ask this again in a few years and i’m not really sure how anyone can CLEARLY say that he’s the worst. still too recent and people are still too mad. there is a debate for sure between him and lewis
he will probably climb the ranks and get a shot again. do a “coach rehab” stint as an analyst and climb back up. we have seen plenty of coaches do bad at multiple stops and end up with another job in a few years. at the college and nfl level if you have the right agent you are never finished as a head coach
I think it is hard to argue that he isn't the worst coach in our programs history.
- worst win percentage of a non-interim head coach in our program's history
- worst 3 year stretch in nearly a hundred years
- no improvement during his tenure. (I think most of the fanbase would have given him a longer leash if we showed some improvement)
- Less wins than B*** L**** despite coaching more games
- Worse conference win percentage than B*** L****
- 2 of Lewis' teams had a better record than any one season under Collins.
-Lewis took the graceful way out (arguably) and at least publicly resigned. TFG rode the gravy train as long as he could for the paycheck ( not arguing that he did, I would too in his shoes)
-Lewis won his cupcake games ( Western Carolina, 1992, 37-19, Furman, 1993, 37-3, Western Carolina, 1994, 45-26), Collins lost to the Citadel while beating Kennesaw State a couple of years later
-B*** L**** had an average point margin in his losses of 20.15 pts, TFG 22.32 pts
-On a similar note to the last, lets look at each coach's third year, 1994 GT went 1-10 with a point differential in losses of -163 pts. 2021 GT went 3-9 with a point differential in losses of -169. While the bottom fell out at the end og B*** L**** tenure, he still lost by a less amount on a per game basis than TFG and had a point differential in losses that was less despite having one more loss.
The only argument that TFG is not as bad as Lewis is the situation that each coach inherited. There is some merit to this argument but it is also the coach's decision on how to approach such a situation. Instead of doing a slow transition that would allow us to win more games while roster turnover happened, TFG ripped the band-aid off so that he could use the imagery change as a recruiting tactic but losing by gigantic point margins negatively impacted our program's image. He also coached in a time where the ability to generate roster turnover got progressively easier each year that he coached to the point that it is essentially free agency every year.
The final point comparing each coach's third year also stresses the point that, while TFG inherited a tougher situation, his "stamp" on the program was not making things demonstrably better than B*** L**** final and worst year.
