10 Coaches Failing to Meet Lofty Expectations
Expectations are one of the most powerful forces in sports.
It is a situation applying to coaches as much as players. Meet expectations and prosper, as some of the longest-tenured coaches in sports can attest. Fail to hit the bar and get walked out the door, like Al Golden with the Miami Hurricanes last year, among many others.
The nature of expectations varies, of course. Look at the NFL, where Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots and Marvin Lewis of the Cincinnati Bengals are the longest-tenured coaches in the league—the set of expectations required by both organizations and fans to keep them employed so long at one stop varies wildly.
Alas, finding those who have yet to meet high expectations isn't difficult. The following coaches might not be out of a job soon, but they have yet to meet the expectations of their fans and bosses. Something will give one way or another in time.
Darrell Hazell, Purdue
1 of 10
Darrell Hazell took over the head coach gig with the Purdue Boilermakers in 2013 on a six-year deal.
It was a boon of a hire for the program, one ready to perhaps leave the cellar of the Big Ten for good after playing like a .500 team and making two consecutive bowl games in the final years of Danny Hope.
Purdue hasn't made a bowl since Hazell took the job.
Heck, Purdue hasn't posted more than three wins in a season.
Hazell has done the inverse of building a middling, if not competitive, Big Ten team, orchestrating campaigns of 1-11, 3-9 and 2-10.
The 2016 campaign might be a breakthrough for Hazell, who through three games has led the program to a pair of wins. Maybe it all turns around and someone takes an extinguisher to the seat, but it's too early to ignore three years of evidence.
Bryan Price, Cincinnati Reds
2 of 10
The Cincinnati Reds have a 183-247 record under manager Bryan Price.
Price is far from the first pitching coach to flail aimlessly as a manager, but he's one of the most notable to date. The Reds went from three playoff appearances in four seasons with Joey Votto pulling in an MVP award in 2010 to this.
This, being three consecutive sub-.500 seasons and an odd, expletive-filled rant aimed at the media.
The Reds seemed to have it all at one point, with names such as Votto, Brandon Phillips, Jay Bruce and Aroldis Chapman leading the surge. It fell apart, and deserved or not, it's going to come down on Price's head.
Even treading water hasn't happened at this point.
Clay Helton, USC
3 of 10
The only team the USC Trojans have beat since Clay Helton took over as permanent head coach is Utah State.
Helton became the official coach after replacing Steve Sarkisian on November 30 of last year. Since then, USC has lost to Stanford in the Pac-12 Championship Game, Wisconsin in the Holiday Bowl and then Alabama, Stanford and Utah to start the season.
It's not easy for even USC to take on three ranked opponents in the span of four weeks, but a single win would have been nice. Helton might not have all of his own recruits on the field yet, but only so much of an excuse can be made.
Helton got offered a dream job while underqualified and took it. The results speak for themselves.
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Chip Hale, Arizona Diamondbacks
4 of 10
Chip Hale is a case of seemingly being handed the world and floundering.
Hale was one of the nicer success stories with the Arizona Diamondbacks after getting hired in 2015, having the team improve on its 2014 campaign by 15 games. The front office made a few moves and expected an even bigger jump this year.
No dice.
The Diamondbacks are right back to 90-loss territory despite strong reasons to the contrary, as Jon Heyman of Today's Knuckleball explained in August:
"The problem is that it appears his bosses believe that they shouldn’t be nearly this bad, even with all the injuries (lately they’ve killed the Mets but no one else). They have received some very nice years from Jean Segura, Welington Castillo, Brandon Drury, Yasmany Tomas, an excellent year from Jake Lamb and for the most part the usual year from Paul Goldschmidt after an uncharacteristically slow start. There’s been a decent amount of turnover in Arizona in recent years, which could work in Hale’s favor, or against him if they continue the trend.
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Maybe Arizona fans and the organization had hopes too high. Maybe Hale did himself a disservice by helping the team improve so much on a record.
Regardless, Hale hasn't come close to hitting on high expectations.
John Fox, Chicago Bears
5 of 10
John Fox is an oddity in the realm of coaching expectations.
He won four AFC West crowns with the Denver Broncos before leaving the team, which then went on to win a Super Bowl.
Meanwhile, Fox joined the Chicago Bears to huge expectations. He was to rebuild the defense and squeeze the most out of quarterback Jay Cutler. With Alshon Jeffery and exciting rookie wideout Kevin White, what could go wrong?
Plenty, apparently, because the Bears went 6-10 last year and have started 2016 at an 0-3 mark. Injuries haven't helped, but Fox hasn't established the necessary roster depth nor have his notable draft picks hit the mark.
Maybe Chicago gets it together in future years, but Fox might not stick around long enough to help.
Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
6 of 10
Nobody said expectations were fair.
One could argue Kevin Sumlin hasn't posted an improved record with the Texas A&M Aggies since 2012, his debut season, when the team managed an 11-2 record.
To be fair, though, it was Texas A&M's first time hitting the 10-win mark since 1994.
Alas, Sumlin has directed consecutive 8-4 campaigns, and the Aggies have finished fourth or worse in the SEC three years and running.
Sumlin and the Aggies have started off hot this year, seizing wins against ranked UCLA and Arkansas teams. Later tests against Tennessee, Alabama, Ole Miss and LSU will decide if the team will crawl its way back toward fulfilled expectations.
Facing some of the same adversity most coaches encounter, Sumlin simply hasn't been able to meet lofty expectations nor match the hype of his debut year.
Rex Ryan, Buffalo Bills
7 of 10
After zero AFC East crowns while playing second fiddle to Tom Brady and the Patriots, Rex Ryan hopped from the New York Jets to the Buffalo Bills.
Little seems to have changed. Ryan, known for strong defenses and little offense, landed above an 8-8 record twice in six seasons with the Jets.
But there was new hope around his coaching prospects with the Bills. He'd have an elite defense with Mario Williams and others. Even better, he'd finally be gifted a strong offense led by quarterback Tyrod Taylor, top-tier wideout Sammy Watkins and elite running back LeSean McCoy.
Ryan's first year, of course, was an 8-8 showing. While it's hard to tell if Ryan will ever match the strong expectations and use the knowledge gained in the AFC East after all these years to win it, 2016 hasn't started out hot at 1-2.
Often hyped, Ryan needs to eventually match it.
Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
8 of 10
One becomes the head coach of Notre Dame football because of a skill set looking like it can produce championships.
Brian Kelly has yet to do so, making and losing the 2012 BCS National Championship Game, which was coincidentally one of two double-digit-win campaigns for teams under his direction since 2010.
Bowl record has likely kept Kelly around this long. His 3-3 record isn't amazing, but it sure beats past names like Charlie Weis (1-2), Tyrone Willingham (0-1) and Bob Davie (0-3).
Kelly's Fighting Irish have started the season 1-3 this year, so it looks like more of the same. Over the years, Kelly has gone from a guy who looked like he could alter the course of recent history for the program to one helplessly riding the wave.
Jason Kidd, Milwaukee Bucks
9 of 10
The Brooklyn Nets found out in a hurry what happens when one entrusts Jason Kidd with expectations.
Kidd spent one year as the coach in Brooklyn, going 44-38 before leaving town. The folks in Milwaukee management didn't mind how the split went down, though, because this was at a time teams for some reason placed a lot of faith in former veteran players with minimal coaching experience.
What could go wrong, right? Kidd squeaked by with a 41-41 record in his debut with the Bucks, then hit 33-49 last season. A pity, really, given the talent of guys like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker.
Thus far, Kidd hasn't been able to lure any major names to town or put up a serious fight in a somewhat weak Eastern Conference, at least compared to its counterpart.
Charlie Strong, Texas
10 of 10
Following in Mack Brown's footsteps at Texas isn't the easiest task in the world.
Such was the job thrust upon Charlie Strong, who in the early throes of his third year in control has yet to register a .500 season. Strong, established recruiting for Texas or not, went 6-7 and 5-7 with one bowl appearance before starting this year 2-1.
Clearly needing time to realize he's not in the Big East or American Athletic Conference with Louisville, Strong has yet to get the program looking like the one during Brown's prime years, when Texas won bowl games in seven of eight attempts.
Maybe Strong gets there in time if given the chance. But for taking over such a prestigious program after a historic name, he hasn't come close to hitting expectations.
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