Worst Coaches Ever in Division I-AA

[Mr. Tiger]

I just wanted to find out if anyone has ever had a worse head football coach than Jackson State did over the last three years.
Jackson State has a tradition of being a powerful team in the SWAC so after three 7-4 seasons the Tigers decided to fire their coach. The search for a new coach was not a thing of beauty.
The AD wanted to hire one of his good friends, so he did. That good friend had coordinating experience at the D I-A level, but had most recently been a high school coach of a losing program. :eek:
This coach gets the job and goes on to lead Jackson State to its worst record in school history. :doh:
He was 8-23 in a little over two years before being fired, distanced himself from the program's rich past, had recruits changing their mind on coming to JSU, drove down attendance, and tried to turn the pass-happy Tigers into a run-first team.
And he even scrapped the traditional uniforms. Before I proclaim him THE WORST COACH EVER IN DIVISION I-AA I would love to hear stories about other pitiful coaches, current and recent past (10-20 years ago). But this coach, JAMES BELL, goes down as No. 1 on my list. By the way, the AD that hired him was also fired.

[Go...gate]

Hard to pick worst coaches because sometimes the administration makes winning impossible, which is unfair to any coach. That said, here are my recent candidates (last 10 years):

Roger Hughes, Princeton 2000 - present. The underachieving speaks for itself.

Ed Sweeney, Colgate 1993-95. Not suited for 1-AA football and not the answer for Colgate's program, which was backsliding badly at that time. Was replaced by Dick Biddle.

[Ivytalk]

Virtually everyone from Columbia. And I agree with the nomination of Princeton's Hughes. The Tigers' victories over Harvard (snapping a 9-year losing streak) and Penn this year probably saved his job. If he loses once more to Yale, he's gone.

[Mr. C]

Frank Ellwood would be on my list. He managed to have losing records at both Marshall and Georgia Southern. The guy also had the personality of a snail. You wonder why anyone ever thought he could coach.

[Marcus Garvey]

Virtually everyone from Columbia.

Ahh, but there is one knucklehead from Columbia who outshines them all: Jim Garrett!!!!!

This wretched excuse for a coach lasted only 1 season, 1985. From '60-'65 he was head coach at Susquehanna University (now DIII) and turned them into a small college power during his first four seasons. However, 1965 wasn't going well and during a game, he struck a player for making a mistake. That player's uncle, who happened to be a boxer, came out of the stands and slugged him. The school president came out of the stands as well and fired Garrett on the spot!

Columbia hired him with the understanding that he was on a short leash, as his "eccentric" behavior was well known. But, he just couldn't reign it in. At one point during the season, he referred to his players as "drug-addicted losers" after getting hammered 49-17 by Harvard! Well, I'll say this for Jim, he ought to know a loser, being able to smell his own kind!

[Ivytalk]

Ahh, but there is one knucklehead from Columbia who outshines them all: Jim Garrett!!!!!

This wretched excuse for a coach lasted only 1 season, 1985. From '60-'65 he was head coach at Susquehanna University (now DIII) and turned them into a small college power during his first four seasons. However, 1965 wasn't going well and during a game, he struck a player for making a mistake. That player's uncle, who happened to be a boxer, came out of the stands and slugged him. The school president came out of the stands as well and fired Garrett on the spot!

Columbia hired him with the understanding that he was on a short leash, as his "eccentric" behavior was well known. But, he just couldn't reign it in. At one point during the season, he referred to his players as "drug-addicted losers" after getting hammered 49-17 by Harvard! Well, I'll say this for Jim, he ought to know a loser, being able to smell his own kind!

Wasn't he the father of the Garrett brothers who played for Princeton?

[BobcatSymphony]

Manny "The Savior" Matsakis


This guy was gawd aweful!!! He had the craziest methods in terms of training (staring at bottles of water, walking on coals type of things) and he was notorious for his own extra curricular activities.

I'm glad there was no choice but to give this guy the boot from Texas State. About the only positive was that we changed our helmet logo. The process got started by him.

[Marcus Garvey]

Wasn't he the father of the Garrett brothers who played for Princeton?

Yup. They played for him at Columbia, but transferred when he got sacked.

[crunifan]

Whoever he is, I nominate Indiana State's coach.

[colgate13]

Ed Sweeney, Colgate 1993-95. Not suited for 1-AA football and not the answer for Colgate's program, which was backsliding badly at that time. Was replaced by Dick Biddle.

You beat me to it!

Sweeney went 6-26-1 before getting bought out of his final year of his contract. And it was an ugly 26 losses...

[Ivytalk]

You beat me to it!

Sweeney went 6-26-1 before getting bought out of his final year of his contract. And it was an ugly 26 losses...

I was at Colgate for one of them: a 28-8 loss to a bad Harvard team in '95. The Red Raiders were about as lifeless a team as I've ever seen.

[3rd Coast Tiger]

, but had most recently been a high school coach of a losing program.

In no way am I defending Bell but he was head coach at Chavez High School in Houston. The varsity football program was only three years old tops and the coach before him took the team to the playoffs with a 5-5 record. So saying Bell was at a losing program technically isn't correct... new program yes.... losing program: no.

[Mr. Tiger]

In no way am I defending Bell but he was head coach at Chavez High School in Houston. The varsity football program was only three years old tops and the coach before him took the team to the playoffs with a 5-5 record. So saying Bell was at a losing program technically isn't correct... new program yes.... losing program: no.

That's even worse because Bell posted a 1-9 record at Caesar Chavez High before taking over at Jackson State :eek: Must have been an impressive win. I'm just glad he is gone. Our new coach looks like a winner. I can't wait for the next season to begin.

[Eagle_77]

Frank Ellwood would be on my list. He managed to have losing records at both Marshall and Georgia Southern. The guy also had the personality of a snail. You wonder why anyone ever thought he could coach.

I will second this one. Ellwood came to GSU as a one year coach in 96. We were in the playoffs the year before and then Ellwood leads GSU to their only losing season. The next year Johnson takes over and we are back in the playoffs.

I played for this man and believe me he was in cruise control knowing that he was there for only one season.

[blukeys]

Rich Kotite. He managed to turn the Philadelphia Eagles into a bad I-AA team. :smiley_wi

[Go...gate]

Funny how few really bad 1-AA coaches that come to mind. The good ones seem to move up to I-A or the NFL or become lifers at 1-AA, like an Eddie Robinson, Tubby Raymond or Joe Restic; the bad ones have a very short shelf-life, such as a Sweeney.

[SU Jag]

Bell almost ran JSUs program into the ground! JSU probably has the biggest fanbase in 1-AA and they all turned on him. JSU should expect to contend for the title every year in the SWAC but with Bell at the helm all of that was tossed out the window.

[carney2]

How about Maxie Baughan the old Georgia Tech and Philadelphia Iggle linebacker who coached at Cornell in the early 90's? He got involved in some wife swapping schemes with his assistant coaches that had the entire University playing defense for quite a while.

[SactoHornetFan]

I think our current coach, Steve Mooshagian, takes the cake. 7-26 after three years: 2-9 in 2003, 3-8 in 04, 2-9 in 05. :bang:

[carney2]

How about Maxie Baughan the old Georgia Tech and Philadelphia Iggle linebacker who coached at Cornell in the early 90's? He got involved in some wife swapping schemes with his assistant coaches that had the entire University playing defense for quite a while.

Let me rephrase: How about any of the Cornell coaches within recent memory? They have the same weather problems as Colgate, but Biddle, and many (most) of his predecessors, seem to get it done. In addition, Cornell is the State University of New York. It has many academic backwaters in which less academically gifted athletes could be hidden. This should be a huge advantage over the rest of their Ivy opponents. The school is a gargantuan city in and of itself, and its remoteness should not be a significant problem. In fact, the Finger Lake area should be a recruiting plus. With all of their advantages, it is simply mind boggling that Cornell does not rule Ivy football year in and year out.

[Uncle Buck]

Manny "The Savior" Matsakis

Matsakis wasn't that bad. I played at Hofstra when he was there as an OC and he really knew his stuff. Didn't his players complain and turn him in for working them too hard?

[Mr. C]

I think our current coach, Steve Mooshagian, takes the cake. 7-26 after three years: 2-9 in 2003, 3-8 in 04, 2-9 in 05. :bang:
I've got to come to Steve's defense. Went to college the same time as he did at Fresno State, so maybe I'm a little biased. But he has been building a morbund program from the ground up. It takes time when you are down as far as the Hornets have been. Give him a couple of more years before you start talking about the worse ever in I-AA. There have been plenty worse at CSUS.

[Go...gate]

Vic Gatto at Davidson also comes to mind, but Davidson's program struggled so much in that period ('86-'89) that it is hard to say whether it was Gatto or Davidson's administration, which pulled out of the PL during that period and started playing DII and DIII schools for the most part.

[SactoHornetFan]

I've got to come to Steve's defense. Went to college the same time as he did at Fresno State, so maybe I'm a little biased. But he has been building a morbund program from the ground up. It takes time when you are down as far as the Hornets have been. Give him a couple of more years before you start talking about the worse ever in I-AA. There have been plenty worse at CSUS.

It wasn't that moribund. We had Volek build the program from scratch basically. Volek started out with 10 schollies in 95, went 1-10 in 96 and 97. He finally got things going in 98 when we went 5-6, then 6-5 in 99 with two losses in OT. We went 7-4 in 2000 and were three plays from going 10-1. We had a down year in 01, was starting to come back to form in 02 when we went 5-7 and lost three games by 7 or less points.

Need to check some of the facts. True, Volek didn't have as much discipline, but he brought the program back from the dead.

[TxState_GO_CATS!]

Matsakis wasn't that bad. I played at Hofstra when he was there as an OC and he really knew his stuff. Didn't his players complain and turn him in for working them too hard?

yeah...he was horrid. offensive "genius"...but this guy had a few screws loose. not to mention violating 20+ NCAA rules (including practicing more than the allowed number of hours) and causing a school-imposed probation for the football team.

he was a "salesman" type of coach who really couldn't give two *****$ about the school.

[Marcus Garvey]

Rich Kotite. He managed to turn the Philadelphia Eagles into a bad I-AA team. :smiley_wi

On a similar note: Harry Gamble. A mediocre coach at Lafayette and later Penn (then I-A). He once had the most Ivy League coaching wins of any Penn HC, but that's only because they kept him around for about 10 years! It took Al Bagnoli about half that time to break it!

Frankly, I think he was the worse Philadelphia GM in my lifetime. I mean for all their teams too (Worse than Ed Wade or Bobby Clarke or Billy King!). I firmly believe that Leonard Tose only hired him because he got drunk one night and some Penn alumnus in the front office suggested it on a bet!

[Brad82]

Anyone who leaves out Rhody Islands Floyd Keith,Tim Stowers and Pete Adrian of Norfolk state (was an asst. @ Rhody) really does not know 1-AA football.

[Brad82]

Jeff MacInereny new head coach at Central Conn. (former Rhode Island asst.) will be on this list after next year.

[Uncle Buck]

...but this guy had a few screws loose.


Could be, he was a little odd. I remember my freshman year at HU we practiced 7 days a week until the NCAA changed the rules. No kidding.

As for Matsakis, I just used to get a kick our of calling him Manny AssCrackis or Manny BallSackus. Ah, those were the days :nod:

[GOKATS]

I think our current coach, Steve Mooshagian, takes the cake. 7-26 after three years: 2-9 in 2003, 3-8 in 04, 2-9 in 05. :bang:

Hate to say it , bud, but have to agree. You guys definitely need a new coach. Good Luck.

[blackfordpu]

yeah...he was horrid. offensive "genius"...but this guy had a few screws loose. not to mention violating 20+ NCAA rules (including practicing more than the allowed number of hours) and causing a school-imposed probation for the football team.

he was a "salesman" type of coach who really couldn't give two *****$ about the school.

There is a limit to how much teams can practice? :confused:

[crunifan]

I will say it again, Indiana State:

In the past 4 seasons they are 2-19 in the Gateway and 7-28 overall.

[ucdtim17]

There is a limit to how much teams can practice? :confused:

Players are only allowed to do 20 hours of team-related things each week, including games and practices

[DotCat]

Worst coach @ WCU, 1989, Dale Strahm. 3-7-1, one season. However, he did bring my favorite WCU helment to the field.

[Green Cookie Monster]

It wasn't that moribund. We had Volek build the program from scratch basically. Volek started out with 10 schollies in 95, went 1-10 in 96 and 97. He finally got things going in 98 when we went 5-6, then 6-5 in 99 with two losses in OT. We went 7-4 in 2000 and were three plays from going 10-1. We had a down year in 01, was starting to come back to form in 02 when we went 5-7 and lost three games by 7 or less points.

Need to check some of the facts. True, Volek didn't have as much discipline, but he brought the program back from the dead.

And Volek was averaging 11,500 fans a game for three years straight. Our attendance has dropped under Moose. A strong barometer.

[Sam I Am]

Who was the coach or coaches for Prairie View A&M football team when they had their NCAA-record 80 straight defeats?

http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1998/sep/09-28-98/photos/apfbcprarieview092698.gif
AP PHOTO
Prairie View A&M players Kevin Jefferson (62) and Eian Preston (67) cry tears of joy on Saturday after snapping an NCAA-record 80-game losing streak with a 14-12 win over Langston

http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1998/sep/09-28-98/sports/sports21.html

[GeauxLions94]

Manny "The Savior" Matsakis

Ah yes, forgot about "Pope Manny" Didn't he rub a lot of HS coaches in Texas the wrong way?

[SUjagTILLiDIE]

Who was the coach or coaches for Prairie View A&M football team when they had their NCAA-record 80 straight defeats?

http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1998/sep/09-28-98/photos/apfbcprarieview092698.gif
AP PHOTO
Prairie View A&M players Kevin Jefferson (62) and Eian Preston (67) cry tears of joy on Saturday after snapping an NCAA-record 80-game losing streak with a 14-12 win over Langston

http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1998/sep/09-28-98/sports/sports21.html
It wasn't the coaches fault. The school didn't offer scholarships at the time. James "Running Clock, Dumb" Bell has to be the worst coach in the history of football. Dude took over a team that was No.1 in offense in 1-aa with 10 starters back and transformed them into the worst offense in the nation.

[catamount man]

Worst coach @ WCU, 1989, Dale Strahm. 3-7-1, one season. However, he did bring my favorite WCU helment to the field.

Without a doubt, one of the worst coaching hires in WCU history. Ralph James, however, stands as WCU's worst coach record wise, going 4-29-3 from 1935-1938. As far as Strahm goes, I too liked the LSU helmet we used, but when the university canned Waters, another dumb move, Steve Hodgin should've gotten the job almost immediately. To hire an outsider such as Strahm offended quite a few people, people with $$$, and they haven't been back in 17 years. In some respects, we're still paying for that blunder. Not much, but some. GO CATAMOUNTS!!!

[TxState_GO_CATS!]

There is a limit to how much teams can practice? :confused:

yah, i the NCAA doesn't allow teams to practice over a certain number of hours per day (or per week?). He thought he'd ignore this rule and often had our players skip classes for "mandatory" workouts. :mad:

So Manny MatSuckAss gets my vote.

[TxState_GO_CATS!]

Ah yes, forgot about "Pope Manny" Didn't he rub a lot of HS coaches in Texas the wrong way?

yes. luckily, we ended up getting one of the best recruiters around (Bailiff) from TCU. it's SCARY to think how far behind we'd be if we hired another manny to replace "the savior."

[Husky Alum]

I nominate Paul Pawlak and Barry Gallup at Northeastern.

Pawlak was head coach from 81-90 and had a record of 35-67-1. Not only did NU play BAD football, we ran the wishbone. A bulk of Pawlak's wins (at least 12) were D-II schools at the time. Pawlak's undoing was a 26-0 loss against Harvard on national television in 1990.

Barry Gallup was hired from the University of Chestnut Hill to replace Pawlak and was a local HS football legend (his HS team was one of the best in Mass history and had Bills HC Dick Jauron on it). Gallup recruited some kids named Flutie to UCH (his kids names are Douglas, Darren, and Barry Jr. I believe) and we hired him.

Barry was a good guy, just a bad coach and administrator. He was at the helm of NU from 91-99 and had an overall record of 38-60-1. Gallup had two seasons where he won a total of 15 games, so you can see he coached some pretty bad NU teams.

Barry is now cheif ball licker for the athletic department at UCH, sucking up to alumni as the "director of football operations."

His sons were tremendous football players, and Darren was tragically killed in an automobile accident a couple of years ago, and Barry, Jr. will attend Notre Dame on a full scholarship.

[Mr. Tiger]

Here is one of former Jackson State coach James Bell's famous statements:

"We've made progress every week of the season in a lot of different areas," Bell said. "It just hasn't shown up in wins and losses." (That's Classic) :bang:

[Blue]

Frank Ellwood would be on my list. He managed to have losing records at both Marshall and Georgia Southern. The guy also had the personality of a snail. You wonder why anyone ever thought he could coach.

I couldn't agree less with your assessment of Frank Ellwood.

I have the upmost respect for Mr. Ellwood. I think Frank is a genuine principled man and found him to very engaging.

As far as his coaching ability I will not address his tenure at Marshall because I know little of what transpired while he was there and don't really care. In reference to his time spent as the interim head coach at Georgia Southern he basically took one for the team. He was on the athletic admin staff at Georgia Southern and was asked and accepted the unenviable task of being a interim coach for one year with the assistant coaches from the previous head coach. He knew what he was getting into and took the job and did in my estimation an admireable job under the circumstances. He had a staff who along with attempting to prepare a team to play were actively looking for employment elsewhere. He took on a difficult assignment and did the best he could in a very difficult situation.

[Mr. C]

Anyone who leaves out Rhody Islands Floyd Keith,Tim Stowers and Pete Adrian of Norfolk state (was an asst. @ Rhody) really does not know 1-AA football.
I don't think anyone who has a national championship ring on his finger as a head coach qualifies as "one of the worst coaches in I-AA ever." Regardless of whether people love him, or hate him, Stowers is one of only 21 coaches in that exclusive club.

[Mr. C]

I couldn't agree less with your assessment of Frank Ellwood.

I have the upmost respect for Mr. Ellwood. I think Frank is a genuine principled man and found him to very engaging.

As far as his coaching ability I will not address his tenure at Marshall because I know little of what transpired while he was there and don't really care. In reference to his time spent as the interim head coach at Georgia Southern he basically took one for the team. He was on the athletic admin staff at Georgia Southern and was asked and accepted the unenviable task of being a interim coach for one year with the assistant coaches from the previous head coach. He knew what he was getting into and took the job and did in my estimation an admireable job under the circumstances. He had a staff who along with attempting to prepare a team to play were actively looking for employment elsewhere. He took on a difficult assignment and did the best he could in a very difficult situation.

I guarantee you that the press didn't find Frank to be engaging.

Regardless of the situation, he took a playoff-caliber team (they were 9-4 the year and finished third in the SoCon to teams from Appalachian State and Marshall that were ranked in top five nationally, they then made the playoffs again in 1997 under Paul Johnson) and brought a talented team in with a 4-7 record, the worst in the school's modern football history.

Not saying Frank wasn't a nice person. Most people would say otherwise. But he was a horrendous coach at Marshall and Georgia Southern.

[Blue]

I will second this one. Ellwood came to GSU as a one year coach in 96. We were in the playoffs the year before and then Ellwood leads GSU to their only losing season. The next year Johnson takes over and we are back in the playoffs.

I played for this man and believe me he was in cruise control knowing that he was there for only one season.

fwiw ... Early in the year we got blown out by the eventual National Champion Florida in Gainesville and also lost to eventual 1996 IAA National Champion Marshall at home 29-13. We also lost a close game to App at home 35-28.

If he (Ellwood) was in cruise control then why did he bother to suspend all of the players involved in the shenanigans the night prior to the Citadel game? He dolled out multiple game suspensions to 19 players, 10 of whom were starters. The following week playing without those players we lost a very close game to ETSU 14-17 at homecoming.

The week after the ETSU game, with many of the players still serving suspensions we lost a game to Furman in Greenville 14-21. The game was very competitive and on the last play of the game Maurice Bing and a furman defender both came down with the ball in the endzone for what should have been ruled a touchdown. Had we got the correct ruling on that play and then succesfully converted the PAT we'd been in overtime. Again I emphasize that many starters did not play because of multiple game suspensions. Doesn't exactly sound like a man in cruise control to me.

Paul Johnson took over the following year (1997) and had a staff of assistant coaches who weren't preoccupied with looking for their next job.

Frank Ellwood is a helluava guy who took on a difficult task. I for one as an Georgia Southern alumnus, booster and fan offer a tip of my hat to Mr. Ellwood for a job well done.

[Mr. C]

It wasn't that moribund. We had Volek build the program from scratch basically. Volek started out with 10 schollies in 95, went 1-10 in 96 and 97. He finally got things going in 98 when we went 5-6, then 6-5 in 99 with two losses in OT. We went 7-4 in 2000 and were three plays from going 10-1. We had a down year in 01, was starting to come back to form in 02 when we went 5-7 and lost three games by 7 or less points.

Need to check some of the facts. True, Volek didn't have as much discipline, but he brought the program back from the dead.
In all honesty, if Volek was so good, why did he get fired? At least he developed his son Billy into a fine QB for Fresno State and the NFL, I'll give John Volek that.

[Blue]

I guarantee you that the press didn't find Frank to be engaging.

Regardless of the situation, he took a playoff-caliber team (they were 9-4 the year and finished third in the SoCon to teams from Appalachian State and Marshall that were ranked in top five nationally, they then made the playoffs again in 1997 under Paul Johnson) and brought a talented team in with a 4-7 record, the worst in the school's modern football history.

Not saying Frank wasn't a nice person. Most people would say otherwise. But he was a horrendous coach at Marshall and Georgia Southern.

How many coaches on Ellwood's staff stayed on? During the season they were all looking for jobs. The situation was dismal. Not Frank Ellwood's doing. He knew what he was in for when he took the job.

You make it sound as if the team was not competitive in 1996 and that is wrong. We played eventual champ Marshall (with Randy Moss) tooth and nail in Paulson and were in the game until they a fake punt broke our back in the 2nd half. We got a b.s. roughing the punter call in the Furman game that nullified a long punt return and did not get a correct call on the last play of the game that could of put the game into overtime.

We rushed the ball for over 300 yards against eventual National Champ Florida.

If you want to rag Ellwood for his days at Marshall have at it. But those that know the situation at Georgia Southern in the 1996 season know better.

[SactoHornetFan]

In all honesty, if Volek was so good, why did he get fired? At least he developed his son Billy into a fine QB for Fresno State and the NFL, I'll give John Volek that.

Because of some discipline issues he had in his last season, which, yes they were a black eye to the program, but, we had a stable fan support, which now Wanless and Moose have completely erroded except for a few diehards like myself.

Moose has to have a winning season or he's done. It will not come from Wanless, but from President Gonzalez. Enough alums have already complained to him about the situation.

[txstatebobcat]

Manny "The Savior" Matsakis


This guy was gawd aweful!!! He had the craziest methods in terms of training (staring at bottles of water, walking on coals type of things) and he was notorious for his own extra curricular activities.

I'm glad there was no choice but to give this guy the boot from Texas State. About the only positive was that we changed our helmet logo. The process got started by him.

When I read in the newspaper about Josh Tubbs(starting DT that year) talking smackto New Mexico right before the game(We lost 76-10 or something like that). That was the time when I knew that it was going to be a long, long year.

[Green Cookie Monster]

In all honesty, if Volek was so good, why did he get fired? At least he developed his son Billy into a fine QB for Fresno State and the NFL, I'll give John Volek that.

He got fired because he lost control of the team.

[henfan]

Jim Marshall was absolutely one of the worst coaches in the history of I-AA football. Marshall was so ineffectual at Richmond from '89-'94 that UT-Martin hired him. He went on to guide the Skyhawks to 2 wins in 3 years. You can't go wrong selecting a guy with a lifetime .212 winning percentage.

In the first half of a game against Delaware in the early '90's, Marshall passed out suddenly along the sidelines and was carted off to an area hospital. (It turned out that he was OK.) A Richmond fan sitting near me remarked towards the end of the game that it was the best coaching job Marshall had done in the second half of any game since arriving at Richmond.

[Mr. Tiger]

Jim Marshall was absolutely one of the worst coaches in the history of I-AA football. Marshall was so ineffectual at Richmond from '89-'94 that UT-Martin hired him. He went on to guide the Skyhawks to 2 wins in 3 years. You can't go wrong selecting a guy with a lifetime .212 winning percentage.

In the first half of a game against Delaware in the early '90's, Marshall passed out suddenly along the sidelines and was carted off to an area hospital. (It turned out that he was OK.) A Richmond fan sitting near me remarked towards the end of the game that it was the best coaching job Marshall had done in the second half of any game since arriving at Richmond.

:lmao: :lmao:

[NoCoDanny]

"Jim Marshall is running the wrong way!"

Is this the same guy from the Vikings?

[henfan]

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention a couple of superbly horrible coaches at Delaware State. John McKenzie coached the Hornets into the ground from '97-'99. Ironically, he has the same losing percentage as the aforementioned Marshall (not the same Marshall as the Vikes' great DE.)

And who could forget Charles Henderson? Henderson's two teams ('79-'80) were never anything close to good but he's most infamously known as the man who 'guided' the Hornets to 105-0 loss against Portland State on my birthday (11/8) in 1980. That historic loss was part of a string of 4 games that saw the Hornets get outscored 236-7! Of course, Henderson got axed after the '80 embarrassment in favor of Joe "The White Shadow" Purczycki, who revived DSU football.

[Mr. Tiger]

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention a couple of superbly horrible coaches at Delaware State. John McKenzie coached the Hornets into the ground from '97-'99. Ironically, he has the same losing percentage as the aforementioned Marshall (not the same Marshall as the Vikes' great DE.)

And who could forget Charles Henderson? Henderson's two teams ('79-'80) were never anything close to good but he's most infamously known as the man who 'guided' the Hornets to 105-0 loss against Portland State on my birthday (11/8) in 1980. That historic loss was part of a string of 4 games that saw the Hornets get outscored 236-7! Of course, Henderson got axed after the '80 embarrassment in favor of Joe "The White Shadow" Purczycki, who revived DSU football.

John McKenzie was a recent finalist to replace the all-time worst Division I-AA coach, Jackson State's JAMES BELL. But in all fairness to McKenzie, he has gotten much better since his Delaware State days. He was young and inexperienced then, even he admits that. He is an offensive coordinator iat Division I-AA Alcorn State now.

[henfan]

Thanks for the message, Tiger.

Yeah, I read that Johnny Mac was back in the SWAC. Didn't recall it was at ASU. In fairness, his failure at DSU wasn't entirely his own doing. Institutional support for FB during his tenure was at an all time low. Former Pres. DeLauder, a genuinely good man who did much for DSU, had zero interest in Hornet athletics and it showed. McKenzie was caught in the middle.

[mikebigg]

Bell almost ran JSUs program into the ground! JSU probably has the biggest fanbase in 1-AA and they all turned on him. JSU should expect to contend for the title every year in the SWAC but with Bell at the helm all of that was tossed out the window.

This man did something I never thought I would ever see...Stop JSU fans from packing the stadium. I went to JSU's homecoming this year against Grambling. The JSU faithful was enmasse at the stadium but protested by not coming into the game.

[blukeys]

Thanks for the message, Tiger.

Yeah, I read that Johnny Mac was back in the SWAC. Didn't recall it was at ASU. In fairness, his failure at DSU wasn't entirely his own doing. Institutional support for FB during his tenure was at an all time low. Former Pres. DeLauder, a genuinely good man who did much for DSU, had zero interest in Hornet athletics and it showed. McKenzie was caught in the middle.


Agreed. Mac was sold a bill of goods when he was recruited for the job. He was promised upgrades in faciliities that never occurred. Also DSU never fully funded the football scholarships. Under McKenzie and his successor DSU was consistently 16-20 scollies under 63. Al Lavan is a good coach but his 2 predecessors were operating under VERY difficult conditions.