Sports

35 Elite Athletes Who Failed As Coaches

Darren - September 2, 2020

Sports

35 Elite Athletes Who Failed As Coaches

Darren - September 2, 2020

15. Herm Edwards

It all started off so well for Edwards, but better coaches then found him out. After an excellent nine-year career in the NFL, he decided to move to the sidelines. After a few years in college and NFL assistant, the New York Jets decided to hire him despite his total lack of head coach experience.

They did make the playoffs in his first couple of seasons but steadily got worse and worse. Finally, they went 4-12 in his last season before they fired him. He then moved to the Kansas City Chiefs and went 2-14 in an appalling year. To be fair, he is doing a reasonable job with Arizona State in the Pac-12 but he failed in the NFL.

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14. Art Shell

Shell’s inclusion on this list may seem harsh because he has a winning record as a coach. But that doesn’t explain the full picture. You could make a strong argument that he underachieved with the Oakland Raiders with several poor performances. Unfortunately, fans don’t like to contextualize.

The Hall of Famer returned for a second spell in 2006. The Raiders had one of the best defenses in the league, at least on paper. But they were just a shell of themselves as Shell ran them into the ground. Their 2-14 record was the Raiders’ worst season since 1963. Nobody wanted him as head coach after that.

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13. Tony Adams

Adams is one of the greatest players in Arsenal’s history. He won four league titles and three FA Cups and built a reputation as one of the Premier League’s best ever defenders. Unfortunately, his success on the playing field didn’t translate to the sidelines.

The former England international has failed with every club he has tried to manage. These include Wycombe Wanderers, Portsmouth, and Granada. He lost all seven games in charge of the latter, making him one of the worst coaches in Spanish history. Furthermore, opposition teams ridiculed him for his fashion sense.

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12. Kevin McHale

The Boston Celtics love McHale and with good reason because he spent his entire career with them. First of all, the Hall-of-Famer won three NBA Championships with the franchise. Furthermore, he was a seven-time All-Star during his 13 years in green.

After flickering between GM and interim head coach roles in Minnesota, McHale joined the Houston Rockets. He took them on one good playoff run but otherwise disappointed in the role. Finally, after a 4-7 start to the 2015-16 season, the Rockets fired him. He hasn’t coached since after he failed to impress.

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11. Diego Maradona

Many regard Maradona as the greatest soccer player of all-time. The Argentina World Cup winner is a true living legend but he’s never been one of the best coaches. In short, his maverick personality has never made him the best candidate to guide a team to success.

Not that he hasn’t had opportunities. Maradona managed the Argentinian national team in the 2010 World Cup. However, Germany annihilated his team 4-0 in a humiliating defeat. Furthermore, he failed to do anything good for Al Wasl in the UAE. His personality was too big for his teams and he failed to deliver the same success as his playing days.

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10. Bob Gainey

If you play for one team for 16 years, then you’re probably going to be a legend. When you win five Stanley Cups with your team then you’re an icon. The Montreal Canadiens love Gainey. A four-time All-Star and Selke Trophy winner, Gainey brought a huge amount of success to the Quebec franchise.

However, his coaching career was not as successful. He led the Minnesota North Stars to the Stanley Cups finals in his first season in charge of them but never came close to replicating that again. From then on it was mediocre season after mediocre season until he went to the now-Dallas Stars front office.

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9. Roy Keane

Former Manchester United captain Keane won everything there was to win in club soccer. The Irish midfielder was one of the most passionate and inspiring figures on the field. His intensity was legendary, even if he sometimes went too far and allowed his dark side to emerge.

However, his approach to the sport has not translated well to management. Keane’s biggest success so far as a coach was Sunderland’s promotion to the Premier League. Since then it’s been disaster after disaster. His intensity brings him into conflict with his players because he demands too much from them.

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8. Mike Singletary

Singletary had a stellar NFL career with the Chicago Bears. With 10 Pro Bowl appearances and a Super Bowl win, the Windy City faithful loved the linebacker. But it all went wrong for him when he decided to become a coach. After working as an assistant with the 49ers, he found himself in the interim head coaching job.

Singletary revived their spirits and the front office saw enough to offer him the full-time job. Yet this was a major mistake. The team went 0-5 before the 49ers fired him. Since then, Singletary’s coaching career has collapsed. His last job was with a Texas high school. In the end, he failed at every level.

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7. Bryan Trottier

Trottier had one of the most glorious playing careers of any athlete on this list. First, he led the New York Islanders to huge success with four Stanley Cups and 500 goals in 15 years. Then helped take the Pittsburgh Penguins to their first two Stanley Cup victories.

Everybody hoped that the Hall of Famer would be one of the best coaches in the sport, but it wasn’t to be. He took on the head coach job at the New York Rangers, his former team’s rival. But Islanders’ fans could be happy because he totally shut down the Rangers’ offense and nullified their offense. That was the end of his head coaching career.

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6. Paul Gascoigne

Arguably the most talented English soccer star of his generation, Gascoigne led Tottenham Hotspurs to the FA Cup. The playmaker was prodigiously talented, before injuries and mental illness irreparably damaged his career. However, he did take the opportunity to become a manager.

But not all of the best players can be coaches. Even so, Gascoigne’s reign in charge of the non-league side Kettering Town was spectacular. The board sacked him after he continuously showed up drunk. Even by the poor standards of the coaches on this list, that’s truly unique.

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5. Conor McGregor

McGregor may seem like a strange choice but he is definitely one of the worst coaches on this list. He led Team Europe against Urijah Faber’s Team USA on The Ultimate Fighter reality show in 2015. While he provided some moments of entertainment, his overall coaching contribution was minimal.

The Irishman only really cared when SBG teammate and training partner Artem Lobov was fighting. Furthermore, McGregor pulled some strings to bring Lobov back after the Russian lost his first fight. In sum, his bias and desire to self-promote made ‘The Notorious’ a terrible coach.

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4. Isiah Thomas

A Detroit Pistons legend, Thomas was a destructive force in the NBA as a player. A 12-time All-Star, he was also a two-time NBA Champion, just before Michael Jordan broke out and drove the Bulls towards immortality. Thomas was also a destructive force as a coach, but not for the right reasons.

As head coach of the Indiana Pacers and the New York Knicks, he performed abysmally with both teams posting losing records. In short, he was a phenomenal player but one of the worst NBA coaches ever. Thomas also failed as Knicks’ General Manager and bankrupted the Continental Basketball Association.

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3. Ted Williams

A Boston Red Sox icon, Williams was truly magnificent throughout his playing career. An MLB Hall of Famer, he was also the last player to bat over .400 in a single season. That’s an astonishing statistic. Baseball fans expected him to carry his brilliance to the Washington Senators.

However, he didn’t. His coaching career in charge of the Senators/Texas Rangers was an unmitigated disaster. After a winning season, they gradually got worse and worse. The Rangers decided enough was enough after a terrible first year in Arlington and sent Williams on his way.

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2. Magic Johnson

Johnson is a truly legendary NBA figure. The former Laker deserves all of the respect in the world for his achievements as a player on the court, as well as his efforts to educate people about AIDS. But it’s simply true that he’s one of the worst coaches in NBA history.

To be fair, the Lakers were really bad when Johnson took over. But he didn’t produce any magic for them at all. He led them to a record of five wins and 11 defeats in his short spell as head coach in 1994. Wisely, the team agreed not to prolong this misery and Johnson walked away at the end of the season.

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1. Wayne Gretzky

Gretzky is one of those rare players who transcended the confines of his sport. He is one of the greatest NHL players ever. ‘The Great One’ won four Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers and holds the records for most goals and assists in NHL history. He very likely is the greatest of all-time.

But as we’ve said all along, even the greatest players don’t always make the best coaches. Gretzky took charge of the Phoenix Coyotes for four seasons, or at least, he attempted to. In the end, his winning percentage was a pedestrian .473. That winning percentage was far from good enough from the expectations set forth for this all-time legend.

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35 Elite Athletes Who Failed As Coaches

35 Elite Athletes Who Failed As Coaches

15. Herm Edwards

14. Art Shell

13. Tony Adams

12. Kevin McHale

11. Diego Maradona

10. Bob Gainey

9. Roy Keane

8. Mike Singletary

7. Bryan Trottier

6. Paul Gascoigne

5. Conor McGregor

4. Isiah Thomas

3. Ted Williams

2. Magic Johnson

1. Wayne Gretzky

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