On the brightside. His daddy still loves him
-- Finebaum Calls for his dismissal - Mobile Register
"And it was so predictable if only people could have taken the Crimson blinders off and seen this for what it really was and was always going to be. Letting a teenager drive the family car without driver's ed will usually garner the same result -- a wrecked car, or in this case a severely damaged football program." - Paul Finebaum-- Is UA in the Market for a New Coach? -- Tuscaloosa News
-- Shula's Status in Limbo - Mobile Register
-- Shula's Status Uncertain -- Huntsville Times
No announcement is expected until after Thanksgiving. If he stays, you have to imagine it's wholesale changes to the coaching staff.
PWD
8 comments:
I think Shula goes for no other reason other than it's 'Bama and the expectations were too high given his experience.
I mean let's be honest, he was thrown directly into the fire shortly after Mike Price ran out of $1 bills, and he never was ready to "drive the family car" (Finebaum nailed that metaphor).
He'll get on with a lesser program with not so many expectations and will have the chance to grow as a head coach. I'm sure we haven't seen the last of Shula as a college football coach, but I would bet more than I owe that we've seen the last of him as an Alabama head coach.
Let's just hope 'Bama goes out and finds a decent replacement. I'm ready for the Iron Bowl to actually mean something again.
In other news: Tuck Fech
This will guarantee 'Bama will be in at least another 3-5 year rebuilding cycle. I'm no fan of Shula, but they're going to lose alot of recruits if he goes. Unless someone like Bobby P. or Schiano is convinced to come to the pressure-cooker that is and always will be Tuscaloosa, who is available right now that can save the day? Auburn may need more fingers than ten...
Why would this mean a rebuilding cycle for sure?
UGA didn't have one when we signed Richt. We didn't lose any of Donnan's verbal commits except the kid that went to Stanford that wasn't good enough to start with.
That's ridiculous. The better the coach, the faster you win.
They don't have to hire Petrino to avoid losing recruits.
pwd
Latest rumor is that they'd like to go after Spurrier. Supposedly the Crimson Foundation's Gulfstream jet was spotted at the Augusta airport, which doesn't have a Gulfstream maintenance facility. (Don't know why they wouldn't just go ahead and fly it into Columbia, unless they were afraid of attracting attention.)
It's really amazing how much attention Spurrier is attracting from fans whose teams are in the market for a new coach. Here's a guy who could very well be 6-6 after this weekend, but people are talking about him like he's Lombardi.
Everytime I see Shula I wait for him to say "...I have no idea what I'm doing out here. But i did stay at a Holiday Inn last night"
Shula took over a depleted program and got them to 10-2 in his 3rd year, then they stunk it up with a new quarterback and a defense full of new starters.
He's made some boneheaded moves (getting Croyle and Prothro hurt in blowouts, some bad decisions in crucial situations, etc). He may just be a sorry coach, but I'm not sure anybody can say for sure given the state of the program when he took over. I'm a firm believer that any coach ought to be given at least 5-6 years, especially when they have probation messes to clean up.
The bigger problem at Alabama is the growing perception that it's a bad job. Coaches weren't exactly beating down the doors for that job the last three times it's been open. The expectations are unrealistic.This is like their 6th or 7th coach in 23 years. The state of Alabama produces good talent for a state that size, but Auburn gets their share of it. It's not like Georgia or Louisiana, where the state school pretty much has their pick of players.
Don't get me wrong. I think Alabama can consistently be one of the top teams in the SEC West, but they need to make a plan and stick with it. Every time they get rid of a coach early they lessen the appeal of that job to all the prospective coaches out there.
Even if Shula is completely incompetent, giving him another couple years to prove it will accomplish two things: 1) Prove that the administration sticks with their man and 2) Lower the bar for the next guy. If Shula truly sucks, their applicants in '09 will be better than any coach that will apply for '07.
Vinnie
"but people are talking about him like he's Lombardi."
Do you even know who Lombardi is or are you just throwing out the name a legendary coach? He took an pitiful Green Bay team and turned them into an elite team and then he went to Washington and did improve things there but never to the level of Green Bay. If you replace Green Bay and Washington with Florida and South Carolina, then who does that remind you of?
They're so similar that if I were Spurrier, I'd be making sure I don't have intestinal cancer about now.
The sooner people stop paying attention to finebaum, the better the south will be. That man is a cancer on college football. He's the howard stern of the SEC. He'll say anything to sell papers.
And while I've said my bit on this before (and I still haven't changed my mind) I'm just going to say that since the day after the Florida game last year, I have lost all sports respect for anyone who blames Shula for Protrho's injury.
Alabama was up by three touchdowns against one of the best teams in the country early in the second half. That is not the time to pull your starters.
Sure, people say "Well, if Florida cuts the lead back down to 14, you can put them back in."
And those people have never played or coached football. You do not want to lose momentum, you don't want your players to lose focus and you sure as hell don't want to be swapping in and out entire teams of skilled position players.
There's not a coach in America that would've been playing his 2nd-string at that point in the game, and it's ridiculous to blame Shula for a freak accident.
I wish I had kept a list of all of the people who were whining about that and compared it to the people who are now calling for him to be fired for being "a bad coach". I bet the list would match up pretty well.
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