Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Other interesting firings close to 10 wins are George Allen after a 9-5 season in 1977 and Ted Marchibroda after a 9-7 season but AFC Championship game appearance in 1995.

Chuck Knox was not technically fired, the contract not renewed but he was fired in essence, not sure if he fits
the criteria of original post, was 10-4 in 1977

playoff losses did him in

Speaking of Knox, you wonder if the Rams could have won it all had they stuck by Jaworski instead of trading him? It seemed like Haden emerged from every competition but would get hurt at the worst times.

Brian wolf wrote:Speaking of Knox, you wonder if the Rams could have won it all had they stuck by Jaworski instead of trading him? It seemed like Haden emerged from every competition but would get hurt at the worst times.

I think its a possibility....the Rams defense was really tough and they always played well against the Steelers. IIRC, Rosenbloom always pushed for Haden to play because Haden went to USC. The Rams were 'forced' to trade Jaworski after signing Charlie Young from the Eagles as a free agent, but I'm not sure if Jaworski ever would have gotten a fair shake had he remained with the Rams. If Jaworski could be benched after lighting up the Cards in the 75 NFC playoffs, then I don't know how much more he could have done to earn playing time. That said, Jaworski was terrible in the 1980 postseason for the Eagles so it's hard to say.

Quick trivia game....list these QBs from highest career playoff passer rating to lowest career playoff passer rating:

John Hadl
James Harris
Ron Jaworski
Pat Haden
Vince Ferragamo

I will take a guess ...

Harris
Ferragamo
Jaworski
Haden
Hadl

Brian wolf wrote:I will take a guess ...

Harris
Ferragamo
Jaworski
Haden
Hadl

While they were all pretty bad, I was surprised at how terrible Haden was in the postseason...

Jaworski 63.4
Ferragamo 59.9
Hadl 44.1
Harris 41.0
Haden 35.3

Ferragamo should have been a superstar but regressed after leaving for Canada. I didnt feel Harris got a fair shake, but maybe it was more Rosenbloom than Knox ...

Coach Vermeil told me that he traded for Jaworski because he really liked him when he worked with him as an assistant for the Rams when they drafted him in 1973. He liked his character and talent and wanted him as his QB, and traded Charlie Young straight up for him. At the time, both players had "played out their option" but under the CBA at the time, each team had the "first right of refusal." Here's the NYT article about the trade (possible paywall): https://www.nytimes.com/1977/03/10/arch ... agles.html

Brian wolf wrote:Other interesting firings close to 10 wins are George Allen after a 9-5 season in 1977 and Ted Marchibroda after a 9-7 season but AFC Championship game appearance in 1995.

Marchibroda I always felt never got the credit he deserved for being a good coach. 3 Division Titles in the 70s...a very tough loss in the Ghost to the Post game which could've gone either way. 2 to the dynastic Steelers. Then it's more than a decade until he is a HC again. That I don't quite understand considering even though his last two seasons in Baltimore were poor a big part of that was Irsay. The three division titles weren't that far in the past. How did nobody hire him to be their HC for so long?

The 1992-1995 Colts were not particularly talented top to bottom. He somehow gets what I felt could've been a 4-12 club to a very impressive 9-7 in 1992. 1994 I feel they overachieve again though not as much as 1992. A very respectable 8-8. And then the incredible 1995 almost run to the Super Bowl

30-34 all time with the Indy Colts but 3 of those 4 years he had them really playing over their heads. You put a middling coach with those clubs and you could be looking at 4-12, 4-12, 6-10, 7-9.

Marchibroda didn't come across as this larger than life personality, nor was he ever at the helm in a high profile NFL city which I think is why he sort of gets forgotten

Bert Jones injuries did in Marchibroda, who didnt like working for Irsay anyway. Marchibroda helped develop Gabriel, Kilmer, Jones, Kelly, Harbaugh and Testeverde ... not bad. The only QB he couldnt develop was Vince Evans ...