5 worst Oregon State football head coaching hires of all-time

No. 4: Craig Fertig (1976-79)

Any Beaver fan who lived through the 28-year streak of losing seasons that this program endured in the 1970s through the 1990s will have plenty of head coaches to blame. One is Craig Fertig.

The former USC quarterback had been in coaching for eleven years (with ten of those being at his alma mater) as an assistant before trying to tackle the Oregon State job as head coach. However, he soon found out that life in Corvallis was far different than it was in Los Angeles.

At only 33 years old when he was hired by the Beavers in 1975, he still had a long way to go as a coach. Of course, cutting your teeth as a first-time head coach at OSU during the 1970s was a hard row to hoe.

He stumbled out of the blocks with a 2-10 record in 1976. Then, he improved only to 3-8 the following season.

In 1978, his team took the smallest of steps forward going 3-7-1. However, in 1979, he guided his team to a 2-9 record with one of those wins coming via forfeit thanks to an ineligible Arizona State player.

What made that final season so unusual was that Fertig was fired in the middle of the season but he agreed to stay on and coach the remainder of the games. The thought of that happening in today's football landscape is mind-boggling.

Eventually, Fertig would return to USC to be an assistant A.D. before he became a broadcaster. He passed away in California in 2008 after also spending two seasons as a high school football coach in his home state.