Football's Dumbest Coach Firings in Recent NFL and College Football Memory

In recent years, there have been some interesting coach firings in college and pro football. Apparently, winning is not enough. Not only do you have to win, but you have to win big. This article will discuss some of the dumbest football coach firings in recent memory. The top two on the list are from NFL teams, and the rest are from college teams.

1. San Diego Chargers Firing Of Coach Marty Schottenheimer

One of the most comical firings in recent memory is the San Diego Chargers firing of Marty Shotenheimer. What did Schottenheimer do to get fired? He posted a 14-2 record in 2006. Rumor had it that the only way he would have been able to keep his job was if he won the Super Bowl.

Here is the funny part about this situation. While a significant factor that played a role in Schottenheimer's dismissal was the fact that he and general manager AJ Smith couldn't get along, many people believe that Schottenheimer simply could not get it done in the playoffs - when it really mattered.

Here is something to think about: Its not Schottenheimer's fault when his team is up by two touchdowns, and his players choke by coughing up the ball twice in 5 minutes, nor is it Schottenheimer's fault when his kicker misses a field goal he normally makes. That's not part of Schottenheimer's game plan, and you can't fault his coaching style when these fluke things happen.

The Chargers were pitiful before Shotenheimer arrived. They hadn't had a winning season since the mid 1990's, and were flat out atrocious. He took one of the worst teams in the NFL and turned it into a power house. When you have that dramatic of a turn around, you don't fire the coach. You make it work, no matter how much the general manager dislikes him.

2. San Francisco 49ers Firing Of Steve Marriucci

When George Seifert left the 49ers, there was no question he would be hard to replace. After all, his teams won 2 Superbowls, and made it to the playoffs in all but one of his seasons. However, when head coach Steve Mariucci was hired, he won at least 12 games during each of his two seasons, before things turned for the worse, as he had two consecutive losing seasons. However, he was able to rebound, leading the team to a 12-4 regular season record in 2001, and a 10-6 regular season record in 2002.

For some reason, the 49ers management must have thought that he should have brought the team back to the Superbowl, as the two previous coaches had done, and let Marriucci go after his "dismal" 10-6 season. But you know what? Its really hard to bring your team to the Superbowl - and two do it without Joe Montana or Steve Young is a very difficult thing.

How have the 49ers done since they let Marriuci go? 20-44 over for years....which is actually two wins less than Marriucci did firing his last two seasons. Oops.

3. Nebraska Cornhuskers Firing Of Frank Solich

When Frank Solich replaced Tom Osbourne as the Nebraska Cornhuskers head football coach, he had an impossible task ahead of him. How in the world do you replace a guy who won national titles in 3 of the previous 4 seasons as Osbourne had done?

Sure enough, Solich let the Nebraska fans down, winning "only" 9 games in his first season, and followed that by winning at least 10 games in the following 3 seasons. However, things took a turn for the worst the following season, as his team won just 7 games, before rebounding with a 9-3 season. This wasn't good enough for athletic director Steve Peterson, who fired Solich.

According to Peterson, one of the reasons Solich was let go was because the team seemed to be declining, and that every year it should be a contender for the national title. Perhaps the program was on a slight decline under Solich, but you know what? His stats were nearly identical to Osbourne's. During his first 6 seasons as head coach, Osbourne's teams had 55 wins, compared to 16 losses, while Solich had 58 wins, compared to to 19 loses, and its a safe bet that Solich, like Osbourne, would improve as a head coach as the years went on.

Oh, and this business about Nebraska being in contention for the title every year is simply unrealistic. If you look at college football history, you will always find trends of teams being consistent winners, but it seems like the title contenders change every few years. This isn't to say that the Huskers should settle for mediocrity, but the fact of the matter is that the Huskers fielded some very good teams under Solich, and did contend for the title several times, and may have been back in contention again had Solich been allowed to continue as head coach.

4. Georgia Bulldogs Firing Of Jim Donnan

Apparently, resurrecting a program wasn't good enough for the University of Georgia, when the fired head coach Jim Donnan. In order for him to have kept his job, he must have had to "really resurrect" the program.

In the 7 seasons prior to Donnan's arrival, the Georgia Bulldogs football team averaged less than 6 winning games a season. During Donnan's 5 year tenure as head coach, the Bulldogs averaged 8 wins a season, and many of Donnan's losses were against the powerhouse football teams of the time: Florida and Tennessee.

It should be noted that it takes time for a football coach to turn things around, and there is no question Donnan started to do that for the Bulldogs, but he was fired after a "mediocure" 8-4 campaign in 2000. It should be noted that Donnan had a winning percentage of 67.8% compared to legendary Georgia coach Vince Dooley's 69.8%. There are many colleges out there which would do anything for an 8-4 record. Sometimes, if its not broken, its best not to try and fix it.

5. Ole Miss Firing Of David Cutliffe

Former head coach David Cutliffe was fired after going 44-29 in six seasons as the head coach of the Ole Miss football team. While this record isn't all that impressive, it is important to realize that prior to his dismal 4-7 campaign, Cutliffe led the Rebels to 6 consecutive winning seasons, including win 4 bowl games (all victories), and led the team to a 10-3 season a year prior to being fired. Yes, it is true that Cutliffe's team lost a step or two after the departure of Eli Manning, in this case, it would have been nice if Ole Miss payed attention to what Cutliffe accomplished in his 6 winning seasons, rather than his one and only losing season.