I thought I might try revamping the Worst to First Challenge to make it appeal to more coaches and address some issues raised during the first post.
1. The goal is now to take one of these 44 traditionally sorry teams and lead it to a national championship. No financial investment required. The prize is strictly bragging rights—a place in the Rebuilders Hall of Fame (currently occupied by Joanna Gaines of Fixer Uppers fame). It is a continual contest—each coach who wins a national title will be inducted. But, we will note on their “plaque” how many seasons each rebuild consumed as well as the starting GUESS rating for each team. So, he who takes the lowest-rated team to the title in the shortest time span will be able to brag more loudly than his peers.
2. In Division IA, the goal is a Level 3 bowl victory.
3. “Worst” is defined as the team at the bottom of the all-time standings in each division. If a team has been this bad over 76 to 122 seasons, I think we can assume a high degree of coaching difficulty.
4. You can take a team in any world, any division, for which you are qualified. So, you don’t necessarily have to take on a new team if you want to just switch from one of your current teams in a particular world. If a human coach occupies one of the “worst” teams, it will be noted on the chart.
5. You can “reserve” a team one season in advance. For instance, I am “reserving” Maranatha Baptist/Warner for next season, Season 109. Post to this thread or sitemail me to reserve—first come, first served.
6. Please don’t jump on another coach’s “reserved” team. If you do so, you are a poopyhead and will not be listed on the chart.
7. After a coach wins a national championship, his team is not likely to still be the “worst” in its division. So, a new “worst” team will replace the new champion and the newly inducted Hall of Fame coach can move on to a new challenge. I can also update the chart if a new team drops to “worst” in its division and this fact is called to my attention.
8. I will attempt to update the chart with the most current GUESS ratings as they are released to allow coaches to see their progress as well as the progress of others.
9. I will solicit input from the coaches on what the “term limit” should be for coaches in this contest. After 20 seasons have passed, is it still a worst-to-first story or even a rebuild?