NFL Power Rankings: The 15 Worst Coaches This NFL Season

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It was a rough 2010 NFL season for a few particular coaches.

As of now, seven franchises will have new coaches next season; two were already bumped from interim coach to head coach and another coach was already hired.

While the 2011 NFL playoffs rage on, the 24 teams watching at home now have nothing to do but look towards the future.

Before this season's best is crowned champion, lets take a look back at some of the worst.

Here are the 15 worst coaching jobs of this NFL season.

Honorable Mention: Tom Coughlin: New York Giants

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While Coughlin led the Giants to a 10-6 record, they missed the postseason for the second straight year in what can only be described as another late-season collapse.

The Giants, eight minutes away from wrapping up their division, fell apart against the Eagles.

The onside kick that was recovered by Philadelphia is inexcusable with that much time left, and while Tom reportedly "told" the players to be wary of an onside attempt, the question has to be asked why the hands team was not on the field. 

Coughlin's answer: "Did not want to surrender field position."

Well, the Giants surrendered field position, the football game, and their shot at the postseason after being blown out by the Green Bay Packers the following week.

Winning 10 games is winning 10 games, and while Coughlin cannot play the game for players, he has to be held accountable to some degree.

15. Jack Del Rio: Jacksonville Jaguars

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Jack Del Rio and the Jacksonville Jaguars looked like they had a legitimate shot at finally supplanting the Colts atop the AFC South; that did not happen.

At 8-5 and with three games to hold off Indianapolis, the Jags promptly lost all three and found themselves out of the playoffs for the third straight season.

Del Rio has never won the AFC South and has only led the Jags to the playoffs twice in eight seasons, but this 8-8 season was a serious disappointment.

With the season essentially on the line against the Colts in Week 15, the Jags failed to run the ball effectively against one of the worst rush defenses in the league.

Del Rio had his shot at the AFC South this season and blew it.

14. Norv Turner: San Diego Chargers

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After leading the Chargers to three straight AFC West titles, Turner failed to not only get the division, but did not even make the playoffs.

At 9-7, the Chargers were not good enough for the Wild Card and allowed the upstart Kansas City Chiefs to win the West.

The Chargers were second in the league in points and first in the league in yards on offense.

Defensively, they were first in the league in yards allowed and held teams to 20 points per game.

But Norv could not seem to win the games that mattered and it cost the Chargers a playoff berth.

13. Tony Sparano: Miami Dolphins

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Tony Sparano led the Dolphins to their second straight 7-9 season and, unfortunately, no playoff berth.

The Bill Parcells-picked coach could have lost his job if the Dolphins had played the Jim Harbaugh situation correctly.

Miami's offense was inept throughout most of the season and ranked 30th in the league in points. 

The Dolphins went 2-4 in the division, were a miserable 1-7 on their home field, and closed the season 1-4.

When you cannot win at home, it makes life very tough in the NFL.

12. Eric Mangini: Cleveland Browns

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The embattled Cleveland Browns head coach actually did a better job than most would have expected.

After almost losing his job at the hiring of Mike Holmgren, Mangini could have rolled over and died this season. While the Browns only went 5-11, he did get them to play hard.

While the Browns' numbers are rather terrible offensively—31st in points, 29th in yards—and mediocre at best defensively—13th in points, 22nd in yards—they played a lot of teams tough.

Five wins in back-to-back seasons does not get the job done, though, and the Browns were not a very good football team.

11. Jeff Fisher: Tennessee Titans

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Two years removed from a 13-3 record and the number one seed in the AFC, the Titans have missed the playoffs in each of the past two seasons.

Following a 5-2 start, the Titans folded up miserably down the stretch and won just one of their final eight games.

Offensively, they had trouble moving the football while battling inconsistent play from three different quarterbacks.

Their pass defense was atrocious, 29th in the league, and they allowed opponents almost 370 yards of total offense.

Fisher's ship will continue to sink if they do not figure out who their quarterback of the future is going to be.

10. Gary Kubiak: Houston Texans

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Following the first winning season in Texans history, many believed Kubiak and his team were poised to break out; that was not so.

The Texans finished the season 6-10, and while their offense was good as usual, they had one of the worst defenses in the league.

Running back Arian Foster was a nice surprise for a team with running back issues and injuries, and while he led the league in rushing, it was not enough.

The Texans secondary was absolutely destroyed time and time again and opponents scored almost 27 points per game on the Texans.

Kubiak kept his job and the Texans brought in a new defensive coordinator for next year (a face that will surface on this list later), but goodness gracious, do the Texans need help.

9. Mike Shanahan: Washington Redskins

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The 6-10 Washington Redskins, and coach Mike Shanahan, never got off on the right foot.

The one-hundred million dollar man, Albert Haynesworth, was never a factor and was never on Shanahan's good side.

New quarterback Donovan McNabb was never the answer for Shanahan.

The Redskins defense was one of the worst in all of football, allowing almost 390 yards per game to opponents.

The Mike Shanahan zone blocking scheme never got moving, either, and the Redskins used a plethora of running backs to failure; they were the 30th-ranked rushing attack.

The coach will want to get his own quarterback this offseason if he wants to succeed in Washington.

8. Chan Gailey: Buffalo Bills

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The good news for Gailey is his offense may work if he can find the right quarterback—it may work, no guarantees.

The bad news, though, is his rush defense was the absolute worst in football.

The 4-12 Bills won more games than they should have and were actually involved in a few others that they had no business being in.

The pass defense was third in the league, but the rush defense allowed 170 yard per game while allowing opponents to score 27 points per game; the Bills offense only averaged 17.

Again, Gailey was not terrible and his team certainly needs a lot of help, but winning only four games does not get the job done.

7. Marvin Lewis: Cincinnati Bengals

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Following up a 10-6 regular season and AFC North title with a 4-12 record is not the way to keep your job.

Fortunately for Lewis, his organization is accustomed to losing and since he has been there they actually have had a shot to win.

The Bengals offense was mediocre and Carson Palmer was an up-and-down roller coaster ride all season long.

Cincinnati was middle of the road in almost every statistic except winning; the Bengals simply found ways to lose football games.

From 10-6 to 4-12, it was a bad season for Marvin Lewis. 

6. Ken Whisenhunt: Arizona Cardinals

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One thing's for certain: The Arizona Cardinals were gutted by free agency at the end of last season.

However, in 2010, after back-to-back NFC West crowns, the Cardinals were the second-worst offense in all of football.

Whisenhunt's biggest problem was at the quarterback position, where nothing worked in the absence of Kurt Warner and the jettisoning of Matt Leinart.

Defensively, the Cardinals were not much better, allowing teams to score 27 points per game and giving up almost 375 yards of total offense.

Whisenhunt had no answers for anything and the Cardinals fell apart early and often.

5. John Fox: Carolina Panthers

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You do not lead your team to the worst record in football and typically keep your job; John Fox was no exception.

The Carolina Panthers suffered through countless quarterback woes and were the worst offense in football all season long.

The Panthers scored an anemic 12 points per game and only managed 258 yards per game.

Defensively, they were not nearly as bad—middle-of-the-road in most categories—but the lack of offense was too much to overcome.

Fox was not completely to blame. This team was in trouble early, but the Panthers were never really a threat to win many football games.

4. Josh McDaniels: Denver Broncos

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Josh McDaniels has always tried to do things his way, and so far in his coaching career it simply has not worked.

McDaniels was 3-9 before Denver cut him loose and he was well deserving of being fired.

The coach was again linked to a video tape controversy and the way he has failed to get along with certain players may have set the Broncos back for a few seasons.

McDaniels' offense had some success early, but it did not translate to many wins.

3. Mike Singletary: San Francisco 49ers

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The biggest problem for Singletary and the San Francisco 49ers was expectations.

The 49ers, preseason favorites for the NFC West, were actually only one game out of the race because the division was so terrible this season, but were not a very good football team.

San Francisco could never settle on a starting quarterback, had no consistency with what they wanted to do, and had trouble finding ways to win close football games.

Statistically they were in the middle-of-the-road in most categories and were a bad football team on the road.

Singletary was eventually fired for his performance, and the 49ers have since hired former Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh.

2. Wade Phillips: Dallas Cowboys

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One season after helping the Dallas Cowboys win their first postseason game in more than a decade, Wade Phillips and the Cowboys imploded.

Phillips led the Cowboys to a 1-7 start before Jerry Jones decided to make the change to Jason Garrett.

It certainly did not help when Tony Romo went down for the year in Week 7, but the Cowboys only had one win at that time and Phillips had already lost most of that team.

His successor, Garrett, led the 'Boys to a 5-3 record and was elevated to head coach for next season.

Phillips, better known for his defensive prowess, is the new defensive coordinator in Houston.

1. Brad Childress: Minnesota Vikings

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One year removed from a potential NFC championship, Brad Childress and the Vikings sank under the weight of expectations.

The coach constantly rubbed players the wrong way in Minnesota and had even lost part of his locker room prior to this season.

His constant "feud" with Brett Favre was a media distraction that focused on all the wrong things.

His 3-7 record, with a team expected to win the NFC, was unacceptable.

Childress got a free pass for a long time as the Favre situation overshadowed this last season.

Long story short, he was only 39-35 in four-and-a-half seasons in Minnesota and won only one postseason game during that time.

Childress' replacement, Leslie Frazier, was bumped from interim to head coach for next season.