discussion.

Look at his years sans Peyton.

Peyton's first year UT was 1-3 without Peyton as a starting QB. They finished the year 8-4 once he was named starter.

With Peyton as his QB, Fulmer was 39-6. A winning percentage of 86.6%

Without him he was 113-46. A winning percentage of 71%

Fulmer was a good coach, don't get me wrong, heck he won his only National Title without Peyton.... but if we're simply going from the BCS era. Fulmer's gotta be in the bottom 3 along with Coker & Chizik.
Maybe so, but Fulmer is closer to the best coach in the BCS era than he is to Coker. Coker is miles behind Fulmer.

(I can't believe I am defending Fulmer.)