The 3 worst head coach hires in Oregon football history
By Sam Fariss
Don Read. player. 515. . 1974-1976. . 2. . Don Read. don read
The 28th head coach of the Oregon football team was around for just three years. Don Read led the Ducks to three of their worst consecutive seasons in program history.
- 1974: 2-9 (8th in the Pac-8)
- 1975: 3-8 (6th in the Pac-8)
- 1976: 4-7 (T-7th in the Pac-8)
Read had been an assistant under previous head coach Dick Enright, who struggled to find any success either. Following Enright’s departure, Read stepped into the role and floundered amongst some of the more elite Pac-8 coaches.
While hiring within a program can be successful and minimize change for the young players, Read was nowhere near the right choice for Oregon at that time.
Enright hadn’t been able to get the necessary wins for the Ducks so why would one of his assistants have been a better fit?
After his three wildly unsuccessful seasons with the Ducks, Read coached at Oregon Tech, Portland State, and Montana. In 1995 with Montana, Read and his team won the Division I-AA National Championship.