Who is worst coach in Falcons history?

[RYNE 6,003]

Quinn. If this team wouldn’t of hired Kyle Shanahan and rode his offense to a Super Bowl Quinn would have been fired 2 or 3 years ago. 

[Falconcheff 5,492]

6 hours ago, Flyin' In DC said:

Bobby Petrino - I don't care what his record was. He was a pure coward

Yep. I've been a fan for over 30 years, and no matter how bad a coach was during that time, nobody was worse than Petrino's 13 game, college-coach authoritarian, cowardly exit existence...

[skullkrusher07 328]

 

Worst coach to actually finish a season?  Marion Campbell....twice.

Worst OVERALL?  Petrino...a baby and a coward

[Friendly Folk 1,480]

9 hours ago, Refried Beans said:

Dan Henning? Marion Campbell? Dan Quinn? 

1. Bobby Petrino- A true coward. 

2. Jim Hanifan- 0 winning percentage 0-4 

3. Marion Campbell- 11-32 Record and drunk half the time

4. Dan Henning- 22-41- This guy would have been best friends with McKay. Always telling everyone how smart he was and not winning anything

5. June Jones- 19-29 Record The original choker. Coached the Houston Oilers in their monumental collapse against Bills in playoffs. Was tagged as choke of all NFL history until Dan Quinn claimed title. 

6. Jim Mora- 26-22 Record Mora lost all control of team after Art Blank rolled Vick out onto turf in wheelchair. Mora couldnt control team because they would go right to owner with complaints. Mora was undisciplined but we will never know if he was undermined by Blank. .500 coach non the less. 

7. Dan Quinn- 43-37 Record but has been worthless since Shannihan split town. The ultimate rah rah do boy. King of the choke. Knows nothing about in game adjustments and his defenses turn into a pumpkin once Falcons get lead of 21 points or more. A position coach not a head coach. 

8. Jerry Glanville- 27-37 Record.  He had a losing record but the Falcons looked good doing it. 2 Legit to Quit and Deion and the Black Uniforms all came about because of Glanville.  

9.  Leeman Bennet- 46-41 Record. Very underrated coach, had the franchise on the cusp of consistancy until Smith family got sold a bag of bull on Henning. 

10. Dan Reeves- 49-59 Record- Brought respect to what was known in NFL circles as a joke NFL franchise. Drafted Vick and who knows what would have been had Blank not been sold a bag of bull by McKay and bounced Reeves. Vick was under control with Reeves and played his best football, with Mora it all fell apart. 

11. Mike Smith- 66-46 By far the most consistant of all the Falcons coaches. Never lost back to back games. Another fairly good coach bounced by a owner in a knee jerk reaction becasue he listened to a Team President in McKay who has never played football.  

Petrino is the obvious choice but didn’t really stay long enough to be properly analyzed. 
 

That said, Marion Campbell was the worst and it’s not even close. A great defensive mind and that was his calling, not head coaching. As Bob Uecker once said about the Braves signing him for a second time, we couldn’t believe he could be as bad as he was the first time so they tried him again. 

[derttyfalconfan 65]

june jones and jeff george, lets  rock this boat    

[BUBBASBEANS 1,163]

That clown Petrino but as I think about it.....at least he walked away when he realized he couldn’t hack it.  At least he didn’t stay here to torture this fanbase

[Friendly Folk 1,480]

8 hours ago, octoslash said:

Records aside, I was very familiar with the organization while Henning was here and I don't know if he was the worst, but there certainly hasn't been a Falcons coach any worse than him.  

I give Campbell a break because while he was lousy as a HC, it was obvious he really took the job more as a favor to the Clampetts (twice) than any other reason.  

Doesn’t matter why. It was a straightforward question. Who’s the worst.... Campbell by Secretariat at Belmont proportions. 

[derttyfalconfan 65]

bring back june jones and  find out what dungeun   jeff george is  in and lets   try this   again   

[octoslash 18,182]

5 minutes ago, Trump MAGA said:

Doesn’t matter why. It was a straightforward question. Who’s the worst.... Campbell by Secretariat at Belmont proportions. 

Okay.

Sorry for giving my opinion. 

[derttyfalconfan 65]

i know we cant bring back john madden  ,  or tom landry   with his kool  suit and hat   - rip   ,  i was gonna suggest  ric flair   

[derttyfalconfan 65]

ric fair as coach, if we cant win, then we will kick  thier a    ..  we might never win, but we will win the fight  

[Friendly Folk 1,480]

11 hours ago, octoslash said:

Okay.

Sorry for giving my opinion. 

I wasn’t trying to be abrasive. You gave a good reason in that he was a reluctant hire. I was just saying regardless of that, on the field he was the worst. 

[Friendly Folk 1,480]

11 hours ago, derttyfalconfan said:

ric fair as coach, if we cant win, then we will kick  thier a    ..  we might never win, but we will win the fight  

He could teach them the Figure Four Leg Lock finishing move. Unfortunately this team is performing the Flair Flop quite well. 

 

Edited October 8, 2020 by Trump MAGA

[WhenFalconsWin 27,933]

You start with Pigtrino and work your way down. 

[freakyfalcon 722]

15 hours ago, Zzzzz said:

 

That is correct June Jones wasnt with the Oilers at the time.  Jack Pardee was the coach of the Oilers

[ratesforless 1,211]

I would say Petrino but that's way too easy a call. He mentally checked out of the hotel the second after he realized that Vick wasn't going to be here and made if official after that Monday night game against NOLA. And I wasn't around for Norb Hecker (thank God). He was the K-Mart alternative when Lombardi turned Rankin Sr. down and come to find out, was the only Green Bay assistant that Lombardi didn't recommend for the job after he declined. And it showed.

As bad as Quinn has been, he did get the Falcons to, well, 'that game' (I can't even call that night of infamy SB LI). A statue of him would be in front of MBS and Falcon HQ right now had he in fact won it, even though he has a losing record since 'that game'. So I won't even place him as the worst, either.

IMHO, two guys stand out as being the absolute worst, which considering the franchise we're talking about, is a tall order...

Dan Henning took a team that was in the playoffs two of the last three seasons and did everything humanly possible to run it into the ground. While he tried his best to tell everyone here that he was the brains behind the Redskins' ascension and wanted to create Washington 2.0, it was only a matter of time before it became crystal clear that Joe Gibbs was truly the driving force. From having live practices with days left before the season which cost them William Andrews to consecutive 4-12 seasons where the team had the dubious distinction of nearly having the worst offense and defense (26th and 28th in a 28-team league), he has to be in strong consideration for this title.

And of course, Marion Campbell has to be in the running as well. The Swamp Fox was a very good defensive coach; well, at times (UGA fans wouldn't be as quick to cosign). But as far as running the show is concerned, he was probably one of the worst head coaches in NFL history. Dude won a fourth of his games here and never won more than six games in a full season. As awful as June Jones was and cartoonish as Glanville was, even they did that. A pair of Falcon players even died; while no fault of his, it just cast an even deeper pall upon the franchise. His teams were so bad that they were literally inches away from moving to Jacksonville after their lease with AFCS was up in 1990 because folks were reluctant AF to build a new domed stadium with taxpayer $$$ until the possibility of hosting the 1996 Summer Olympics began to get really real. Hence, the teal seats and pastel colors that was originally splashed on the Georgia Dome. The sales pitch to get it built was that it would help the city host big-boy events, i.e. the Super Bowl, Final Fours, et al. Knowing they dodged a bullet, the Smiths immediately went searching for a head coach to bring some excitement to the sidelines (see Glanville, Jerry)...

 

[ratesforless 1,211]

1 hour ago, freakyfalcon said:

That is correct June Jones wasnt with the Oilers at the time.  Jack Pardee was the coach of the Oilers

I was going to correct this later but glad that you beat me to it. Jones was Glanville's OC at the time if I'm not mistaken...

[etherdome 6,347]

23 hours ago, Refried Beans said:

Dan Henning? Marion Campbell? Dan Quinn? 

1. Bobby Petrino- A true coward. 

2. Jim Hanifan- 0 winning percentage 0-4 

3. Marion Campbell- 11-32 Record and drunk half the time

4. Dan Henning- 22-41- This guy would have been best friends with McKay. Always telling everyone how smart he was and not winning anything

5. June Jones- 19-29 Record The original choker. Coached the Houston Oilers in their monumental collapse against Bills in playoffs. Was tagged as choke of all NFL history until Dan Quinn claimed title. 

6. Jim Mora- 26-22 Record Mora lost all control of team after Art Blank rolled Vick out onto turf in wheelchair. Mora couldnt control team because they would go right to owner with complaints. Mora was undisciplined but we will never know if he was undermined by Blank. .500 coach non the less. 

7. Dan Quinn- 43-37 Record but has been worthless since Shannihan split town. The ultimate rah rah do boy. King of the choke. Knows nothing about in game adjustments and his defenses turn into a pumpkin once Falcons get lead of 21 points or more. A position coach not a head coach. 

8. Jerry Glanville- 27-37 Record.  He had a losing record but the Falcons looked good doing it. 2 Legit to Quit and Deion and the Black Uniforms all came about because of Glanville.  

9.  Leeman Bennet- 46-41 Record. Very underrated coach, had the franchise on the cusp of consistancy until Smith family got sold a bag of bull on Henning. 

10. Dan Reeves- 49-59 Record- Brought respect to what was known in NFL circles as a joke NFL franchise. Drafted Vick and who knows what would have been had Blank not been sold a bag of bull by McKay and bounced Reeves. Vick was under control with Reeves and played his best football, with Mora it all fell apart. 

11. Mike Smith- 66-46 By far the most consistant of all the Falcons coaches. Never lost back to back games. Another fairly good coach bounced by a owner in a knee jerk reaction becasue he listened to a Team President in McKay who has never played football.  

Hanifan was an interim coach, so he really should not be included.

VanBrocklyn was a horrible.  

Jerry Glanville was a clown....a total embarrassment.

This is a long list of terrible coaches, but I have to say that the worst of all was Petrino.  A liar and a scum bag.....and not a very good coach.  

Our best head coach was Dan Reeves and he was completely undermined by Arthur Blank.  Artie wanted an entertaining product to excite fans and Reeves was an old-school guy that was slowly building a contender.   

[PokerSteve 27,308]

1 hour ago, ratesforless said:

I would say Petrino but that's way too easy a call. He mentally checked out of the hotel the second after he realized that Vick wasn't going to be here and made if official after that Monday night game against NOLA. And I wasn't around for Norb Hecker (thank God). He was the K-Mart alternative when Lombardi turned Rankin Sr. down and come to find out, was the only Green Bay assistant that Lombardi didn't recommend for the job after he declined. And it showed.

 

 

Norb's the guy I believe should own the Worst HC crown. What a portentious start to a franchise destined to be a 7-alarm dumpster fire for most of its existence, all the way up to the noxious, nauseating present.

After much hope and fanfare, we watched (yes, I was alive and watching way back there in 1965) Hecker take his motley collection of cast-offs, wanna-bes and our one football player Tommy Nobis and go 3-11.

It was an inauspicious beginning, but Falcon fans were to learn immediately that no matter how bad you think the Falcons suck, they can always suck worse. They proved that in their second season by going 1-12-1. Hecker was shown the door after compiling a 4-27 record, which is still right up there with the best all-time losing Falcon HC's in terms of percentage for those HC's who coached more than a handful of games here.

Hecker's hire would begin Rankin Smith's habit of somehow finding the worst possible HC and front office people for his football team. Blank has followed in almost lock-step with his HC hires, probably not wanting to bust up the trend the Smiths had established. 😆

[Ghosts of Glanville 3,395]

Man, just when I thought the board couldn’t get more depressing I read this thread. 
 

I think you can split them into tiers:

The Greats:   None

Usually Competent:  Reeves, Smith, Bennett

The Flameouts:  Glanville, Mora, Quinn

Total Disasters:  Henning, Campbell x 2, Jones, Petrino 

Incomplete:  Hanifan, Phillips, Thomas

[E. T. 5,793]

Without question... Bobby Petrino! I've never witnessed anything like that, I mean, he took us to a new low. And we were already pretty low. Dat Fu@ker!

[FalconFanSince1970 24,531]

On 10/7/2020 at 11:39 AM, Andrews_31 said:

Dan Henning, no contest!!!!

Bro. The worst Falcon regime by far.

[Friendly Folk 1,480]

On 10/8/2020 at 10:58 AM, etherdome said:

Hanifan was an interim coach, so he really should not be included.

VanBrocklyn was a horrible.  

Jerry Glanville was a clown....a total embarrassment.

This is a long list of terrible coaches, but I have to say that the worst of all was Petrino.  A liar and a scum bag.....and not a very good coach.  

Our best head coach was Dan Reeves and he was completely undermined by Arthur Blank.  Artie wanted an entertaining product to excite fans and Reeves was an old-school guy that was slowly building a contender.   

 Van Brocklin was not horrible. Not great but certainly not horrible by Falcon standards. 
 

Reeves the best? Did you forget Smitty? 
 

Smitty 66-46 overall, Five consecutive winning seasons, 4 playoff appearances. Winning seasons in 5 of 7 years. 
 

Reeves 49-59-1 overall, ZERO consecutive winning seasons, 2 playoff appearances. Winning seasons in 2 of 7 seasons. 
 

How is there even a question who is the best? And I’d even say Bennett may be #2  

Edited October 9, 2020 by Trump MAGA

[etherdome 6,347]

10 hours ago, Trump MAGA said:

 Van Brocklin was not horrible. Not great but certainly not horrible by Falcon standards. 
 

Reeves the best? Did you forget Smitty? 
 

Smitty 66-46 overall, Five consecutive winning seasons, 4 playoff appearances. Winning seasons in 5 of 7 years. 
 

Reeves 49-59-1 overall, ZERO consecutive winning seasons, 2 playoff appearances. Winning seasons in 2 of 7 seasons. 
 

How is there even a question who is the best? And I’d even say Bennett may be #2  

Reeves started with very little.  His play-calling was conservative, but mostly because he knew the talent on the team.  Also, Reeves never had a GM as talented as TD.  I know TD gets slammed a lot on these boards, but he is way, way better than Ken Herock was.  

I stand by my ranking.  Van Brocklyn was infamous for expecting all of his players to be as talented as he was.  He was a lousy teacher and not adaptive at all.  

[Lornoth 12,047]

How was Smitty's firing a knee-jerk reaction? I liked the guy but we were trash for years under him before he was kicked.