Here are 12 college football coaches who got paid to lose a lot of games.
United States Senator Lindsey Graham gave the college football world a quote for the ages.
Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated shared with us the quote and we’re still scratching our heads on how Graham is one of 100 Senators in the United States of America. Get ready for the dumbest thing you’ll see all day. “Very few coaches get paid a lot of money that lose over time.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham: "Very few coaches get paid a lot of money that lose over time."
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) July 22, 2020
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We understand that these college coaches, past and present, have families, but the amount of losing they did in their runs leading programs was shameful. Four of them can change their fate, as they’re still employed at their current job. The others probably can’t set foot on the campus of the programs they drove into the ground. Behold, 12 coaches who defined losing in the 2010s.
These 12 college coaches lost games like they were being paid to lose them.
12. Will Muschamp: Florida (2011-14), South Carolina (2016-present)
Will Muschamp may have had a winning record with the Florida Gators (28-21) and may technically still have one entering year five with the South Carolina Gamecocks (26-25), but he’s had one 10-win season and one top-10 finish and that came in 2012 with Florida. He’s never won the SEC East, has had three losing seasons and has finished above .500 in SEC play only twice.
11. Tommy Tuberville: Texas Tech (2010-12), Cincinnati (2013-16)
Tommy Tuberville was good with the Ole Miss Rebels and pretty good with the Auburn Tigers, but he left a lot to be desired with the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Cincinnati Bearcats. He went 49-39 in his last seven years as a college head coach. He had two losing seasons and never finished the with a ranked team at Texas Tech and Cincinnati. Good thing politics are working out.
10. Bret Bielema: Arkansas (2013-17)
While Bret Bielema was outstanding with the Wisconsin Badgers, he was not that with the Arkansas Razorbacks. He went 29-34 in five years with the Hogs, going 11-29 in SEC play with two losing seasons. Bielema lost at least five games every year and never finished with a ranked team. 2015 was the only year Arkansas had a winning record in SEC play while he was there.
9. Mike Locksley: New Mexico State (2009-11), Maryland (2015, 2019-present)
I feel bad for Mike Locksley and so should you. While we’re praying it works out for him with the Maryland Terrapins, he is at a whole other level when it comes to losing. He went 2-26 in part of three seasons with the New Mexico State Aggies. Locksley went 1-5 serving as the Terps’ interim in 2015 after Randy Edsall was fired. He just went 3-9 in his first year as the full-time head coach.
8. Scott Frost: Nebraska (2018-present)
2020 is now or never for Scott Frost leading his alma mater. The former starting quarterback under the legendary Tom Osborne went 13-0 as the UCF Knights head coach in 2017. In his two years back with the Nebraska Cornhuskers, he is 9-15 overall and 6-12 in Big Ten play. It’s simple really, as Frost must get his team bowl eligible or he’s a one-year wonder as a head coach.
7. Butch Jones: Tennessee (2013-17)
Butch Jones was elite at following Brian Kelly’s footsteps. He won big with the Central Michigan Chippewas and at Cincinnati. However, he was a cliche machine that drove Tennessee Volunteers football even further into the ground. He went 34-27 in Knoxville, going 14-24 in SEC play. While he went to three bowl games at Rocky Top, the Vols never did better than 5-3 in conference play.
6. Charlie Strong: Texas (2014-16), South Florida (2017-19)
Charlie Strong was a great coach for the Louisville Cardinals before they went Power 5. He replaced a legend in Mack Brown with the Texas Longhorns and it didn’t work. Strong went 16-21 in three years in Austin, going 12-15 in Big 12 play and never had a winning season. After a 10-win season with the 2017 South Florida Bulls, every year got worse and he was recently fired.
5. Chip Kelly: UCLA (2018-present)
The UCLA Bruins are setting money on fire with Chip Kelly. He was unbelievable with the Oregon Ducks and was briefly with the Philadelphia Eagles. Kelly later wasn’t, as he was a train wreck with the 2016 San Francisco 49ers. That didn’t stop UCLA from breaking the bank for the gimmicky, up-tempo coach. In two years at UCLA, he is 7-11 and hasn’t won a non-conference game. What?!
4. Derek Dooley: Louisiana Tech (2007-09) Tennessee (2010-12)
His father Vince Dooley is a college football coaching legend, but sadly, Derek Dooley is not. Despite having only one winning with the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, he was the choice to replace one-and-done Lane Kiffin at Rocky Top. It was worse than Kiffin leaving for the USC Trojans, as Dooley went 15-21 overall and 4-19 in SEC play over three seasons. He’s a position coach now.
3. Willie Taggart: Oregon (2017), Florida State (2018-19)
Talk about ruining your reputation. Willie Taggart went from an elite Group of 5 program builder to a job-hopping mess of a Power 5 head coach. He went 7-5 during his one year with the Oregon Ducks. He then went 9-12 in two years with the Florida State Seminoles. He replaces Kiffin with the Florida Atlantic Owls with expectations he didn’t face at Western Kentucky or South Florida.
2. Charlie Weis: Notre Dame (2005-09), Kansas (2012-14)
Charlie Weis epitomizes the ineptitude of the Bill Belichick coaching tree. He went 35-27 in five years leading the Notre Dame Fighting Irish with only one 10-win season. After being fired in 2009, he spent two years as an offensive coordinator before resurfacing with the Kansas Jayhawks. In three seasons with KU, the Jayhawks went 6-22 and won a single Big 12 game.
1. Chad Morris: SMU (2015-17), Arkansas (2018-19)
Chad Morris proved speed isn’t everything. The former Clemson Tigers offensive coordinator had one winning season with the SMU Mustangs before being tabbed to replace Bielema in Arkansas. Despite a 14-22 (8-16) record in The American, he was still hired to go 4-18 in two years leading the Hogs. Somehow, someway, he didn’t win a single SEC game in 14 chances. He was atrocious!
Senator Graham needs to watch some terrible college football this fall because it’s out there!
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