There’s a clear leader in the clubhouse yet Adam Gase is encroaching. Jet X ranks the worst head coaches in New York Jets history.
Nobody can challenge the king. Right?
Heading into the 2020 season, Adam Gase carried a 7-9 record with the New York Jets with him. After calls that he was Rich Kotite reincarnated were shouted loudly during and after the team’s 0-4 start in 2019, a 6-2 finish helped put to bed those comparisons.
Suddenly, a year later, it’s happened again. The encroachment begins.
The 2020 Jets are 0-4 and have been equipped with a mono-free starting quarterback the entire time, which makes Gase’s case look even worse. The guy was brought in to help develop Sam Darnold, something that’s obviously not occurred.
At 7-13 with a regressing young quarterback, Adam Gase is encroaching on the all-time terrible head coaches in Jets history. Today, Jet X ranks the worst of the bunch.
Notables
- Bulldog Turner (5-9)
- Charley Winner (9-14)
- Ken Shipp (1-4)
Amazingly, only three head coaches in Jets history don’t have a losing record. Only two coaches finished with a winning record. Bill Parcells‘s 29-19 mark, Al Groh’s 9-7 record and Sammy Baugh‘s 14-14 finish with the New York Titans over the organization’s first two seasons account for the only three guys to escape the losing tag. Even Weeb Ewbank comes in under .500 at 71-77-6.
In other words, there’s plenty to choose from for this list.
The notables include Bulldog Turner, who coached just a single season (the Titans’ final year), Charley Winner, the man who followed Ewbank, and Ken Shipp, who took over for Winner on an interim basis in 1975.
Pete Carroll could have qualified for the notables at 6-10 (1994), but probably shouldn’t be included. Neither should Mike Holovak, who coached just one game (0-1).
5. Todd Bowles (24-40)
Todd Bowles kicks off the list at No. 5. It’s unfortunate due to the fact he won 10 games his first season and never had that shot to win a playoff game. But hey, those are the breaks.
Bowles’s Jet profile leaves a bad taste in fans’ mouths thanks to the idea his era continued to decline as the years past. Mike Maccagnan’s infamous “aggressive rebuild” coupled with a Charmin’ soft schedule fooled folks (and the organization) into thinking the Jets were a team on the rise. Instead, they were a franchise in major need of young talent.
Bowles’s .375 winning percentage places him tied for 12th (with Carroll) of a possible 17 (not including Holovak and Shipp who didn’t coach a full season).
This brings us to the No. 4 coach on the list, a man you might not have expected to appear on the list at all.
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