The long, strange history of NFL interim coaches
Rick Venturi is probably a very nice man who doesn’t deserve the numbers associated with his name.
The former Northwestern star served as an NFL interim coach on two occasions, combining for a record of 2-17.
Such is the life for most interim coaches, largely because they typically are thrust into less-than-ideal situations.
Fortunately for Rich Bisaccia, his first opportunity as an interim coach comes for a team with a solid foundation.
Oftentimes, an interim coach steps in when a team is forced to make a change in the midst of a disappointing season. The Raiders move at the top was the result of an off-field issue, the discovery of offensive emails sent by head coach Jon Gruden.
That could put Bisaccia in a much better position to succeed.
“As far as the team is concerned, bottom line we are 3-2 in Week 6,” general manager Mike Mayock said. “A lot of these interim head coach deals over the years it’s like Week 15 and guys are already packing their bags. That’s not the case here. All of our goals are ahead of us. … The focus has got to be on Denver.”
Bisaccia will make his head coaching debut 38 seasons into his career when the Raiders (3-2) play the Broncos (3-2) at 1:25 p.m. Sunday.
Venturi first took over for the Colts when Ron Meyer was fired five games into the 1995 season. Indianapolis set the record for fewest points scored in a 16-game season and went 1-10 under Venturi.
Five years later, he was named interim coach in New Orleans after Jim Mora started 2-6. Venturi guided the Saints to a 1-7 finish.
Harvey Johnson has a similar story in Buffalo, where he went 1-10-1 as interim coach in 1968, then 1-13 in 1971 when coach John Rauch quit in training camp.
While there are other horror stories of awful records by interim coaches, the outlook isn’t always bleak for midseason replacements.
Hampton Pool guided the Rams to a 9-2 mark in the final 11 games after taking over for Joe Stydahar in a power struggle that led to a blowout loss in the opener. Lou Rymkus was fired in 1961 when the defending AFC champion Oilers started the season 1-3-1. Wally Lemm led them to a 10-0 mark and an AFC title, becoming the first team to eclipse 500 points in a season.
Buffalo Bills legend Marv Levy took over for the fired Hank Bullough in 1986 and then got the job full time despite a 2-5 finish. He eventually won four straight AFC titles.
Don Coryell went 8-4 for the Chargers after taking over for Tommy Prothro in 1978 and went on to win 111 games while advancing the league’s view of the passing game.
Modern interim coaches also have been able to steady the ship on a somewhat consistent basis.
Three teams employed interim coaches last season.
The Lions went 1-4 under Darrell Bevell after Matt Patricia was fired. Robert Prince also served as acting coach for one game when Bevell and several other members of the staff were in quarantine for COVID-19.
Raheem Morris went 4-7 for the Falcons after Dan Quinn was fired, and Romeo Crennel went 4-8 down the stretch after Bill O’Brien’s ouster in Houston.
A study by FiveThirtyEight last year revealed teams generally had performed better in several metrics, including record, in the 11 midseason firings over the previous five seasons.
It hasn’t always been that way.
In 2018, Sports Illustrated found that only 16 of 87 interim coaches since 1960 managed a winning record in their interim stint and only two of those teams made the playoffs.
An interim coach almost always means something has gone wrong. That’s certainly the case with the Raiders.
Bisaccia, however, is still excited about the opportunity.
“Is it ever a good time when it happens like this?” he asked rhetorically at his introductory news conference on Wednesday. “I think the thing that is unique to us is we have a good team. We’re a 3-2 team. It’s not like we’ve gone through some type of bad cycle and all of a sudden there’s been a change and it’s the end of the season and the season is over. We have 12 games.”
Of the 11 interim coaches employed between 2016 and 2020, only Jacksonville’s Doug Marrone got the full-time job.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.
Raiders' midseason
replacement coaches
Marty Feldman, 1961
Replaced Eddie Erdelatz after two losses to open the season in one of the worst seasons in league history, going 2-10 the rest of the way. He returned the next season and was fired after an 0-5 start.
Red Conkright, 1962
Replaced Feldman after the 0-5 start and lost his first eight games before closing the season and his career with a 20-0 win over the Patriots.
Art Shell, 1989
Replaced the fired Mike Shanahan after four games in 1989 and went 7-5 as the interim coach to earn the full-time job. He went on to a 54-38 mark, returning in 2006 and lasting just one season as he went 2-14.
Tom Cable, 2008
Replaced the fired Lane Kiffin after four games and earned the full-time job despite a 4-8 record. He went 13-19 over the next two seasons and was fired. He is currently the Raiders' offensive line coach.
Tony Sparano, 2014
Replaced Dennis Allen after an 0-4 start and lost his first six games as interim before winning three of the final six and finishing his stint 3-9.
