The villain is what immortalizes the hero, the underdog, the good guy everybody wants to succeed.
In order to be the antihero of the sport, you have to dominate or do something in fashion that makes the public hate you, be jealous of your success.
College football over the last 30 years has seen coaches come and go who can bring the worst out of fans and these are our top five most hated coaches in the last 30 years.
5: Lincoln Riley
During the 1970s, the American country rock band Eagles had a hit called “Lyin’ Eyes” in which they wrote, “You can’t hide your lyin’ eyes. And your smile is a thin disguise. I thought by now you’d realize. There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes.”
In a lot of ways, it describes the abrupt departure of Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma to Southern California.
As Southern Cal was looking for a new coach, there were a lot of smoke screens going on, especially with LSU as a potential suitor for Riley. Following the shocking loss in Bedlam against rival Oklahoma State, the news broke Lincoln Riley was leaving Oklahoma for Southern California, and the chaos ensued.
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An unofficial rivalry on social media between Southern California and Oklahoma fans was very reminiscent of a classic Jerry Springer episode of a jilted lover confronting the new love interest.
When Riley penned his article, “Sometimes Life Throws You A Curveball,” for The Players’ Tribune, he acknowledged handling the whole situation wrong, “There are aspects of my departure and transition that I would certainly do differently if I could do it again,” Riley wrote, “and I acknowledge that I could have handled some parts of the situation better. I absolutely own that.”
Riley also was able to poach eventual Heisman-winning quarterback Caleb Williams to help accelerate his rebuild. Another controversial transfer portal acquisition was Biletnikoff Award-winning wide receiver Jordan Addison from Pitt. Pitt Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi had called Riley repeatedly, accusing the Trojans of tampering in the acquisition of Addison.
Riley addressed this concern at the 2022 Pac-12 Media Days saying, “Yeah, I mean, we’ve worked hard through our careers as coaches, my career as a coach, to do things with integrity…I think if you ask people that have been around us, been in the inner workings with us, they know how we go about our business. When someone challenges that with no facts and just only emotion, yeah, I mean, I think you take it personally. Absolutely you do.”
To add even more fuel to the Riley fire of national fury (even if it was entirely out of his own control), Southern Cal decided to leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten. It left the Trojans and Riley angering fans across every time zone in America.
The Trojans faltered in the Pac-12 Championship Game against Utah, and then when Tulane upset the Trojans by exploiting a vulnerable Trojans defense, a staple of Riley teams dating back to his Oklahoma days, 46-45 in the Cotton Bowl Classic, it gave fans across the country a reason to jeer the Trojans.
Riley will continue to carry the bullseye nationally as the Trojans continue to leverage the transfer portal and attract more talent that should eventually get the Trojans back into the College Football Playoff hunt, and the jeers, especially from Norman and this season from Pac-12 foes, will rain upon the Men of Troy and Riley.
4: Jimbo Fisher
When Jimbo Fisher lost his mind after hearing Alabama coach Nick Saban question how Texas A&M landed the No. 1 recruiting class in 2022, it was reminiscent of a classic West Virginia-style Hatfield and McCoys type feud with arguably the greatest coach of all time.
“Some people think they’re God,” Fisher said all emotionally in May 2022. “Go dig into how God did His deal. You may find out about a guy, a lot of things you don’t want to know. We build him up to be this czar of football. Go dig into his past or anybody who’s ever coached with him. You can find out anything you want to find out what he does and how he does it.”
Following that outburst, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey put a media gag order on all SEC football coaches. Most notably, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin wasn’t able to appear on The Dan Patrick Show to comment on the beef. Still, it exponentially added more heat to an already hated coach.
Fisher and Saban reportedly used to butt heads working together at LSU. When Fisher went to try to become UAB head coach following the 2006 season, it was reportedly vetoed by the University of Alabama system who was targeting then-Miami Dolphins coach Nick Saban to return to college.
Florida State was able to lure in the prized offensive coordinator from LSU, and when he signed, there was a clause that he would be paid $5 million if he wasn’t promoted to head coach by January 2011. In essence, Fisher was the successor to the legendary Bobby Bowden, and it was when the FSU Board of Trustees wanted to replace the aging legend that things got contentious.
Some Seminoles fans still feel the Board forced Bowden out, but it was hard to argue with the immediate success Fisher had to doubt the actions to get Fisher in place as head coach.
Between 2012-2014, the Seminoles went 39-3, won the 2013 BCS National Championship, made the initial College Football Playoff in 2014, and had the Seminoles among the nation’s elite. Eventually, the relationship between Fisher, Athletic Department, and the administration in Tallahassee soured. Fisher began to sniff for other jobs.
The Seminoles fan base noticed the regression of the program and the lack of urgency by Fisher to fix the program. They knew what loyalty looked like as Bowden, one of the sport’s most beloved figures, always had FSU No. 1 in his heart and did what was best for the program.
Things began to get rough during the end of Fisher’s as fans would show up to tapings of The Jimbo Fisher TV Show and confront the coach, even getting ejected:
Or confronting the coach in this case after Louisville defeated Florida State:
Eventually, Fisher left Florida State for Texas A&M, signing an eye-popping 10-year $75 million contract, a contract that most fans in College Station expected with winning national championships. Fisher’s top-ranked class imploded during the 2022 season with numerous suspensions and player conduct violations. A&M, which started in the Top 10, finished with a 5-7 season, with some pundits wondering if they would come up with nearly $86 million to buy out the beleaguered coach who has failed to live up to the lofty expectations.
For now, Fisher remains the ire of not only Texas A&M fans but fans across the country. He has one of the hottest seats in the nation, and with a lofty buyout, it may be a painful few years if he cannot turn around the program.
3: Urban Meyer
While his time with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars didn’t do him any favors in a positive light, unless you are from the state of Ohio and worship Ohio State, there seems to be a universal disdain for the former Buckeyes coach.
In defense of Urban Meyer, he is as good as any coach of all time. During his time as a college football coach, he won over 85% of his games. No other coach from a Power 5 conference has won at a higher clip, with two Notre Dame legends Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy as the only coaches with a higher career winning percentage.
Even the greatest of all time, Nick Saban, has managed a split with Urban Meyer head-to-head. His success at stops with Bowling Green, Utah, Florida, and Ohio State have made fans across the country envious and jealous of the dominance he has produced.
Burning a bridge in Florida, especially how he left the program in a very toxic state that they are in some regards still cleaning up, has left many Gators fans angry with Meyer.
Meyer once said about his commitment to Florida, “If I am able to go coach, I want to coach at one place, the University of Florida. It would be a travesty, it would be ridiculous to all of a sudden comeback and get the feeling back, get the health back, feel good again, and then all of a sudden go throw some other colors on my shirt and go coach? I don’t want to do that. I have too much love for this University and these players and for what we’ve built.”
Recruits saw through his charade, notably wide receiver Stefon Diggs who was between Ohio State, Maryland, and Florida.
When Meyer was recruiting Diggs, he mentioned the severe character issues that were throughout the Florida program. The issues he described he helped foster and did not even change or try to improve. Diggs eventually settled for Maryland.
During his time at Ohio State, Meyer was suspended for how he handled the Zach Smith saga and leaks of how Meyer addressed a “No Hoodie Rule” but showing a photo of Trayvon Martin, according to former Ohio State defensive back Marcus Williamson.
As time goes on and more gets unraveled of Meyer’s time at Ohio State, Florida, and the Jacksonville Jaguars, it seems the once pristine reputation of Meyer has been destroyed. But ask any college football fan if they think they can land Urban Meyer, all is suddenly forgiven; remember Nebraska fans last year?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSmiQcMX6Cs
2: Joe Paterno
Sometimes even the greatest faces have a fall from grace that can never be repaired.
One of the sport’s greatest examples of this is former Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who will always be seen by college football fans for his lack of action involving the welfare of children following the revelations of sexual abuse crimes of Jerry Sandusky.
Former Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly wrote for ESPN in 2012 an interaction he had with a Penn State professor for his Sportsman of the Year article in 1986:
“In 1986, I spent a week in State College, Pa., researching a 10-page Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year piece on Joe Paterno.
It was supposed to be a secret, but one night the phone in my hotel room rang. It was a Penn State professor, calling out of the blue.
“Are you here to take part in hagiography?” he said.
“What’s hagiography?” I asked.
“The study of saints,” he said. “You’re going to be just like the rest, aren’t you? You’re going to make Paterno out to be a saint. You don’t know him. He’ll do anything to win. What you media are doing is dangerous.”
Paterno was a long-time bully pulpit for college football and would speak out on many issues. One of his quips on if he would ever leave college for the pros, “No, I can’t leave this game to the Barry Switzers and Jackie Sherrills of this world.”
In 1995 against Rutgers, after then quarterback Mike McQueary decided to audible and throw for another touchdown to run it up, it was a season after his undefeated 1994 squad was punished for letting off the gas against Illinois and Indiana. Paterno had a not-so-friendly exchange with then Rutgers head coach Doug Graber:
Outside of the Sandusky fallout, Paterno was one of the sport’s most successful coaches who tended to flaunt his “Success With Honor” model every time he had an opportunity to.
At the time of his termination from Penn State, Paterno won the most games in college football history, most bowl wins, and most wins versus ranked opponents.
The combination of success on the field and ultimate disgrace off the field will always have fans hating Paterno and clapping back at Penn State faithful that “Joe Knew.”
1: Nick Saban
The last time Alabama suffered a regular season defeat without a fanbase storming the field and the school facing a “storming the field fine” was in 2010 against LSU.
That is the level of excellence Nick Saban has obtained in Tuscaloosa for the Crimson Tide. When you look at the fact Alabama has won more championships (26: 6 national championships, 8 SEC Championships, 12 SEC West Championships) than losses since 2008 (21), it shows how dominant of a program Saban has created, and one every single program strives to be.
Think about how many programs in the SEC have hired a former Saban assistant during his time at Alabama to try to duplicate the recipe. Only Georgia, with Kirby Smart, has come the absolute closest to becoming the next dynasty in College Football.
Nothing draws the ire more from fans across the country than when Alabama isn’t in a conference championship game or the College Football Playoff, and they see Nick Saban appear politicking for the Crimson Tide to get in.
He may be the most hated figure in all of college football because, more times than not, Alabama is given the mulligan but also makes good on their second chances, usually winning the national championship.
Saban is particularly harsh at times with the media and isn’t afraid to really let people know how he feels:
As Saban continues to coach into his 70s, he will continue to be a polarizing figure with fans and will continue to position Alabama in the national championship picture.
Now, if you ever think Saban is ever tired of the approach, former Saban defensive lineman Marcus Spears learned quickly that is not the case, and that will continue to be the envy of every program in college football:
