"Try. Fail. Try again. Fail again. Fail better."

This is a quote from writer Samuel Beckett, in a work called Westward Ho. It is also an apt way to describe the plight of a number of NFL head coaches. Some men just aren't fit for the job. A look at the three worst:

- Scott Linehan, St. Louis Rams: Befuddled, confused, empty ... these are all ways to describe the look on Linehan's face nearly every Sunday, including yesterday's loss to Seattle which dropped the Rams to 2-9. Other NFL coaches routinely run circles around him in the second half of games, exposing his incapability to adjust at halftime. Should one bad thing happen in the course of a game, dread seems to come over him. Worse, it is obvious that Linehan doesn't coach to win. He coaches not to lose, and his offense, which was the reason he was hired, is falling apart. Unfortunately, he seems to have the confidence of Los Angeles-based Rams management.

- Mike Nolan, San Francisco 49ers: The Niners came off a nice road win at Arizona yesterday, and you hate to pile on a man who just lost his father, but you have to look at the results. Nolan endeared himself to national media types, who LOVED that he wanted to wear a suit on the sidelines (just like the old days!), which certainly hasn't hurt. Still, everybody thought he had the team on the right track after last season's 7-9 record and an off-season of free agent signings and high draft picks.

Yet Nolan has failed to deliver and the 49ers are 3-8, and won't even have the benefit of an upper first-round draft pick in April, as they traded it away to New England in last year's draft. Also consider the fact that San Fran has ranked 30th, 32nd and now 22nd in defensive points allowed and 30th, 24th and 32nd in offensive points scored, and you have a poor football team.

- Bobby Petrino, Atlanta Falcons: Is it fair to put someone on this list who has coached just 11 games in the NFL? Maybe not, but he lands on here anyway. The offensive guru has the Falcons 31st in scoring among 32 NFL teams. True, Mike Vick hurt his chances to be competitive, but the former Louisville coach has not helped his cause, and has routinely mishandled player situations.

Corner DeAngelo Hall was fined $100,000 for a screaming match with Petrino on the sidelines, and was critical of him for the release of DT Grady Jackson. Tight end Alge Crumpler has also been critical of Petrino, for his offense and for phasing out veteran players. The coach also hurt his standing with the team after naming Byron Leftwich starting QB for the rest of the year, but failing to let incumbent QB Joey Harrington know. Harrington only found out of the change when the media asked him about it. Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer Terence Moore probably put it best with this quote: "Leaders of Iran and Israel communicate better than Falcons players with Petrino."

(Photo: Flickr)