Being a head coach of an NFLÂ team is by no means an easy job, as the majority of coaches don't keep their jobs after the first few years. However, a handful of coaches in NFL history didn't merely quickly lose their jobs, they failed miserably at them. So here is every NFL Team's worst head coach of all time:
Raiders: Dennis Allen
In 2012, the AFC West featured three head coaches on this list; John Fox, Romeo Crennell, and Dennis Allen. In Dennis Allen's first NFL head coaching tenure, he was gifted Carson Palmer and Derek Carr in respective seasons and failed to win more than four games in a season. Allen's defense ranked 28th, 29th, and 27th in his three seasons coaching the Raiders. Allen's Raiders also finished below their preseason expected win totals in each of the three seasons as well. Dennis Allen was clearly unfit for an NFLÂ head coaching job, as his second gig with the Saints went hardly any better than his first.
Colts: Frank Kush
Following a 2-14 Colts season in 1981, rookie head coach Frank Kush did nothing to even remotely improve the team, resulting in a 0-8-1 record in a strike-shortened season. Kush and his Colts had a reputation such that John Elway declared he would sit out the season or play baseball rather than play for Kush, after being drafted no.1 overall in 1983. While the Colts as a team already had a reputation of losing, Frank Kush's beef with Jack Elway is what primarily drove a Hall of Fame QB out of Baltimore. Shortly thereafter, the team itself drove out of Baltimore, and the Colts didn't play much better in their new home of Indianapolis. Frank Kush was fired in 1984 after posting an 11-28-1 record with the team.
Packers: Bart Starr
Bart Starr became the quarterbacks coach for the Packers almost immediately after he retired from his playing career. The Packers then promoted their former QB from quarterback's coach straight to head coach; a historically bad decision. Not only did the Packers make Starr an underqualified head coach, but they also granted him a GM role that went just as badly as his head coaching job. The Packers struggled under their new management, posting a 52-76 record with Bart Starr as head coach and general manager. While Green Bay never dipped below four wins in a season with Starr at the helm, it was still clear that they should not have kept Starr calling the shots for 9 seasons.
Patriots: Rod Rust
In 1990, the Patriots hired Steelers' defensive coordinator Rod Rust on the basis of a disappointing 5-11 1989 season with head coach Raymond Berry. A close loss to the Dolphins followed by a close win over the Colts gave a misconception that the Patriots had actually improved. During the next 15 weeks of the season, New England lost 14 straight games, resulting in a one-and-done head coaching season for Rod Rust. The Patriots' ghastly -265 point differential that season ranks as the third-worst in NFL history, and these historically awful numbers made sure that Rod Rust never put on the headset again.
Cardinals: Steve Wilks
Steve Wilks's single head coaching season with the Cardinals is not nearly as bad as other one-and-done campaigns on this list, though going from 8-8 to 3-13 in just one year is not exactly ideal. Replacing the retired Bruce Arians with a defensive head coach outside the system was not a sensible decision. What the Cards needed, was an offensive mind who could help rookie QB Josh Rosen develop. However, Arizona's offense struggled mightily, finishing dead last in points scored, as Josh Rosen threw more interceptions than touchdowns. The defense did not fare much better though, finishing 26th in points allowed en route to capturing the first overall pick in the 2019 draft.
Saints: Mike Ditka
Former Bears' head coach Mike Ditka agreed to take charge of the Saints, after a 4-year hiatus from an NFL coaching job. After recording back-to-back 6-win seasons, the final straw was Ditka trading a king's ransom for Ricky Williams. Ahead of the 1999 draft, Mike Ditka traded eight draft picks for a running back who never reached 10 touchdowns in a season with the Saints. To add salt to the wound, Ricky Williams became the NFL's leading rusher with an all-pro selection in his first season after being traded from New Orleans to Miami. The Williams trade led to an abysmal 3-13 season for the Saints in 1999, ending Mike Ditka's time as the Saints head coach.
Ravens: Ted Marchibroda
The Ravens have only had three different head coaches in their franchise history, and two of them won a Super Bowl, thus the team's first head coach lands on this list by default. However, Ted Marchibroda's only three seasons as head coach were all losing seasons, so he didn't exactly do an adequate job either. Additionally, Marchibroda's 11-18 record in one-score games also didn't resemble a quality head coach.
Vikings: Les Steckel
Vikings' former head coach, Les Steckel, was promoted from wide receivers coach straight to head coach and stayed in that position for a single season. One-and-done head coaching tenures were much less common in 1984, making Steckel's time wearing the headset especially woeful. Les Steckel was not nearly qualified to be an NFL head coach at the time, thus his only coaching achievement was successfully landing the 1st overall pick. Regarding Steckel's singular area of expertise, the Vikings' wide receivers caught for under 2,000 yards in total, with the team's leading receiver catching for just 830 yards.
Bills: Hank Bullough
Despite Hank Bullough head coaching in 21 games and winning just four of those, Bullough never head coached completed season. He was hired as the interim head coach after the Bills fired Kay Stephenson in 1985. After Bullough stayed as the team's head coach for 1986, he only lasted seven games before being fired midseason. While Hank Bullough was not dealt a roster of high caliber as head coach, he also did very little to improve the team, as the Bills had far superior success after Bullough was fired.
Seahawks: Tom Flores
Tom Flores defied the odds by winning two Super Bowls with the Raiders after they promoted him from wide receivers coach straight to head coach. However, the magic didn't last once Flores took charge of Seattle. In 1992, Tom Flores piloted an offense that scored 8.8 points per game, a stat line that was woeful back then and impossible today. Flores was also the GM of the Seahawks, a job that eventuated just as dreadfully as the head coaching role. In total, the Seahawks won just 14 games under Tom Flores and lost 34.
Bears: John Fox
Despite having extensive head coaching experience by 2015, John Fox's final career head coaching stint was undoubtedly his worst. The Bears hired Fox primarily to revamp a defense that ranked bottom-five in back-to-back seasons. The Bears' defense only performed slightly better under their new management, coupled with an offense led by Adam Gase that ranked in the bottom ten in all three seasons. John Fox finished his time in Chicago with a 14-34 record, having coached three forgettable Bears seasons.
Chiefs: Romeo Crennel
Romeo Crennel won a whopping five Super Bowls during his career as an assistant defensive coach, but head coaching clearly isn't for everybody. The head coaching job in Kansas City was especially difficult for Crennel, as he was appointed as the team's defensive coordinator in addition to the head coaching duties. The Chiefs finished the season with a 2-14 record and the first overall pick as a result, and Romeo Crennel was fired from his head coach role after just one season. You would think that an offense with Nick Sirianni and Brian Daboll as assistants would finish higher than dead last, but the NFL is unpredictable.
Eagles: Bert Bell
The Eagles' history does not contain many particularly bad head coaches, or at least ones that coached for a full season. To find a coach that fits in both of those categories, you have to go back to 1937 when Bert Bell was the Eagles' head coach. Bell is the team's losingest head coach, with an atrocious 10-44-2 record.
Chargers: Kevin Gilbride
Kevin Gilbride's only NFL head coaching job came in San Deigo and lasted just 22 games. Gilbride's Chargers actually started 4-4 in 1997 before losing every remaining game of the season. In the following season, GM Bobby Beathard drafting Ryan Leaf squandered any hope that Gilbride could turn the Chargers around and keep his job.
Titans: Ken Whisenhunt
The Titans will have the first overall pick in the 2025 draft, their first no.1 overall pick since 2014 under head coach Ken Whisenhunt. Whisenhunt led Tennessee to its worst franchise season, going 2-14, and losing ten consecutive games. The Titans' leading rusher that season ran for less than 600 yards, and the team recorded just six rushing touchdowns. What makes this a further atrocious single season is that the Titans got to play a 3-13 Jaguars team twice and still managed to finish with the league's worst record. Ken Whisenhut was booted from Tennessee promptly after a 1-6 start to the 2015 campaign.
Cowboys: Dave Campo
From 2000-2002, Dave Campo coached the Cowboys to three straight 5-11 seasons. While winning just five games in three consecutive seasons is not exactly ideal, you do have to admire Campo's consistency. Campo was dealt a bad hand at quarterback during his time in Dallas and failed to recover. No NFL head coach wants to have Chad Hutchinson, Quincy Carter, and Ryan Leaf starting at quarterback. And with no 1,000+ yard receivers, the entire Cowboys' offense consisted of merely an aging Emmitt Smith, which went about as well as you'd expect.
Giants: Ray Handley
In 1991, rookie head coach Ray Handley turned a Super Bowl Champion Giants team into a completely new team, the polar opposite of the team that won the Super Bowl. Despite having Lawrence Taylor, Pepper Johnson, and Leonard Marshall, the best Handley would do was eight wins, and only six in the following year. Promoting a positions coach to head coach is historically a bad decision, but Ray Handley was merely an offensive backfield coach before becoming head coach; he didn't even rank high enough to coach a position. It's no surprise that the Giants suddenly won 11 games once Ray Handley was no longer coaching them.
Texans: Dom Capers
While Bill O'Brien is widely considered as the worst Texans head coach, most of the ire directed at O'Brien comes from his decisions as the general manager, not as the head coach. Unlike Bill O'Brien, Dom Capers never had a single winning season in Houston. Dom Capers coached the Texans for a curiously long four seasons, considering he won just 28% percent of his games. Capers's defense was mediocre at best, and downright awful at worst. Capers also failed to develop the young QB David Carr, who the Texans were also probably too patient with.
Steelers: Walt Kiesling
Since the Steelers have three head coaches who coached for 15 years or more, there weren't many options for their franchise's worst head coach. Walt Kiesling head coached the Steelers in two separate stints in the 40s and 50s, neither of which went very well. Kiesling finished his NFL coaching career with a 30-55 record and zero playoff appearances.
Rams: Steve Spagnuolo
The 4-time Super Bowl Champion Steve Spagnuolo is one of the greatest defensive coordinators in NFL history  but head coaching is truly a whole different animal. Spagnuolo's 3-year tenure with the St. Louis Rams compiled a 10-38 record, including 1-15 and 2-14 seasons. Spagnuolo's supposedly high-quality defense finished bottom-five in two of those three seasons. In addition, Spagnuolo got even less aid from the other side of the ball, with the Rams' offense finishing 32nd, 31st, and 18th over those three seasons. St. Louis's 2009 offense averaged a horrendous 10.9 points per game, the 6th worst  offensive performance in a season in NFL history Â
Lions: Marty Mornhinweg
Marty Mornhinweg was hired by a Lions team  that had finished 9-7 in the prior year and with a playoff berth. After winning 5 games and losing 27 during Mornhinweg's tenure, the Lions would have done anything to keep Gary Moeller as interim head coach. In addition to the Mornhinweg's perpetual losing, he became the first head coach to defer the overtime coin toss, an infamous decision that earned plenty of outrage. Mornhinweg's 5-14 record in one-score games proved that his atrocious game management was not limited to just one decision.
Dolphins: Cam Cameron
Former Dolphins head coach Cam Cameron was dubbed an "offensive genius", after his time in San Diego, leading the Chargers to the third-highest scoring offense in NFL history . During Cam Cameron's time as the Dolphins' head coach, he led the team to 13 consecutive losses to start the season. After successfully capturing the No.1 overall pick, the Fins were able to win just one game under Cameron to avoid going 0-16. That 22-16 win came in overtime against a slightly more superior Ravens team.
After recording their worst season record in franchise history, the Dolphins proceeded to win 11 games the following year without Cam Cameron calling the shots. For further evidence that Cameron's success with the Chargers was a fluke, the Ravens fired Cameron from the OC role 13 weeks into the 2012 season and proceeded to win the Super Bowl that same season.
Bengals: David Shula
It's a bit perplexing how one of the best NFL head coaches of all time is related to one of the worst . Although, unlike most other coaches on this list, Dave Shula was never qualified to be an NFL head coach. Shula jumped from a wide receivers coach, straight to a head coaching job, after leading a below-average passing offense to a 3-13 record. And the offense further declined with Shula now calling plays, averaging 16.9 points per game. The most dreadful aspect of this head coaching stint was that it lasted for five seasons, with 19 wins and 52 losses. David Shula never coached in the NFL again.
Jaguars: Urban Meyer
After being given full autonomy of the Jaguars, the best QB Prospect in 10 years, Urban Meyer fumbled his first and only NFL head-coaching job in disastrous fashion. Meyer's 13-game tenure ranks as the second-shortest in NFL history, and rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence struggled mightily during year 1 in Jacksonville.
In addition to the Jaguars' abysmal play on the field, Urban Meyer's awful head coaching job was marred by scandals off the field. From the Columbus bar fiasco, to berating players and assistants, and a lack of awareness regarding NFL players, created the most toxic work environment in the NFL. "Who's this 99 guy on the Rams?.. I'm hearing he might be a problem for us." It perfectly encapsulates Urban Meyer's lack of NFL knowledge, and being simply outmatched by a league out of his league.
Browns: Hue Jackson
3-36-1. Few NFL head coaching jobs even remotely compare to Hue Jackson's dreadfully bad gig with the Cleveland Browns. After a 1-15 season during his first year coaching the Browns, Jackson promised to jump in Lake Erie if the team didn't win a single game in 2017. Hue Jackson stayed true to his word. However, Jackson's Browns had a subpar roster of essentially mostly backups, zero pro bowlers, and a starting quarterback whose own college coach said that he wasn't NFL-ready. While Jackson had little talent to build around during his time in Cleveland, the Browns' 5-3 record following Jackson's firing tells you all you need to know.
Panthers: Frank Reich
Frank Reich's first head coaching stint came in Indianapolis, ending in a firing in 2022 after a 40-33-1 record. The Panthers subsequently hired an experienced offensive mind in the hopes of developing their rookie quarterback, Bryce Young. Frank Reich's time in Carolina lasted just 11 games, a firing that even after a 1-10 start, felt premature. The offense finished dead last, averaging 13.9 points per game, and Bryce Young routinely looked lost, panicked, and confused. Reich's premature firing might have been caused by his rift with Panthers' owner David Tepper. Frank Reich advocated for drafting C.J. Stroud as No.1 overall, while Tepper made the final call to draft Young instead. C.J. Stroud won Offensive Rookie of the Year, while Young had a disappointing rookie season.
49ers: Chip Kelly
Chip Kelly entered the 2016 season as the 49ers' third head coach in three seasons. A 28-0 week one win over the Rams gave plenty of false hope for an otherwise inept 49ers' roster that fell back down to Earth with a 13-game losing streak. While San Francisco got blown out in most of their games in 2016, their 1-5 record in one-score games under Kelly displayed Kelly's lack of game management skills even when his team could keep pace with opponents. Chip Kelly spent a grand total of one season on the 49ers but considering that the team only won 6 games the following season with a complete roster overhaul, it's clear that the 2016 49ers team had more problems other than their head coach.
Broncos: Nathaniel Hackett
The hype surrounding the Broncos ahead of the 2022 season was nothing short of enormous. In addition to having an elite defense and trading for Russell Wilson in the offseason, they hired rookie head coach Nathaniel Hackett after helping Aaron Rodgers gain back-to-back MVP seasons. Since the Broncos defense in 2022 had the 7th-least yards allowed per game, the team would have won about 10 games if the offense had been merely league average. However, Denver's 5-12 record halved their expected win total and thus could not hack it. Hackett's lack of experience or game management was on full display, posting an abysmal 3-8 record in one-score games. After a 51-14 Christmas day beatdown from the Rams, Nathaniel Hackett was fired with a 4-11 head coaching record.
Falcons: Bobby Petrino
While single-season head coaching stints may seem common today, a head coach losing their job in year 1 was a massive ordeal in 2007. The news of Michael Vick's dog fighting operation emerged during training camp, causing him to miss the entire 2007 season. First-year head coach Bobby Petrino was left with Joey Harrington, Byron Leftwich, and Chris Redman starting as quarterback . Atlanta finished at the bottom of the NFC South that season, with a 3-10 record under Petrino. Petrino resigned from the Falcons' head coach position to coach Arkansas, less than 24 hours after promising Falcons owner Arthur Blank that he would stay in Atlanta. Bobby Petrino's departure from the Falcons ranks as the most abrupt in NFL history .Â
Buccaneers: Ray Perkins
Ray Perkins is yet another renowned college head coach who failed to contend in the National Football League. In fact, Perkins was given two attempts at being an NFL head coach, but his second was far more disastrous. Ray Perkins's head coaching gig in Tampa Bay began with trading away Steve Young; a decision that Perkins's Bucs never recovered from. Perkins, an offensive-minded head coach, coached one of the worst quarterbacking seasons in NFL history  with the 25-year-old Vinny Testaverde under center. Testaverde threw 13 touchdowns to 35 interceptions, with a 47.6 completion percentage; a stat line that could not occur in today's NFL. In addition, Ray Perkins refused to draft a new quarterback in the first round, despite his current QB never throwing more touchdowns than picks in a season.
Jets: Rich Kotite
Rich Kotite had a large wealth of NFL coaching experience prior to landing his second head coaching stint, but Kotite's tenure with the Jets was his last NFL coaching job. The Jets fired Pete Carroll after a 6-10 record and proceeded to win just four games in two seasons under their new head coach. The Jets gave Rich Kotite personnel control in addition to coaching, which backfired tremendously. Kotite infamously handled the 1995 draft by picking tight end Kyle Brady over the future Hall of Fame defensive tackle Brandon Sapp. The Jets fans in attendance were not thrilled, to say the least. Rich Kotite's questionable head coaching and personnel decisions left the Jets with the No. 1 overall pick in back-to-back seasons.
Commanders: Steve Spurrier
After becoming one of the most renowned SEC football coaches in the 90s, Steve Spurrier gave the NFL a shot. And since Spurrier made it onto this list, it clearly didn't go well. In two seasons, Spurrier led the Commanders to a 12-20 record before leaving the Commanders' head coaching carousel.