Most Hated Coaches

Mark Schlabach of ESPN (if you HATE ESPN, then don't click on it!) put together a list of the Top 10 Most Hated Coaches in college football . . .

1. Steve Spurrier: Rival fans hated Spurrier not only because he beat them so often while coaching at Florida, but more so because he loved to tell them about it afterward. From Spurrier’s famous jabs like “Free Shoes U.” and “Can’t Spell Citrus Without UT,” the Old Ball Coach gave rival fans myriad reasons to dislike him.


2. Woody Hayes: One of the most successful coaches in history, Hayes guided Ohio State to 13 Big Ten titles and three consensus national championships. But he is perhaps best remembered for his chronically boorish behavior, which included physical confrontations with sportswriters, photographers, opposing coaches and athletics directors, referees and even opposing players.


3. Barry Switzer: A bootlegger’s son from Arkansas, Switzer wasn’t afraid to rub opposing coaches and fans the wrong way while dominating the Big 8 during his ultra-successful career at Oklahoma from 1973 to 1988. Switzer always wanted to hang “half a hundred” on opponents and wasn’t afraid to run up the score with his wishbone offense. Opposing fans’ beliefs that Switzer often cut corners when it came to NCAA rules were confirmed when his program crumbled under a plethora of scandals in 1989.



Future Buckeye Football Player



4. Jimmy Johnson: Johnson coached Miami for five seasons during its “Decade of Dominance,” and he’s remembered for fostering the Hurricanes’ infamous bad-boy culture. Many of Johnson’s players were showboats on and off the field, and he wasn’t afraid to run up the score on lesser opponents, either. His team infamously wore combat fatigues to a pregame event before playing Penn State in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl.

5. Lane Kiffin

6. Bobby Petrino

7. Urban Meyer


8. Jackie Sherrill: Few coaches were more despised by their teams’ chief rivals. While Sherrill was coaching at Pittsburgh, legendary Penn State coach Joe Paterno said he wouldn’t retire because he didn’t want to leave college football “to the Jackie Sherrills and Barry Switzers of the world” (Paterno later apologized and became Sherrill’s friend). Texas fans hated Sherrill because he had a 7-3 record against the Longhorns.


9. Jim Tressel


10. Rich Rodriguez

Personally, I was never very fond of John Cooper, Mike Gottfried, Walt Harris, Lou Holtz (and that includes his alter ego Dr. Lou!), Lloyd Carr, or Bobby Bowden and I'm not overly fond of Bielema, $aban, or Dantonio among active coaches.

Who is your least favorite college coach?