Best/Worst Pats Head Coaches

[Pape]

Right he guaranteed the deal as GM, that Sullivan nixed.

Either way if Fairbanks was wrong the fault would have been as Fairbanks the GM, not coach.

And Fairbanks took a new job after dealing with those bozos. So what? It was the owner who suspended him and locked him out ruining the team's promising season.

to you, its not a big deal...

to me, it hurt him and the team, so it is a big deal...

The logical strawman in this instance is Parcells... Tuna flirting with the jete during the season, causes major distractions in the playoffs... gets villified by everyone because of it... He gets knocked from S to A over it... Fairbanks deserves the same treatment...

as I said, its how i see it, ymmv... thats the fun part of making lists like this... the back and forth, how people view things, etc...

 

[maust]

Yea. A corpse would have done a better job

And probably would have been considerably more animated.
Rod Rust coaching a team put together by Pat Sullivan under the (ahem) stewardship of Victor Kiam. The triumvirate from football hell right there, it simply does not get any worse. This past season was a cake walk in comparison

 

[Brotherblues]

Rod Rust

Hear me out

Rust went 1-1 the first 2 games with a washed up but gamey Grogan at QB, whom doctors had been telling he really shouldn't be playing anymore. After the first 2 games the reins were turned to Marc Wilson and Tom Hodson. That's even worse than a Mac/Zappe QB room.

Mayo had Maye most of the year and even Jacoby smokes what Rust had to work with at QB.

Rod Rust's team looked completely overmatched and ill prepared about 10 times. So did Mayo's.

The 2024 Pats weren't talented by any measure... Except if the measuring is the 1990 Pats, in which case the 2024 Pats had a lot more actual players you could win with.

Rust did not inherit a mostly intact top 10 defense. Mayo did.

Rod Rust didn't get a freebie win in which the other team actively tried to lose and laughed at your "win." Mayo did.

Rust had enjoyed prior success as a coordinator. Mayo had not.

Mayo is absolutely a very strong contender for the worst spot.

 

[signbabybrady]

1. Mayo
Everyone else tied for last


What other coach united the fan base like he did?

Can't get yourself to put Bill in the right place

 

[Pape]

Hear me out

Rust went 1-1 the first 2 games with a washed up but gamey Grogan at QB, whom doctors had been telling he really shouldn't be playing anymore. After the first 2 games the reins were turned to Marc Wilson and Tom Hodson. That's even worse than a Mac/Zappe QB room.

Mayo had Maye most of the year and even Jacoby smokes what Rust had to work with at QB.

Rod Rust's team looked completely overmatched and ill prepared about 10 times. So did Mayo's.

Rust did not inherit a mostly intact top 10 defense. Mayo did.

Mayo is absolutely a very strong contender for the worst spot.

look up Rod Rusts coaching resume and compare it to Mayos...

Rust was a coaching lifer. Had a dozen years as a DC in the NFL...

Mayo? No so much. Was in over his head.

Mayo might be the worse coach due to his inexperience. The 1990 Patriots were undeniably the worst team in franchise history. and Rod Rust was the guy who led them out on the field every week of that 1-15 calamity of a season

 

[signbabybrady]

BB GOAT
Josh McD second best
BP
Berry
Fairbanks
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MacPherson
Mayo
Rust

 

[Pape]

Josh McD second best

 

[jmt57]

Personally I would rank Fairbanks higher as well.

The Sullivans were awful to work for. They gave Fairbanks GM power, then pulled the rug out from under him with the Hannah/Gray cheapness.

From what I have read, what really got the ball rolling was when the Sullivans refused to pay Daryl Stingley's insurance after he was hospitalized, as well as his already agreed upon new contract.

And yes, he did sign a deal with Colorado beforehand; can you blame him? Fairbanks didn't want the school to say anything until the Pats season was over, but some overly excited boosters/admins out in Boulder couldn't wait. Then the Sullivans made the situation worse by suspending Fairbanks, and making the two coordinators 'co-head coaches'. What a clown show of inept ownership.



As for Rod Rust, he was a rookie head coach caught in a horribly unique situation (Lisa Olson incident), on a team without much talent. The QB situation was bad (ancient Steve Grogan, rookie Tom Hodson, journeyman Marc Wilson; an awful OL), other than LT Bruce Armstrong; and a defense that was a mix of a few very good players, with others that didn't deserve to be playing in the NFL.

Victor Kiam just poured gasoline onto an already volatile situation. It would have been extremely difficult for any experienced head coach - much less a rookie HC with no front office support behind him. The distraction was way too much. Wrong place at the wrong time for Rod Rust.

As bad as his single season was, there were highly extenuating circumstances. I would place Rust far above John Mazur, Clive Rush, Phil Bengston and Jerod Mayo - those four deserve their own special bottom-of-the-barrel tier.

 

[maust]

Rod Rust's team looked completely overmatched and ill prepared about 10 times. So did Mayo's.

Rust's team was overmatched and ill prepared in every game they played. They stumbled their way to a couple of less than double digit losses thanks to the ineptitude or indifference of the opposition and their players pathological hatred of Miami. The final on field indignity came against a Giants team that had clinched and was mailing it in. Outside of maybe the '85 Bears that 1990 Giants D may have been the most fearsome of its era but in that game they sat almost everyone on D and didn't even bother to scheme a pass rush at all. The Pats ineptitude in that game was among the sorriest performances I've ever witnessed. The only plus side was the old cement bowl surprisingly wasn't providing frostbite conditions that day

 

[NashuaPats]

I didn’t start following the team until the early 90’s, so I can’t speak to guys prior to that. I hated how Parcels left the team, but I think he did a lot for the organization. We were pathetic before he came along and he made us respectable and competitive. I’ll always appreciate what Parcels did for this team. He did it for others as well, he just didn’t like staying in the same place for long.

Tuna doesn’t stay fresh for long, but…

 

[upstater1]

I think Erhardt & Meyers are a category above the jete level... Erhardt took over after the awful Fairbanks kerfluffle, and his second season was a good year... Meyer might have been a ****, but he had the team on an upwards trajectory when he was ****canned in favor of Raymond Berry... and I knocked Fairbanks down a peg because of the whole Hannah/Gray affair and the way 1978 ended... the sullivans might have been cheap bastards, but Fairbanks knew that, and there was no excuse for Fairbanks agreeing to go to Colorado during the regular season when his team was primed for the playoffs...

just my take on it... ymmv

About Meyer, he was just a horse's butt and he coached during a strike which was really just a wildcard crazy season with plahyers on the sidelines.

 

[Family]

to you, its not a big deal...

to me, it hurt him and the team, so it is a big deal...

The logical strawman in this instance is Parcells... Tuna flirting with the jete during the season, causes major distractions in the playoffs... gets villified by everyone because of it... He gets knocked from S to A over it... Fairbanks deserves the same treatment...

as I said, its how i see it, ymmv... thats the fun part of making lists like this... the back and forth, how people view things, etc...

The circumstances are entirely different.

1) Tuna was leaving to compete in the NFL, in fact in the same division. Fairbanks was simply returning to college, and would not compete against the Patriots.
2) According to Wikipedia John Hannah contends Sullivan "took Chuck's authority away and turned him into a liar." by forcing him to renege on the contract. Kraft/Parcells was a good old fashioned power struggle, but Kraft never took away power away that was Parcell's.
3) Parcells was playing the media and intentionally forcing a disruption to the team, while Fairbanks would have been delighted to amicably break up, keep it internally and not hurt the season.

You can't blame Fairbanks from wanting to get rid of that idiocy from his life. The college hiring season plus the perceived right job became available. Yeah Fairbanks was naive to trust the Sullivans, but he built a football powerhouse from ashes, drafting and coaching. None of what happened was his fault, and it basically ruined his life because he was probably on his way to a Super Bowl, and after was forever a failure.

Don't blame the victim!

 

[denverpatsfan]

Rust's team was overmatched and ill prepared in every game they played. They stumbled their way to a couple of less than double digit losses thanks to the ineptitude or indifference of the opposition and their players pathological hatred of Miami. The final on field indignity came against a Giants team that had clinched and was mailing it in. Outside of maybe the '85 Bears that 1990 Giants D may have been the most fearsome of its era but in that game they sat almost everyone on D and didn't even bother to scheme a pass rush at all. The Pats ineptitude in that game was among the sorriest performances I've ever witnessed. The only plus side was the old cement bowl surprisingly wasn't providing frostbite conditions that day

I was at that last game too. **** ton of Giants fans there of course. They felt sorry for us. Punter or kicker was "voted" the MVP by crowd noise. Can't remember which one.

 

[TheRainMaker]

I can only speak since watching in the 90’s.

Bill Belichick. I was excited bringing him back as I had enough of him terrorizing the Pats. I didn’t think he’d last past 2001 with how he constructed the team by stripping it down and adding a lot of old dudes. He was very lucky Brady wasn’t a dud because Kraft was pissed he wasn’t playing Bledsoe.

Bill Parcells. The guy knows how to find talent. He also had the best sound bites. It’s unfortunate how it ended as I think the Pats could’ve eventually blocked Denver.

Pete Carroll. I liked him a lot. Always took blame and give fans and media hope they would bounce back. Delivered on his promises until injuries were overwhelming. He got a raw deal.

Jerod Mayo. Most undeserving and entitled HC of all time. Glad it’s over.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Yea. A corpse would have done a better job

Or maybe at least a zombie

 

[maust]

I was at that last game too. **** ton of Giants fans there of course. They felt sorry for us. Punter or kicker was "voted" the MVP by crowd noise. Can't remember which one.

Place was indeed slammed with Giants fans, only sell out of the year although IIRC the Bills game was close. Those Giants fans trucked up 95 to watch the bottom of their roster play the equivalent of a preseason game. Not only did they feel bad for us several of them made fun of the dump of a stadium. Funny thing though, say what you will about the nonexistent amenities in the old cement bowl (and the less said about the men's rooms the better) there wasn't a bad sight line from any scrap of aluminum in the place and the acoustics were decent.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

At least Rust had a long track record as coordinator before taking the HC job.

And after. Rod was successful, and liked by his players.

Gillette Stadium needs to be power washed with Rust-Oleum. Starting in the owners’ suite.

Bob's made some...questionable decisions as our owner.

But he made some right, brilliant, and bold, risky to some degree decisions as well, which have resulted in the team staying right here in Foxborough, as well as six Lombardi trophies on display.

I think the good things outweigh the bad/horrible/embarrassing, first and foremost financial stability. No one needs to remind Bob of the house of cards holding the original ownership together, which inevitably, finally, mercifully and seemingly endlessly collapsed.

I think, if you asked Red Auerbach what was the hardest thing for him to deal with for the Celtics, and he was being honest, he'd say the string of owners after Walter Brown passed away.

If the Krafts go, I don't want someone worse.

For all his faults, Bob loves the Patriots.

Recent years have been unpleasant. But, I learned a long time ago not to sell him short.

Duck Boats had begun to amass.

Well, they have had a lot of action this century.

The flight plan to Kraft Force One to Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans was about to be filed with the FAA.

Can the FAA ban the flying elvis from being painted on the plane? It's just so nauseating to look at. Easier to ignore them when their on the helmets on the field, especially from the cheap(er) seats.

Like Je-Rod Rust, Rod Rust was a Patriots’ defensive assistant when the team reached the Super Bowl. That was Super Bowl XX during which the Patriots were massacred by Richard Dent and the Chicago Bears live on NBC.

Rod was not responsible for the suicidal offensive game plan/starting lineup of Berry's.

But, if we're going to be technical, his defenses' biggest vulnerability seems to have been the against the run. Granted, they were trying to strip the ball, but they coudn't stop Matt Suhey.

Rather, he was pulled out of head coaching obscurity when then-GM Patrick Sullivan fired Raymond Berry in February. In typical Patriots dysfunction of the time, Sullivan and Berry had a falling out after a disagreement over hiring an offensive coordinator.

I read that it was Berry and Kiam who could not agree.

Apparently, Raymond and Patrick did agree that Flutie was not NFL material, as Sullivan let Doug stay at home in Natick for six months before being exiled to Canada.

My complete list of NFL quarterbacks I would take over Flutie in the decade of the 90's: _____________________. The end.

And Je-Rod Rust is no Bill Parcells.

And when you’re in the midst of a down-to-the-studs rebuild, learning how to win is the most paramount of tasks. In addition to not holding on every other play and handling the snap-count on the road.

Vrabel is an upgrade in immediately instilling a winning and confident (and experienced) culture.

I was a Vrabel fan since he was with the Steelers.

There's of course still a lot of work to do.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

I wasn’t a huge Berry fan in spite of the AFC championship and hated the way he handled things with the QB position in general and Flutie in particular.

Raymond did a ton of good work, but finishing the job, getting over the hump...

Imagine if Grogan started against the Bears. We may not have won, but the list of instant astronomical advantages that Patriots team would have gained takes up at least an entire page.

A year later, again Steve was the reason we were back in the playoffs. Imagine if he started in Denver. Would have been the first and only time Elway started against a Patriots team with a clearly better quarterback. That was a totally winnable game against the eventual Super Bowl participant who was very competitive against the Giants.

Lastly, the similarities between the 1988 and 2001 Patriots are extensive. Including the young all time elite quarterbacks in their first extended starting stints in the league. What resulted when Berry destroyed the season is exactly what would have happened had Belichick done the same. No playoffs, and Brady would have gone and succeeded elsewhere.

Given the team he inherited from Fairbanks I view Erhardt as one of the poorer coaches but can’t ignore the Sullivan factor he had to work under, they were the main culprits in destroying the team Fairbanks assembled starting with aggravating him out of here.

Ron was well liked by the players, but his entire three year tenure here is marked by teams finding the most remarkable, amazing and creative ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory I've ever heard of, let alone seen.

the sullivans might have been cheap bastards, but Fairbanks knew that, and there was no excuse for Fairbanks agreeing to go to Colorado during the regular season when his team was primed for the playoffs...

The Stingley handling and aftermath was the last straw for Chuck. I can't blame him, and like Parcells, he expressed some regret about it. We can certainly agree that both seasons - '78 & '96 - did not end the way we wanted and their departures did not enhance the teams' chances. But what killed '78 was Grogan playing and getting hurt in the meaningless Monday Night season finale in the Orange Bowl. After being useless against the Oilers, he was pulled and Tom Owen led a couple of touchdown drives, but it was too late.

and I knocked Fairbanks down a peg because of the whole Hannah/Gray affair

Not Chuck's fault at all. He got an agreement with Slusher, and Chuck and Billy refused to pay.

Meyer might have been a ****, but he had the team on an upwards trajectory when he was ****canned in favor of Raymond Berry

Ron was, in fact, a typical college/pro head coach. It's just that the veterans were used to playing for a guy like Fairbanks or a disciple like Erhardt. I do give him props for not wanting to draft Eason. Of course, Ron had no say in the matter at all.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Rust went 1-1 the first 2 games with a washed up but gamey Grogan at QB, whom doctors had been telling he really shouldn't be playing anymore.

Steve actually signed a document waiving liability for the team if anything serious happened to him.

After the first 2 games the reins were turned to Marc Wilson and Tom Hodson. That's even worse than a Mac/Zappe QB room.

...while Doug Flutie was off to Canada

The 2024 Pats weren't talented by any measure... Except if the measuring is the 1990 Pats, in which case the 2024 Pats had a lot more actual players you could win with.

Disagree. The 1990 roster includes some young, productive talent, along with several excellent veterans with playoff and Super Bowl experience. All else the same, Flutie would have finished at least 8-8 with them. At least.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

As for Rod Rust, he was a rookie head coach caught in a horribly unique situation (Lisa Olson incident), on a team without much talent. The QB situation was bad (ancient Steve Grogan, rookie Tom Hodson, journeyman Marc Wilson; an awful OL), other than LT Bruce Armstrong; and a defense that was a mix of a few very good players, with others that didn't deserve to be playing in the NFL.

I don't like to pick on people, but Pat Sullivan pushed his taunting of the Raiders from the sideline in the January '86 playoff down to maybe even double digits on his list of terrible, wrong decisions as GM.

I am not aware of any tangible obstacle preventing him or any other GM from signing Doug Flutie to a contract. The fact that Berry (whose benching of Doug and subsequent inevitable destruction of a highly promising season was unforgettable and unforgivable) was gone, should have opened the door.

And, after the players in the locker room approached and informed him of Ms. Olson's apparently unconscious ogling of half naked black players, he walked over, glanced at her interviewing Maurice Hurst, didn't see anything, didn't do anything and eventually got fired for it.