Weis, Spurrier, Zook, Millen in Top Ten Flops of Decade (no RR)
Unlike Fox, SI gives RR a break.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/magazine/specials/2000s/12/18/dec…
December 22nd, 2009 at 3:42 PM ^
Hands down has to be #1...worst hire in the history of the universe
December 22nd, 2009 at 4:05 PM ^
Charles Rogers... Drew Stanton... Joey Harrington... Teddy Lehman... Jordan Dizon...
Yep. #1 with a bullet.
December 22nd, 2009 at 5:25 PM ^
but wasn't Millen the one guy involved in the Lions draft that year who was arguing against picking Joey Harrington? Of course, if true, it only makes Millen look wishy-washy.
December 22nd, 2009 at 8:15 PM ^
Truth be told, I was a Joey supporter longer than most. But there isn't much debate that for a #3 overall pick, he didn't pan out. I still think he had the talent, and he failed largely because he wasn't surrounded with talent (but I suppose that's also on Millen.)
December 22nd, 2009 at 10:35 PM ^
But he yielded to new HC Marty "I Have No Business with This Job" Morningwheg, who wanted a "top" QB to run the West Coast Offense.
December 22nd, 2009 at 4:24 PM ^
Yeah, Millen should be ashamed to even go out in public let alone offer "advice" about football.
I love it when Steve Young just blasts him continuously on MNF. Millen looks like a deer in the headlights.
December 22nd, 2009 at 7:24 PM ^
I was watching it one day and Young made a comment how a bad GM can ruin a franchise(talking about the Browns) and his eyes kept darting towards Millen. I couldn't stop laughing
December 22nd, 2009 at 4:47 PM ^
I appreciate Mr. Luft having enough sense to not include a coach after only two seasons, but I think he's wrong in many cases. I do think, however, that he might be talking about the most famous, archetypal flops of the 2000s rather than
First of all, the notion of Zook as a flop is ridiculous. I understand that Zook was succeeding Steve Spurrier and underachieved horribly with the huge amount of talent he had, but three 5-loss seasons--while very disappointing and probably grounds for firing in certain places--does not amount to biggest flop. Kragthorpe possibly belongs up there (yes, I know what I've said). Another candidate is Cam Cameron at Miami instead of Spurrier at Washington. Cam Cameron was a disaster there, but flop status might require high expectations, which he did not have.
Holy crap, and how could they forget the XFL? Not that it was expected to compete with the NFL, but that was a huge disaster.
December 22nd, 2009 at 5:10 PM ^
I won't defend Cam just because he's a Michigan guy, but he earned that job after being a great OC in the NFL. Who knows what could have happened if he had Pennington. He was too good as an OC for most of the decade to warrant a flop.
And I really think Illinois making the Rose Bowl should've saved him from being high in the list. Then again, look at what Florida did before and after his stint.
December 22nd, 2009 at 5:30 PM ^
Duke B-Ball the number 1 flop? har-har, I get it; "flop". I think both Spurrier and Zook are mentioned because they can be linked together.
December 22nd, 2009 at 7:27 PM ^
Should hold spots 1-9 single handedly.
Journalism near the holidays; tis the season for Puff®.
December 22nd, 2009 at 7:41 PM ^
...but the personnel he had to work with was. IIRC, he won more games his first year than the year preceeding him and mre his last year than the year after him. That does not qualify as a "flop." If I were going to grade Spurrier, I would have to give him an incomplete.
Because the establishment in the No Fun League was so against the Fun and Gun, it was called a "flop," but in reality we'll never know if it could have worked.
December 22nd, 2009 at 9:09 PM ^
the year before he went to wash they went 8-8
then with spurrier he went 7-9, then 5-11, before he quit.
the year after that they went 6-10.