Most Hated Opposing Coaches

Sometimes the more effective and satisfying means of getting into the opposing team’s head is through their coach. Riling them up to get a technical or turn beet red (or orange) with anger, the Aggie faithful sure know how to get under the skin of opposing coaches. Some even plot out their season tickets based on proximity to the opponents bench--I’m looking at you Jordan M. and Dancin’ Aggie. Who tops the list though? Who do you look forward to heckling most? Who makes your crimson blood boil hottest? We ranked the top five here.

Honorable Mentions: Steve Alford - UNM, Mark Fox - Nevada, Don Haskins - UTEP, Bob King- UNM.

Dan Majerle - Formerly GCU

Tan Dan--what’s great about Danny Boy is when he goes off on Aggie Nation after we send him home crying, he doesn’t turn red, he turns a dark shade of orange with hints of kool-aid purple to match the cookie cutter Nike jerseys the finest for-profit money can buy. Also satisfying about getting under Dan’s skin is the habit he’s made of yelling right back at Aggie Nation. Most satisfying of all, we’ve never even witnessed so much as one loss to the purple, online, money machine that calls themselves a basketball program. Because Dan could never get over that hump, he sadly was replaced this Spring by a coach with a losing record at his last gig. Yikes. Will Dan’s replacement make his way onto this list? We can only hope.

Stew Morrill - Utah State

Post game press conferences dripping with self-righteousness and smugness only possible from that commuter school in northern Utah are what come to mind when I think of Coach Morrill. Stew has certainly gotten the short end of the stick in this rivalry, being the victim on the way to Lou’s 700th win and losing in the Pan Am in the WAC Championship game. I’ll never forget the opportunity I had to lead the student section in Utah State’s own “winning team-losing team” cheer after the good Aggies took it too them; Morrill was so pissed.

Bruce Pearl - Auburn

The hatred from Aggie Nation runs deep for Pearl; less having to do with on the court antics so much as his slimy off the court moves aimed at Coach Henson. For those of you who don’t know the history, you can catch up here. This ordeal is worth its own blog--someday. Basically Pearl baselessly accused the most perfect human on the planet, coach Henson of improper dealings with a recruit. Lumped into the accusations was Aggie great, Jimmy Collins. If there’s one sure fire way to get an entire fanbase to hate you, 1. Leave for UNM. 2. Insult Coach Henson and legend Jimmy Collins in one fell swoop. Gasoline was poured onto the 30-year-old smoldering fire when Pearl’s Auburn Tigers edged out our Aggies in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, securing a #3 spot on the most hated list.

Jerry “The Shark” Tarkanian

Many coaches have been despised by Aggie Nation, only one has been constructed into a paper mache shark and harpooned at half court--which by the way started a tradition that was continued into the late 2000’s. As Aggie Nation took out it’s anger on a piñatas, our boys took it out on the court, finally delivering a knockout blow to the Rebels from Vegas upsetting them in their 1990 National Championship year. This rivalry was not only the talk of the Mesilla Valley but of the college basketball world. Big West bouts aired on “Big Monday” on ESPN, where a sold out Pan Am earned the nickname “The Pandemonium Center” and our fans “The Panamanicas” from legendary commentator, Dick Vitale. As William Benjamin mentioned in a recent podcast, Aggie Nation even grilled up “shark” outside Pan Am--that’s disdain!

Paul Weir - UNM 

I thought about leaving this one blank because it speaks for itself. It truly is difficult for me considering Paul is a personal friend and has been for years. That doesn’t change the fact that in my near 30 years of being a part of Aggie Nation, I’ve never seen such rabid, unbridled hatred directed towards another person. When Weir left for UNM it wasn’t just a coach taking advantage of an opportunity or a climb up the proverbial ladder, to Aggie Nation it was treason of the highest level and we let him hear about it upon each return to the Pan Am. So far Aggie Nation is winning in this breakup.

Who else belongs on this list? Any new prospects for Aggie Nation’s crosshairs?