LSU Football: Top 5 all-time worst SEC coaching hires

3. Joker Phillips — Kentucky (2010-2012)

I almost put Coach O ahead of Joker Phillips on this list. It was close.

The only reason I have Phillips higher is because I feel like he inherited a better situation than Orgeron did.

Kentucky had four straight winning seasons under Rich Brooks before Phillips took over in 2010 (including winning three of four bowl games).

Phillips managed to lead the Wildcats to a bowl game in his first season (which UK lost to Pittsburgh).

But things went south from there.

In 2011, Kentucky won only five games (though one of those wins was against Tennessee, UK’s first win against the Volunteers since 1984).

Then in 2012, the bottom fell out. Kentucky went 2-10. Phillips was fired before the end of the season but was allowed to finish the year as the Wildcats’ head coach.

Phillips has mostly bounced around since his firing at UK, much like he did before arriving joining Kentucky’s staff in 2003.

It was a good story when the Wildcats hired Phillips in 2010. He was a former player at UK and he was the offensive coordinator for some pretty good Kentucky teams.

Ultimately, however, Phillips didn’t have the chops to cut it as a head coach in the SEC.