Most of the all-time great NFL coaches have one common trait: The ability to win and work with any quarterback, no matter who’s under center.
On the flip side, some NFL coaches saw minimal or practically zero success because they simply couldn’t find a way to make it work with any quarterback they were tasked with coaching.
Here are the five worst QB-killer head coaches in NFL history…and the 5 all-time best QB gurus.
QB Destroyer: Jeff Fisher
Steve McNair, a former MVP winner who helped the Tennessee Titans to a Super Bowl 34 appearance, is obviously a notable exception. But once the Titans moved on from McNair, Fisher’s career wasn’t the same.
Fisher couldn’t get it going with the highly-touted Vince Young, the No. 3 selection of the 2006 NFL Draft. Fisher had minimal short-term success with Kerry Collins in 2008 and ‘09, but then it went crashing down from there.
He couldn’t get 2010 first overall pick Sam Bradford going with the St. Louis Rams. He couldn’t get Nick Foles’ going. He couldn’t do anything with 2016 first overall pick Jared Goff, who lo and behold emerged as a Pro Bowler in year one under Sean McVay.
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Keep in mind that Foles and Bradford had their moments outside of Fisher’s Rams. Goff also became a serviceable starter for the Detroit Lions following his departure from the Rams.
Also consider this: Over his five years as the Rams’ head coach, Fisher’s team never finished above 21st in scoring. Moral of the story: Quarterbacks always fared better when Fisher wasn’t calling the shots.
QB Guru: Andy Reid
Not only is Reid making a case for the best coach in NFL history, but he looks like he’ll retire as the greatest offensive-minded coach SLASH QB guru ever. Pure and simple.
First, Reid made Donovan McNabb a six-time Pro Bowler and, if you ask us, an all-time great Hall of Fame snub. The Eagles were a juggernaut during the McNabb-Reid era, leading the franchise to five NFC Championship Games and a Super Bowl appearance.
Then Reid turns ex-Atlanta Falcons star Michael Vick into a 2010 Comeback Player of the Year award winner, as Vick powered the Eagles to an NFC East division crown.
After leaving for the Kansas City Chiefs, Reid worked magic with Alex Smith and turned the frustrating ex-San Francisco 49ers into a three-time Pro Bowler. Smith led KC to five straight winning seasons, four playoff berths and two division titles.
And then there’s that whole Patrick Mahomes guy. Reid and Mahomes have only led the Chiefs to the top of the NFL, with two Super Bowl championships over their first five seasons together.
Mahomes is only the best player in the NFL, and he has a real chance of going down as the best to ever do it.
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QB Destroyer: Adam Gase
Gase was the Denver Broncos’ offensive coordinator from 2013 to 2014. But as the entire football world knows…Peyton Manning didn’t exactly NEED an offensive coordinator. He WAS pretty much the OC.
Nonetheless, Gase got a lot of credit for the success of that 2013 Broncos’ offense that recorded a single-season record 606 points. That year, Manning broke the single-season record for passing yards and passing touchdowns, too.
After the 2014 season, the Broncos changed up their coaching staff. John Fox went to Chicago, and he hired Gase to serve as his OC. Unsurprisingly, Gase wasn’t able to transform Jay Cutler’s career in his one stop in the Windy City.
The Miami Dolphins hired Gase as their new head coach in 2018. Ryan Tannehill didn’t exactly have his best years under Gase, and Miami finished 17th, 28th and 26th in scoring over his three seasons there.
The year Tannehill left Miami and went to the Tennessee Titans, he had a career year — winning Comeback Player of the Year honors while leading his club to the 2019 AFC Championship Game. Go figure.
The New York Jets mind-numbingly hired Gase as their new head coach in 2019, hoping that he’d be able to fix 2018 third overall pick Sam Darnold. In Gase’s two seasons with the Jets, the team ranked 31st and 32nd in scoring.
Not that he was great in his two years with the Carolina Panthers, but Darnold was at least better there compared to what we saw when he worked under Gase in New York.
If that doesn’t make Gase a QB killer, who is?
QB Guru: Sean McVay
McVay was Washington’s offensive coordinator from 2014 to 2016. Kirk Cousins led the club to winning seasons in 2015 and ‘16, including an NFC East division title in the former year.
His 69.8 completion percentage led the NFL in 2015. Cousins threw a then-career-high 29 touchdown passes in Washington’s surprise division-winning season. A year later, he threw a career-high 4,917 yards.
McVay was hired to be the new head coach of the Los Angeles Rams in 2017. Jared Goff broke out in year two, powering a Rams offense that averaged a league-leading 29.9 points per game.
A year later, Goff’s Rams finished second in scoring and reached the Super Bowl — falling to the dynastic New England Patriots.
After two inconsistent seasons from Goff, the Rams opted to trade him and land Matthew Stafford from the Detroit Lions in 2021. Still, Goff was a two-time Pro Bowler under McVay while compiling an incredible 42-20-0 record as the starting QB.
Oh, and all the Rams did in year one with Stafford was win Super Bowl 56 over the Cincinnati Bengals. Doing wonders with three different QBs, and going to the Super Bowl with two of them? That’s a QB guru if we’ve ever seen one, folks.
QB Destroyer: Lovie Smith
Smith will definitely go down as one of the better defensive-minded coaches of his era. But his inability to make it work with quarterbacks will most certainly keep him out of the Hall of Fame.
In his first year as Chicago’s head coach in 2004, Smith used four different QBs: Chad Hutchinson, Craig Krenzel, Jonathan Quinn and Rex Grossman. The result? The 32nd-ranked scoring offense that averaged a woeful 14.4 points per game.
Yes, the Bears won the NFC North in 2005 — the same year Smith won Coach of the Year honors. But starting QB Kyle Orton — who went on to enjoy minimal success with the Denver Broncos — had nine touchdowns against 13 picks that year.
And yes, the Bears’ high-powered defense and Devin Hester propeled them to a Super Bowl 41 appearance. Too bad Smith was left with Grossman as his starting QB that year.
Smith couldn’t really do much with Jay Cutler, either. In fact, the latter went on to play his best football under Marc Trestman in 2013 — the year the Bears moved on from Smith.
Smith couldn’t get it going with Josh McCown or Jameis Winston over his two-year tenure with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Davis Mills had a solid rookie year for the Houston Texans under David Culley in 2021, only to regress big time in 2022 under Smith — who replaced Culley as the head coach.
Our advice to teams looking to hire Smith? Simple. Just keep him on the defensive side of the ball.
QB Guru: Don Coryell
You know you did wonders as a QB guru head coach when there’s a Wikipedia page named after your offense. In the case of Don Coryell, it was called the “Air Coryell” offense.
After coaching post-secondary football in Canada, Coryell took his talents south of the border – coaching the Whittier Poets and the San Diego State Aztecs. In 1973, he made the jump to the NFL, taking over as head coach of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Then-Cardinals quarterback Jim Hart enjoyed his best years under Coryell’s guidance – leading the Redbirds to the postseason twice while earning four straight Pro Bowl nods from 1974 to 1977.
In a surprise, the Cardinals fired Coryell after the 1978 season. The vertical-offense master was then hired by the San Diego Chargers. It was there where Coryell would enjoy the best run of his legendary coaching career.
The “Air Coryell” offense was led by quarterback Dan Fouts, tight end Kellen Winslow and wide receiver Charlie Joiner – all proud Canton members. Over Coryell’s nine seasons in San Diego, the team ranked in the top 10 in scoring offense seven times — including No. 1 three times.
And from 1978 to ‘85, the Chargers finished No. 1 in passing offense seven times — the lone exception coming in 1984. And they were second that year.
Coryell’s offensive mastery helped Fouts win four passing yard titles to go along with six Pro Bowl nods and 1980s All-Decade team honors.
QB Destroyer: John McKay
After a storied run at USC that was headlined by four national championship banners, McKay was hired to coach the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ franchise in 1976.
Incredibly, McKay lasted nine years in the role despite a brutal .335 winning percentage. And his awful work with quarterbacks was always the key factor.
Doug Williams was a mediocre starting QB under McKay. And then he went on to win a Super Bowl as Washington’s starter in 1987.
Over McKay’s nine years as Tampa’s head coach, they finished 21st or lower in scoring six times. They were 15th or lower in passing yards five times — including 25th or lower thrice.
Steve DeBerg was a quality starter in San Fran and Kansas City but was the ultimate turnover machine under McKay in Tampa Bay. And Jack Thompson’s two-year run in Tampa was so awful that he was out of the league after the 1984 season.
What can we say? McKay just never had it with quarterbacks.
QB Guru: Kyle Shanahan
In Shanahan’s second year as the Houston Texans’ OC in 2009, Matt Schaub of all people led the league in passing yards with 4,770. Kyle then joined his father, Mike, in Washington after the elder was hired as the club’s new head coach in 2010.
Shanahan helped 2011 Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III win Offensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2012. Injuries unfortunately derailed RG3’s second season and career there, and then Shanahan had a forgettable one-year stop with the Cleveland Browns in 2014.
Shanahan then spent the 2015 and ‘16 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons. In the latter, Matt Ryan captained the NFL’s No. 1 scoring offense en route to MVP honors. After the Super Bowl 51 collapse, and after Shanahan’s departure, Matty Ice was never the same QB again.
Shanahan was hired as the San Francisco 49ers’ head coach in 2017. He went to one Super Bowl and two NFC Championship Games with Jimmy Garoppolo as his starting quarterback.
In 2022, the 49ers lost Trey Lance AND Garoppolo to the season with injuries. Shanahan turned Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy into a mega star, as Purdy won all seven starts en route to another NFC title game appearance.
Criticize Shanny all you want about his team always coming short in big games. But Schaub, RG3 ,Ryan, Lance, Garoppolo and Purdy will all happily tell you how awesome life is when you’re working in his offense.
QB Destroyer: Rex Ryan
Like Lovie Smith, Ryan built a solid reputation as a defensive-minded coach. But on the other hand, this man could not develop a half-decent QB to save his life.
After a successful 10-year run on the Baltimore Ravens’ defensive coaching staff, Ryan was hired as the new head coach of the New York Jets in 2009. The Jets used the No. 5 pick in that year’s draft on USC QB Mark Sanchez. Remember the whole “San-chize” nickname?
Yes, Ryan coached the Jets to consecutive AFC title game appearances in 2009 and 2010. Don’t be fooled, that was because of the stingy Darrelle Revis-led defense that finished 1st and sixth in scoring over those two years, respectively.
During Sanchez’s four years as the Jets’ starting QB, the passing game straight up sucked. They never finished in the top half in passing. Sanchez completed 55.1 percent of pass attempts for 68 yards and 69 TDS in his four years under Ryan’s guidance.
But oh, it gets uglier. Remember 2022 Comeback Player of the Year Geno Smith? His rookie and sophomore years were painful under Ryan, who then jumped ship to the Buffalo Bills in 2015.
Tyrod Taylor and EJ Manuel were no better under Ryan during the latter’s two-year tenure as Buffalo’s head coach.
And now, we leave you with this stat: In Ryan’s eight years as an NFL head coach, his team finished 28th or WORSE in passing yards six times. Mercy!
QB Guru: Bill Walsh
Walsh created the “West Coast offense” which ended up being a game-changer in the NFL. If you’re like us where you dig the pass-happy game, you owe a huge debt of gratitude to the late Mr. Walsh.
After two years as the head coach of Stanford, Walsh was hired as the San Francisco 49ers’ new boss in 1979. That same year, the team drafted some guy named Joe Montana with the No. 82 pick.
Walsh turned Montana into the best quarterback of NFL history up to that point. “Joe Cool” led the 49ers two four Super Bowl championships in the ‘80s. But it wasn’t just Montana who crafted a Hall of Fame QB career under Walsh.
Montana’s successor, Steve Young, flopped in Tampa but got a fresh start when San Fran traded for him in 1987. Walsh left the 49ers in 1988, but his mentoring and masterful work with Young helped the latter continue San Fran’s dynasty.
Young won two MVP awards and led San Fran to a Super Bowl 29 championship as their starting quarterback. It’s no coincidence that Young went from bust in Tampa to arguably a top-10 QB all-time under Walsh.
That was the luxury of playing for the ultimate NFL QB guru.
What other QB Destoyer head coaches and QB gurus should we have included on our list? Join us in the comments section below
