Best 1-Year Sports Turnarounds of the Decade
It’s always great to see a sports team or individual really turn things around.
The best single-season improvements from the past decade often come courtesy of teams. But on occasion, an individual will bounce back after an off year in an equally inspiring way.
If the Miami Dolphins can go from winning one game to winning 11, then there is hope. If the Boston Red Sox can go from laughingstock to World Series champion in just one season, then there is hope. If Michael Vick can rebuild his reputation after a horrific scandal, then anything can happen.
Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, these folks went and did something like this, totally redeeming themselves.
Honorable Mention: 2013 Kansas City Chiefs
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The 2012 Kansas City Chiefs were 2-14. In 2013, they improved that record to 11-5 behind new quarterback Alex Smith, running back Jamaal Charles and head coach Andy Reid.
The Chiefs went on to lose in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs.
2013-14 Kentucky Basketball
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Kentucky basketball is not generally known to have bad seasons. But in 2012-13, Calipari’s defending champion Wildcats finished 21-11 (12-6) going into postseason play. And by postseason, I mean the NIT.
Kentucky lost its first-round NIT game to Robert Morris, and that was the end of that dismal season.
Due to a stellar recruiting class, the ‘Cats entered the 2013-14 season ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 preseason poll. They made it all the way to the national championship game, where they lost to Cinder-U-Conn.
2006 Wake Forest Football
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In the 2005-06 college football season, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons finished 4-7 (1-3). The very next year, the team finished 11-3 (6-2) en route to its first conference championship in 36 years.
Behind AP College Football Coach of the Year Jim Grobe, the Deacons won a school-record 11 games and played in the Orange Bowl.
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Serena Williams, 2007 Australian Open
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Serena Williams is undoubtedly one of the greatest tennis stars of all time, but she entered the 2007 Australian Open unseeded and ranked No. 81 in the world.
Prior to 2007, Williams had been battling depression and injury issues, and she dropped out of the top 100 completely at one point in 2006.
The Australian Open in ’07 was her resurgence. She defeated No. 1 seed Maria Sharapova decidedly, 6-1, 6-2 in the final.
2008 Tampa Bay Rays
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Entering the 2008 MLB season, the Tampa Bay Rays had never had a winning record. Since its inception in 1998, the team had never been over .500 and never made the playoffs. In 2007, the Rays lost 96 games.
Following 2007, the team got an overhaul. They dropped “Devil” from their name, got new uniforms and won 97 games.
The new Rays made it all the way to the World Series, where they eventually lost to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Peyton Manning, 2012
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Peyton Manning missed the 2011 NFL season as he attempted to recover from several neck and spine surgeries. At the time, it was unclear if he would ever play football again.
In 2012, despite being cleared to play, he was released by the Indianapolis Colts, the only professional team he’d ever played for.
He signed with the Denver Broncos, and at age 36, Manning was a first-team All-Pro. He threw for 4,659 yards and 37 touchdowns and finished the season with an 82.42 QBR.
His Broncos finished 13-3 and first in the AFC West.
2013 Auburn Football
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The Auburn Tigers went undefeated in 2010 and won the BCS National Championship Game. Just two years later in 2012, the team finished the regular season 3-9, winless in the conference and failing to make a bowl game.
They redeemed themselves in 2013 with Gus Malzahn coming in as head coach. The season was filled with incredible moments, including Chris Davis’ unbelievable last-second runback to win the Iron Bowl.
The Tigers finished the season 12-2, just shy of another national championship—they lost to Jameis Winston and the Florida State Seminoles.
Michael Vick, 2009
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Once a sports star falls from grace in the public eye, it can be very challenging to win anyone back.
Michael Vick performed such a turnaround in 2009 when he returned to the NFL after an 18-month prison stint for dogfighting.
Vick was suspended indefinitely by the NFL, sentenced to prison and publicly disgraced. That’s why his 2009 contract with the Philadelphia Eagles represented such a massive turnaround.
Vick returned to the NFL, began to advocate for animal rights and somehow, improbably, began to turn his image around.
2014 Kansas City Royals
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Until 2014, the Kansas City Royals hadn’t made the playoffs since 1985. In 2013, the team went 86-76 and finished third in the AL Central.
In 2014, the Royals went 89-73, nabbed the first wild-card spot and made it all the way to Game 7 of the World Series.
Even though they came within one historic pitching performance of winning a World Series, fans in Kansas City still have a lot to be proud of.
2011-12 UMass Lowell Hockey
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One of the lesser-known turnaround stories of the past decade comes to us courtesy of the University of Massachusetts Lowell men’s hockey team.
In the 2010-11 season, the River Hawks finished with a 5-25-4 record. The following year, the team finished 24-13-1 and completed the second-best single-season turnaround in the history of Division I hockey.
UMass Lowell returned to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1996 and lost in the quarterfinal.
2008 Miami Dolphins
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The 2007 Miami Dolphins had a new head coach, and they won just one game all season.
Cam Cameron was gone in 2008 after just one season, and his replacement helped the Dolphins complete one of the greatest single-season turnarounds of the decade.
The 2008 team had 28 new players and a new coach in Tony Sparano. The Dolphins went 11-5 and made a postseason appearance for the first time since 2001.
2007-08 Boston Celtics
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The 2006-07 Boston Celtics were 24-58. Not awesome.
After that season, the team made a little trade that brought Kevin Garnett to Boston.
With a roster that included Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo, the 2007-08 Celtics went 66-16 and won the NBA Finals.
2013 Boston Red Sox
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The 2012 Boston Red Sox were 69-93 under the leadership of manager Bobby Valentine.
Valentine was fired at the end of the year, and John Farrell came to town from Toronto. Farrell told Jackie MacMullan of ESPNBoston.com, “People were motivated to rewrite their own story. There was a tremendous amount of embarrassment last year.”
In 2013, the Red Sox won 97 games and the World Series. Quite the turnaround.
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