5 Sports Coaches Who Are Past Their Prime

Being a head coach in any sport isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do.

You have to deal with a bunch of entitled players who think that their worth is a hell of a lot more than it really is, while taking the blame for the bullshit decisions those athletes make during games.

Every sports fan knows that the first to go during bad times is the head coach, but I’m giving you a few head coaches who might want to voluntarily walk away before getting canned, because these are five coaches who are way past their prime.

5. Les Miles, LSU Football
Sorry about it, LSU fans, but Les Miles has to “Geaux!”

You may be telling me to go choke on some Louisiana catfish and bite a big one with Miles’ addition to this list, but the same Les Miles who led the Tigers to two national title appearances and one championship isn’t walking through that door anytime soon.

His first three seasons in Baton Rouge saw him lose just six games. And while he has racked up double-digit wins in each of the past four seasons, his Tigers have already lost two games this year to fall out of the national rankings.

The dude knows how to coach, but the magic he once spread all over Tiger Stadium has floated away.

4. Tom Coughlin, New York Giants
Does anyone seriously remember when the New York Giants stood atop the podium holding the Lombardi Trophy?

Stop being such an ass, I know we all probably do—seeing how it was less than three seasons ago, but it sure as hell seems a lot longer than that.

That’s because, well, the G-Men have blown serious ass since winning that Super Bowl, and a lot of it falls on Tom Coughlin’s shoulders. With an even 19-19 record in the two-plus seasons since, Coughlin has relied too much on his past and not enough on adapting to his players, seeming to lose the respect of some the roster.

Hell, former Giants great Lawrence Taylor said as much last season when the team was struggling.

Coughlin has proven to be a winner while in the City of Gotham by winning two Super Bowls in his 11 years—but, let’s face it, things are going to get worse before they get any better with him marching the sidelines in Giant Blue.

3. Frank Vogel, Indiana Pacers
Anyone who knows anything about sports had to have seen this one coming, right?

While Frank Vogel has done an admirable job in leading the Indiana Pacers to two straight Eastern Conference Finals appearances, it’s safe to say that the season is already fucked now that the Pacers have lost star forward Paul George for the season following a serious knee injury this summer.

Sure, Indiana finished with the best record in the East last year and snagged the No. 1 seed for the playoffs—but they didn’t exactly do it without a ton of dysfunction, going just 16-14 in the second half of the season and needing seven games to dispose of the lowly Atlanta Hawks in the first-round.

With the Cleveland Cavs just stacking their roster, the Chicago Bulls getting former MVP Derrick Rose back and George on crutches, Vogel would be smart to jump ship now.

2. Rex Ryan, New York Jets
Considering I already put New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin on this list, I must give the disclaimer that I do not spite the Big Apple.

It’s just that, well, the football teams have really sucked, lately—and in New York Jets’ head coach Rex Ryan’s case, it has been a really shitty past couple of years.

After coming in with a bang by reaching two straight AFC title games, Rex hasn’t been as confident as he once was about his team reaching a Super Bowl—which he predicted in 2011—nor should he.

While the blame can’t entirely be placed on the shoulders of Ryan for the Jets slipping to irrelevance—the front office hasn’t exactly set him up with a playoff-like roster—he has shown incompetence by continuing to play shitty quarterbacks like Mark Sanchez and Geno Smith in the past several seasons.

1. Roy Williams, North Carolina Men’s Hoops
There was a time, not too long ago, when North Carolina Tar Heels men’s basketball coach Roy Williams was considered the top coach in the nation.

Shit, that seems like ages ago, because Ol’ Roy is a shadow of his former self.

Winning his last national title back during the 2008-09 season, he followed that with an NIT runner-up—otherwise known as a shitty season in Chapel Hill—before making a run in the NCAA tourney the following two seasons with back-to-back Elite Eight appearances.

Since then, he has guided the Heels to two-straight double-digit loss seasons and a spot in the Sweet Sixteen, losing both times.

And his recruiting prowess—which should see a fuck ton of high school kids wanting to wear Tar Heel blue—yeah, they haven’t finished in the top-3 in team rankings since 2009, leaving UNC with mediocre talent to try and takedown other blueblood programs like Kentucky, Duke and Roy’s old squad, Kansas.

Nick Dimengo avatar
Nick's a Sr. Editor for BroBible, mainly relying on his Sports Encyclopedia-like mind to write about things. He's also the co-host of the BroBible podcast "We Run This," and can be seen sweating his ass off while frequently running 10+ miles around Seattle.