In Reply to: Biggest coaching bust ever? posted by Dr.Bruin on November 24, 2025 at 13:38:26
UCLA once hired a high school coach. After a promising start, it all unraveled.
Bert LaBrucherie was hired by UCLA in 1945 with only high school coaching experience (67–10–2 at L.A. High) but won the Pacific Coast Conference championship and played in the Rose Bowl in his second season at UCLA. However, in the next two years, the program quickly disintegrated. LaBrucherie was under fire and even a mid-season win at Nebraska couldn't save him from a player revolt and the entire staff resigned right after the season ended. LaBrucherie was then hired by Caltech and coached there for 19 years compiling a record of 19-120-2 (It's Caltech. What do you expect?). Shortly after he retired, the program stopped playing college varsity competition and dropped the sport entirely in 1993.