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10 toughest coaching jobs in sports
Jeff Gordon
Special to FOXSports.com
Link
From a safe distance, managing the Yankees may seem like the perfect baseball job.
Owner George Steinbrenner is willing to fund a $200 million payroll. He swallows hard and pays the luxury tax bill for all these extremely expensive players.
The organization has always generated plenty of young players and the future resources of this franchise appear unlimited. A spectacular new stadium is rising in the Bronx and team revenues dwarf the financial take of most other clubs.
This franchise oozes tradition. Its alumni list reads like the "Who's Who in Baseball History."
But managing the Yankees is, in fact, extremely difficult. Just ask Joe Torre, who's still waiting to find out if he's got the gig.
And that's why we put it at the very top of our list of the 10 Toughest Coaching Jobs:
1. Yankees
This franchise accumulates superstars (and super egos) without much regard for how the pieces fit together. The Yankee Way is to latch onto the Next New Thing at any cost.
Despite having Derek Jeter at shortstop, Steinbrenner and his people just had to get Alex Rodriguez, too. Sure, A-Rod had to move to third base and cope with Jeter's enormous popularity. Joe Torre's job was to make all that work.
When the Yankees just had to bring Roger Clemens out of his latest retirement, Torre had to accommodate his laundry list of special needs. Somehow, some way, Torre maintained order in the clubhouse year after year after year.
He won four World Championships and six American League pennants. But Torre last won the World Series in 2000, so Boss George let him go.
No wonder Yankees coach Don Mattingly seemed wary of the job.
"It's like following John Wooden or something," he told the Associated Press. "This guy wins championship after championship and we're in the playoffs in every year. You know . . . it's pretty much a no-win situation for someone coming in here to be able to live up to the expectations or live up to what he did. It's not going to happen. So as far as someone coming in and taking over this job, it's not a good, you know — it's not necessarily a great situation."
2. Alabama football
There are no easy football jobs in the SEC. The conference is brutally competitive and its championship game adds another layer to the BCS challenge.
Boosters at every major college harbor unrealistic expectations. The fate of entire athletic departments rests in the hands of football coaches, who must win to generate the revenue needed to pay all the bills.
Even against that backdrop, the pressure at Alabama is extreme. The ghost of Bear Bryant haunts the coaching offices, where Ray Perkins, Bill Curry, Gene Stallings, Mike Dubose, Dennis Franchione, Mike Price, Mike Shula and now Nick Saban have tried (and mostly failed) to live up to his legacy.
Bama fans can become especially ugly when the Crimson Tide loses a game or two.
"My wife is a strong, intelligent woman," Curry once said. "She has a Ph.D.; she's not someone who is going to be intimidated. But she felt like our children were at risk. Those kinds of things just wear on you. Ninety-five percent of Alabama people are wonderful. The negative ones are throwing bricks or planting stories or doing whatever they can to make you uncomfortable. And when they want to make your life miserable, they work at it."
3. Oakland Raiders
Al Davis is not a whack job. He still knows his football. But he does NOT know how to run a competitive franchise in the current NFL. His franchise slogan, "Commitment to Excellence," seems ironic these days.
Thanks to the salary cap, gaining a competitive edge has never been more difficult. Personnel mistakes have never been more costly. The odd way the Raiders front office goes about things — like failing to sign top draft pick JaMarcus Russell until this season started — makes coaching difficult.
Mike Shanahan lasted one year coaching for Davis. So did Joe Bugel. Art Shell just suffered through a one-year comeback that ended 2-14. Mike White, Norv Turner and Bill Callahan each lasted two years on the job. These are all great football men.
Wish the new guy, young Lane Kiffin, the best of luck.
4. Kentucky basketball
After Tubby Smith left for safe haven in Minnesota, Billy Gillispie became the latest coach to take this challenge.
"This is the place that basically invented college basketball," he noted after taking the job.
Like Alabama football, Kentucky basketball captivates an entire state. Wildcat Nation is large, strong and persistently loud. Fans support the program — witness the new $30 million practice facility — but they expect regular trips to the Final Four.
Booster and administration pressure finally chased off Smith, whose resume includes a national title at UK, three other trips to the Elite Eight, five SEC titles and NCAA tournament berths in all 10 seasons there.
"You want to be at a place that expects to win every single game," Gillispie said. "You want to be at a place that gives you the opportunity to win every single game, and this is the place."
At least he knows what he is getting into . . .
5. Chicago Cubs
The team is up for sale and the bidding will be fierce. A massive fan base supports the Cubbies. They play in a baseball shrine. They don't just stage games, they hold massive block parties.
But at the very soul of this franchise is failure. Their identity as lovable losers carried on this fall, when they graciously bowed out of the National League playoffs in three games. The Billy Goat Curse lives on. So does the Legend of Steve Bartman.
Manager Lou Piniella energetically attacked this paranormal phenomenon all summer. "There are no curses here," he insisted. "There never have been. It's a figment, it's good copy. But games are won or lost on the baseball field."
Piniella will repeat this refrain next summer as the Cubs, the century-long underdog, try to win their first World Championship since 1908.
6. New York Knicks
This should be one of the best coaching jobs in all of sports. When Red Holtzman ran the show, it was.
But Madison Square Garden may house the most dysfunctional operation in the history of professional sports. Tawdry details of its daily melodrama came to light through the sexual harassment trial against president Isiah Thomas. The trial drew exhaustive media coverage.
"You can't say what you didn't say because if you say what you didn't say," Thomas told the Associated Press, "then y'all print what is said."
OK then. The basketball team has been a mess, too, thanks to Thomas' inept work as general manager. Despite leading the NBA in spending, the Knicks haven't enjoyed a winning season since 2000-01.
So it's only fitting that MSG czar James Dolan forced Thomas to coach, too, so he could clean up his own mess. Zeke is trying to succeed where Larry Brown, Herb Williams, Lenny Wilkens, Don Chaney and Jeff Van Gundy have failed since 2001.
7. Toronto Maple Leafs
Hockey is big in Canada. Hockey is ginormous in Toronto. The Maple Leafs are either beloved or hated across the Great White North, depending on fan allegiance.
The team endures intense media scrutiny. And although the franchise has tremendous resources — allowing it to spend to the maximum of the NHL salary cap — it hasn't won the Stanley Cup in 40 years.
Its management structure is muddled. General manager John Ferguson is in the last year of his contract. His bosses considered saddling him with a "senior advisor" to help out. Scotty Bowman turned down the job, but Ferguson got the message.
So did coach Paul Maurice, who trumped high fan expectations by predicting the Leafs would "make the playoffs and compete for the Stanley Cup."
And as he knows, failure is not an option.
8. Dallas Cowboys
When the Cowboys rallied miraculously Monday night at Buffalo, cameras followed Jerry Jones' every reaction. He is the show in Big D, more than temperamental receiver Terrell Owens or mercurial quarterback Tony Romo.
Jones is the NFL's best owner, a visionary marketer and a driving force in the NFL's modernization. He also considers himself a football man, which creates obvious problems for his coaches.
Barry Switzer dealt with that phenomenon better than Jimmy Johnson did. Wade Phillips should cope better than Bill Parcells did.
"The perception was that when Bill came in, there were fewer decisions that I would make," Jones told the Dallas Morning News. "That was not true. The perception is that there will be more being made now. That's not true, either. Wade could very easily have as much influence on what player we keep or don't keep or draft as Bill did."
But was chasing off high-powered coaches like Johnson and Parcells any way to build an on-field dynasty to match his astonishing business success?
9. Los Angeles Clippers
This team shares the Staples Center with the Lakers. Unfortunately, the Clippers share none of the Lakers' championship heritage. The Clippers are the ultimate red-headed stepchild in pro sports.
For years, penurious Donald Sterling ranked atop the list of worst sports owners and hapless Elgin Baylor was considered the worst general manager. They ran their doomed coaches through a revolving door.
Mike Dunleavy finally pulled the Clippers out of their 12-year losing streak, but his back-to-back winning seasons have scarcely made a mark in sunny SoCal. Los Angeles Times columnist Kurt Streeter compared the Lakers and Clippers thusly:
"One team is Brad Pitt. He walks, you watch. He talks, you listen — even if he has nothing to say. The other team is your friendly uncle, the guy with the paunch who takes bit parts in church plays. You root for him because he's the underdog who doesn't get much attention."
10. Florida Marlins
These are the anti-Yankees. Expectations are low, but so is the likelihood of a winning season.
This year their payroll actually climbed to roughly $30 million, or about how much Alex Rodriguez will earn annually, all by himself, on his next contract.
This team has won it all with a huge payroll. It has won it all with a really, really young team. It has bid farewell to elite players of all sizes, shapes and ages. It plays in a makeshift ballpark and its future in South Florida remains uncertain.
As the weather turns cool to the north, rival teams are ready to raid the Marlins still again. Expect Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to become hot names in the rumor mill.
Feel free to feel sorry for poor Fredi Gonzalez, the team's sixth manager since the 2001 season.
Jeff Gordon
Special to FOXSports.com
Link
From a safe distance, managing the Yankees may seem like the perfect baseball job.
Owner George Steinbrenner is willing to fund a $200 million payroll. He swallows hard and pays the luxury tax bill for all these extremely expensive players.
The organization has always generated plenty of young players and the future resources of this franchise appear unlimited. A spectacular new stadium is rising in the Bronx and team revenues dwarf the financial take of most other clubs.
This franchise oozes tradition. Its alumni list reads like the "Who's Who in Baseball History."
But managing the Yankees is, in fact, extremely difficult. Just ask Joe Torre, who's still waiting to find out if he's got the gig.
And that's why we put it at the very top of our list of the 10 Toughest Coaching Jobs:
1. Yankees
This franchise accumulates superstars (and super egos) without much regard for how the pieces fit together. The Yankee Way is to latch onto the Next New Thing at any cost.
Despite having Derek Jeter at shortstop, Steinbrenner and his people just had to get Alex Rodriguez, too. Sure, A-Rod had to move to third base and cope with Jeter's enormous popularity. Joe Torre's job was to make all that work.
When the Yankees just had to bring Roger Clemens out of his latest retirement, Torre had to accommodate his laundry list of special needs. Somehow, some way, Torre maintained order in the clubhouse year after year after year.
He won four World Championships and six American League pennants. But Torre last won the World Series in 2000, so Boss George let him go.
No wonder Yankees coach Don Mattingly seemed wary of the job.
"It's like following John Wooden or something," he told the Associated Press. "This guy wins championship after championship and we're in the playoffs in every year. You know . . . it's pretty much a no-win situation for someone coming in here to be able to live up to the expectations or live up to what he did. It's not going to happen. So as far as someone coming in and taking over this job, it's not a good, you know — it's not necessarily a great situation."
2. Alabama football
There are no easy football jobs in the SEC. The conference is brutally competitive and its championship game adds another layer to the BCS challenge.
Boosters at every major college harbor unrealistic expectations. The fate of entire athletic departments rests in the hands of football coaches, who must win to generate the revenue needed to pay all the bills.
Even against that backdrop, the pressure at Alabama is extreme. The ghost of Bear Bryant haunts the coaching offices, where Ray Perkins, Bill Curry, Gene Stallings, Mike Dubose, Dennis Franchione, Mike Price, Mike Shula and now Nick Saban have tried (and mostly failed) to live up to his legacy.
Bama fans can become especially ugly when the Crimson Tide loses a game or two.
"My wife is a strong, intelligent woman," Curry once said. "She has a Ph.D.; she's not someone who is going to be intimidated. But she felt like our children were at risk. Those kinds of things just wear on you. Ninety-five percent of Alabama people are wonderful. The negative ones are throwing bricks or planting stories or doing whatever they can to make you uncomfortable. And when they want to make your life miserable, they work at it."
3. Oakland Raiders
Al Davis is not a whack job. He still knows his football. But he does NOT know how to run a competitive franchise in the current NFL. His franchise slogan, "Commitment to Excellence," seems ironic these days.
Thanks to the salary cap, gaining a competitive edge has never been more difficult. Personnel mistakes have never been more costly. The odd way the Raiders front office goes about things — like failing to sign top draft pick JaMarcus Russell until this season started — makes coaching difficult.
Mike Shanahan lasted one year coaching for Davis. So did Joe Bugel. Art Shell just suffered through a one-year comeback that ended 2-14. Mike White, Norv Turner and Bill Callahan each lasted two years on the job. These are all great football men.
Wish the new guy, young Lane Kiffin, the best of luck.
4. Kentucky basketball
After Tubby Smith left for safe haven in Minnesota, Billy Gillispie became the latest coach to take this challenge.
"This is the place that basically invented college basketball," he noted after taking the job.
Like Alabama football, Kentucky basketball captivates an entire state. Wildcat Nation is large, strong and persistently loud. Fans support the program — witness the new $30 million practice facility — but they expect regular trips to the Final Four.
Booster and administration pressure finally chased off Smith, whose resume includes a national title at UK, three other trips to the Elite Eight, five SEC titles and NCAA tournament berths in all 10 seasons there.
"You want to be at a place that expects to win every single game," Gillispie said. "You want to be at a place that gives you the opportunity to win every single game, and this is the place."
At least he knows what he is getting into . . .
5. Chicago Cubs
The team is up for sale and the bidding will be fierce. A massive fan base supports the Cubbies. They play in a baseball shrine. They don't just stage games, they hold massive block parties.
But at the very soul of this franchise is failure. Their identity as lovable losers carried on this fall, when they graciously bowed out of the National League playoffs in three games. The Billy Goat Curse lives on. So does the Legend of Steve Bartman.
Manager Lou Piniella energetically attacked this paranormal phenomenon all summer. "There are no curses here," he insisted. "There never have been. It's a figment, it's good copy. But games are won or lost on the baseball field."
Piniella will repeat this refrain next summer as the Cubs, the century-long underdog, try to win their first World Championship since 1908.
6. New York Knicks
This should be one of the best coaching jobs in all of sports. When Red Holtzman ran the show, it was.
But Madison Square Garden may house the most dysfunctional operation in the history of professional sports. Tawdry details of its daily melodrama came to light through the sexual harassment trial against president Isiah Thomas. The trial drew exhaustive media coverage.
"You can't say what you didn't say because if you say what you didn't say," Thomas told the Associated Press, "then y'all print what is said."
OK then. The basketball team has been a mess, too, thanks to Thomas' inept work as general manager. Despite leading the NBA in spending, the Knicks haven't enjoyed a winning season since 2000-01.
So it's only fitting that MSG czar James Dolan forced Thomas to coach, too, so he could clean up his own mess. Zeke is trying to succeed where Larry Brown, Herb Williams, Lenny Wilkens, Don Chaney and Jeff Van Gundy have failed since 2001.
7. Toronto Maple Leafs
Hockey is big in Canada. Hockey is ginormous in Toronto. The Maple Leafs are either beloved or hated across the Great White North, depending on fan allegiance.
The team endures intense media scrutiny. And although the franchise has tremendous resources — allowing it to spend to the maximum of the NHL salary cap — it hasn't won the Stanley Cup in 40 years.
Its management structure is muddled. General manager John Ferguson is in the last year of his contract. His bosses considered saddling him with a "senior advisor" to help out. Scotty Bowman turned down the job, but Ferguson got the message.
So did coach Paul Maurice, who trumped high fan expectations by predicting the Leafs would "make the playoffs and compete for the Stanley Cup."
And as he knows, failure is not an option.
8. Dallas Cowboys
When the Cowboys rallied miraculously Monday night at Buffalo, cameras followed Jerry Jones' every reaction. He is the show in Big D, more than temperamental receiver Terrell Owens or mercurial quarterback Tony Romo.
Jones is the NFL's best owner, a visionary marketer and a driving force in the NFL's modernization. He also considers himself a football man, which creates obvious problems for his coaches.
Barry Switzer dealt with that phenomenon better than Jimmy Johnson did. Wade Phillips should cope better than Bill Parcells did.
"The perception was that when Bill came in, there were fewer decisions that I would make," Jones told the Dallas Morning News. "That was not true. The perception is that there will be more being made now. That's not true, either. Wade could very easily have as much influence on what player we keep or don't keep or draft as Bill did."
But was chasing off high-powered coaches like Johnson and Parcells any way to build an on-field dynasty to match his astonishing business success?
9. Los Angeles Clippers
This team shares the Staples Center with the Lakers. Unfortunately, the Clippers share none of the Lakers' championship heritage. The Clippers are the ultimate red-headed stepchild in pro sports.
For years, penurious Donald Sterling ranked atop the list of worst sports owners and hapless Elgin Baylor was considered the worst general manager. They ran their doomed coaches through a revolving door.
Mike Dunleavy finally pulled the Clippers out of their 12-year losing streak, but his back-to-back winning seasons have scarcely made a mark in sunny SoCal. Los Angeles Times columnist Kurt Streeter compared the Lakers and Clippers thusly:
"One team is Brad Pitt. He walks, you watch. He talks, you listen — even if he has nothing to say. The other team is your friendly uncle, the guy with the paunch who takes bit parts in church plays. You root for him because he's the underdog who doesn't get much attention."
10. Florida Marlins
These are the anti-Yankees. Expectations are low, but so is the likelihood of a winning season.
This year their payroll actually climbed to roughly $30 million, or about how much Alex Rodriguez will earn annually, all by himself, on his next contract.
This team has won it all with a huge payroll. It has won it all with a really, really young team. It has bid farewell to elite players of all sizes, shapes and ages. It plays in a makeshift ballpark and its future in South Florida remains uncertain.
As the weather turns cool to the north, rival teams are ready to raid the Marlins still again. Expect Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to become hot names in the rumor mill.
Feel free to feel sorry for poor Fredi Gonzalez, the team's sixth manager since the 2001 season.
