Top 10 Worst NFL Head Coaching Hires
Scott Morris | October 13, 2024
Robert Saleh became the first victim of poor performance and the New York Jets head coach was fired this week after his team started 2-3. Saleh’s defenses were never a problem, but the Jets struggled to score. Five games into his fourth season, Saleh’s Jets were just 20-36. That wasn’t good enough and he was let go.
Now, was Saleh one of the worst head coaches ever in NFL history? Let’s see how he stacks up against some of the worst coaches to ever walk an NFL sideline. Here are the top 10 worst coaching hires in NFL history.
NO. 10: RICH KOTITE, NEW YORK JETS (1995)
It’s only fitting that a previous New York Jets coach made this list. In 1994, the Jets moved on from Bruce Coslet to hire a young head coach named…Pete Carroll. When the Jets lost six of their last seven games, Carroll was fired (probably not a great move looking back).
With Carroll out, the Jets found their guy – Rich Kotite. He had gone 36-28 as the Eagles head coach for four seasons. Things were looking up in the Big Apple. But, the Jets gave Kotite control of personnel, which turned out to be a huge mistake. In ‘95, the Jets drafted TE Kyle Brady, who turned out to be a decent pro, but they passed up Warren Sapp, who is now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Jets also signed QB Neil O’Donnell to a huge contract and he turned out to be a bust.
When it was all said and done, the Jets would go 4-28 under Kotite and he was fired after the 1996 season. He would never again coach in the NFL.
NO. 9: ADAM GASE, NEW YORK JETS (2019)
Are the Jets really this bad at picking coaches? Apparently so. Gase picked up steam as the Denver Broncos offensive coordinator in the early 2010s. He essentially rode the back of Hall of Fame QB Peyton Manning, but the Miami Dolphins saw something in Gase and hired him as their head coach in 2016.
Gase’s Dolphins went 10-6 and made the playoffs his first season, but then it was all downhill. Gase would go 23-25 as Miami’s head coach and the Dolphins let him go after the 2018 season. For reasons not really clear to anyone, the Jets scooped up Gase almost immediately.
QB Sam Darnold never developed. Signing RB Le’Veon Bell turned into a fiasco and Gase’s Jets went 9-23 in two seasons. That includes a 2-14 season in 2020. That season got Gase the ax once again. Like Kotite, Gase has not coached in any capacity in the NFL since.
NO. 8: FREDDIE KITCHENS, CLEVELAND BROWNS (2019)
In the same offseason hiring schedule as Gase, Kitchens got the job with the Browns. He kind of backed into the position after being named running backs coach in 2018. During the season, head coach Hue Jackson (more on him in a moment) was fired. Gregg Williams took over as interim head coach and Kitchens was promoted to offensive coordinator.
His offense played well and the Browns finished the season 5-3 in their final eight games. That, somehow, earned Kitchens the head coaching job. In his first game as the Browns head coach, Cleveland lost by 30. It was a sign of things to come. The Browns went 6-10 and Kitchens was fired almost immediately after the final game of the season. He is currently the tight ends coach at North Carolina.
NO. 7: HUE JACKSON, CLEVELAND BROWNS (2016)
Speaking of Jackson…he’s a lot like Kitchens. Jackson was a successful offensive coordinator for the Bengals. His 2015 team in Cincy was second in the NFL in scoring. He also had experience as an NFL head coach. He had coached the Raiders in 2011.
Jackson didn’t have a ton of talent in Cleveland, but 1-31 over two seasons? Wow! Somehow, the Browns didn’t fire him after the 2017 season. Cleveland became the second team in NFL history to go 0-16 that season. Jackson and the Browns would start the 2018 season 2-5-1 and then Cleveland figured it was time. Jackson hasn’t worked in the NFL since.
NO. 6: MATT PATRICIA, DETROIT LIONS (2018)
The Lions are finally pulling themselves out of a decades-long drought under current head coach Dan Campbell. He took over after the Matt Patricia experiment. Patricia was one of several Bill Belichick coaching disciples who NFL organizations thought would make a great head coach. It turns out that just because you coached with Belichick, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be good at it too.
Patricia’s first team went 6-10 after going 9-7 the previous season under Jim Caldwell. In 2019, the Lions regressed even further, going 3-12-1. Detroit lost 15 games by double digits and lost nine games in which they had held at least a 10-point lead. Patricia was retained for the 2020 season, but Detroit started 4-7 and he was let go after a 41-25 loss to Houston on Thanksgiving Day.
NO. 5: DAVID SHULA, CINCINNATI BENGALS (1992)
Just as coaching under Belichick doesn’t mean instant success, neither does having the last name Shula. David, of course, is the son of Hall of Fame coach Don Shula. In 1992, the Bengals were searching for a new head coach. They passed on a guy named Bill Cowher, who went on to great success with the Pittsburgh Steelers and is now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Bengals got Shula…David Shula, that is. He had been the Bengals WR coach. Shula ended up going 19-52 with Cincinnati. Shula is the only NFL head coach to have coached more than 70 games and have a winning percentage below 30 percent.
NO. 4: BOBBY PETRINO, ATLANTA FALCONS (2007)
You know it’s bad when you only last 13 games. Petrino had been a successful college coach at Louisville where he went 41-9 and earned a huge new 10-year contract. About six months into that new contract, Petrino abruptly left to take the Falcons head coaching job.
Part of the reason Petrino was hired was his ability to develop quarterbacks. The Falcons had Michael Vick, but Vick would get nailed for his part in a dogfighting ring. Atlanta had traded Vick’s backup and Petrino was forced to play with guys like Chris Redman, Joey Harrington, and Byron Leftwich. After 13 games and a 3-10 start, Petrino had enough.
Depending upon the source, Petrino either had a brief meeting or left a one paragraph note for his team explaining that he was resigning.
NO. 3: JOE JUDGE, NEW YORK GIANTS (2020)
Judge was another Belichick assistant hired by the Giants to resurrect the franchise. It didn’t go as planned. Judge’s teams would go 10-23 in his two seasons as head coach. In the ultimate display of head coach futility, Judge’s final game puts his tenure in a nutshell.
Backed up near their own goal line in the final game of the 2021 regular season (also Judge’s last game as head coach), the Giants ran consecutive quarterback sneaks on 2nd-and-11 and 3rd-and-9. Judge had no faith in his offense to move the ball. The Giants lost faith in him.
In an interesting twist, both Judge and Patricia were rehired by Belichick and the Patriots. The pair was left to revamp the 2022 New England offense. The Patriots were 31st in total offense.
NO. 2: NATHANIEL HACKETT, DENVER BRONCOS (2022)
Hackett actually just got demoted as the Jets offensive coordinator. Back in 2022, the Broncos thought they had their guy when they hired the NFL veteran. He had been the offensive coordinator in Green Bay, working with Aaron Rodgers and the Broncos wanted an offensive guy.
Well, it didn’t work out. The Broncos had signed Russell Wilson who would go on to have his worst NFL season. The Broncos scored fewer points than every other team in the NFL. Hackett made one of the most bone-headed moves by an NFL head coach in recent memory. In his first NFL game, he let 40 seconds run off the clock prior to a 64-yard field goal attempt.
Hackett could have called a timeout and given Wilson a chance on fourth down. Or, he could have stopped the clock to give Denver a chance at getting the ball back after a missed field goal. It was one of many Hackett time management blunders. The field goal, of course, was no good, and the Broncos would lose. Hackett was fired before the season ended after going 4-11.
NO. 1: URBAN MEYER, JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (2021)
He could very well be one of the greatest college coaches of all-time. The NFL? Not so much. Meyer got in way above his head in Jacksonville. He had no NFL experience and he didn’t make very good decisions.
He hired strength coach Chris Doyle from Iowa. Doyle had been fired from Iowa after allegations of racial discrimination. Meyer signed his former QB at Florida, Tim Tebow, to be a tight end. That experiment didn’t pan out.
Then, there was the incident with Jaguars K Josh Lambo. It wasn’t reported until December, but apparently Meyer kicked Lambo in the leg, spouted off a few curse words, and told Lambo to make his “f——-g kicks.” The nail in the coffin came after an incident that was recorded in a bar in Cincinnati after the Jags had played the Bengals.
Like Petrino, Meyer’s NFL tenure would last 13 games. He finished 2-11 and was fired on December 16, 2021. Meyer returned to the FOX broadcasting booth and has not coached since.
