25 worst college football coaching hires in history

PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 1: Head coach Mike Price of the Washington State University Cougars manages the game from the sidelines during the 89th Rose Bowl game against University of Oklahoma Sooners at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2003 in Pasadena, California. Oklahoma defeated Washington St. 34-14. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /

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Nov 12, 2016; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide cheerleaders celebrate after scoring a touchdown against Mississippi State Bulldogs at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Tide defeated the Bulldogs 51-3. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports /

4. Jennings B. Whitworth, Alabama

Hired: December 1954
Fired: 1957
Record at Alabama: 4-24-2 (.133)
Career head coaching record: 26-51-4 (.333)

A lineman at Alabama in the early 1930s and part of the Crimson Tide’s 1930 Rose Bowl squad, J.B. Whitworth – also known as “Ears” – was an assistant coach for the Crimson Tide, LSU and Georgia (where he also served a short stint as head baseball coach) for nearly two decades before he was hired as the head coach at Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) in 1950.

Whitworth compiled a modest 22-27-2 with the Cowboys, including a share of the Missouri Valley Conference title in 1953, and was hired away by his alma mater to replace Red Drew, who had been removed from the position following a disappointing 4-5-2 campaign in 1954.

Remarkably, it would take all of Whitworth’s three seasons on the Alabama sidelines to match Drew’s ’56 win total. Alabama was 0-10 in 1955, was shut out four times and managed to score just 48 points all season. Whitworth’s 1956 squad lost its first four games, giving the Tide an astonishing 0-14 start to his career, and pushing Alabama’s winless streak to 20 before a 13-12 win over Mississippi State.

The Crimson Tide finished 2-7-1 in both 1956 and 1957, when Whitworth was fired. His final game was a 40-0 loss to No. 1 and eventual national champion Auburn, and Whitworth’s squad was outscored 100-7 Tigers over three seasons.

Though he was hamstrung by a meddling administration that limited his ability to hire assistants, Whitworth also famously benched all of his seniors, including legendary quarterback Bart Starr, On a positive note, Whitworth’s three-year tenure in Tuscaloosa set the stage for Bear Bryant, who took over prior to the 1958 season and quickly turned the Crimson Tide into annual national championship contenders.

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