Alabama Football: The worst four coaches of all time

Nick Saban and Bear Bryant are definitely not amongst the worst coaches in Alabama history, but the best ones. Saban had a record of 206-29 for the Tide in 17 seasons, while Bryant had a record of 232-46-9 in 25 seasons.

Other than these two however, the Crimson Tide like many other programs have had their share of poor head coaches. Since joining the SEC in its inaugural year of 1933, the Crimson Tide have had 10 different head coaches.

Who are the worst head coaches in the history of Alabama Football?

Jennings Whitworth (1955-1957)

4-24-2 with a winning percentage of 16%. Those were Whitworth’s numbers during his three seasons as head coach of the Crimson Tide. This included an 0-10 season, which was his first at the school in 1955.

Things did not get much better the following two seasons for the Tide as they would go 2-7-1 in each year following. Whitworth was then ousted.

It would end up being the right decision for the Tide as he would be replaced by Bryant. The Tide would not have to search for another head coach for 25 years.

Mike DuBose (1997-2000)

This name is remembered today by many Tide fans and will make them shake their heads. DuBose came off of a Gene Stallings era which saw the Tide have four seasons with 10 wins or more in Stallings’ seven years at the school. DuBose would have only one 10 win season and two losing ones. His time with the Tide was cut after four years and was replaced by Dennis Franchione.

Mike Shula (2004-2006)

Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina can draw some similarities here; each of these programs hired a “coaches son” arguably hyped off of their last name. In the case of Mike Shula, this was off of his father, Don Shula who led the Miami Dolphins to an undefeated season and championship in 1972. To be fair, Shula was an alumnus of Alabama and did play quarterback for three seasons.

The young Shula however would not encounter the same success at the college level, lasting only three season in Tuscaloosa before being fired.

Shula had one 10 win season for the Tide in his third year, but would regress back to a 6-7 record in his final season as head coach before being terminated by athletic director Mal Moore. Shula’s overall record with the Tide was 26-23.

Beyond the record, Shula set the Tide back even more as they had to vacate 21 victories from 2005-2007 as he was part of a widespread university violation involving athletes receiving free textbooks. This did not help his cause as to how he is viewed long term in the eyes of Alabama fans.

Ray Perkins (1983-1986)

Although Perkins went 22-15-1 during his four seasons with the Tide, this was not good enough, considering the Tide had just come off of a 25 year run with legendary coach Bear Bryant in which the  Tide won six national championships.

Perkins would not come close to that, accounting for only one 10 win season during his time in Tuscaloosa. This was far from good enough for a program with large expectations at that time.

While former Washington State coach Mike Price never ended up coaching a game at Alabama after being named the head man in December 2002, his quick removal did not bode well for the Tide who then became behind the eight ball to find their next head coach very late in the offseason, setting the program back. So this is at least worth a mention.