The next UA president?

she is definitely qualified

Also of note: she isn't stepping down until September. I'm sure we've already got a short list considering this will be the third time we've done this in the last few years.

technically he still is the boss.

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Condi Rice

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Please God, no.

U do know her resume right?

I wont go into all of it but she was basically second in command at Stanford before going to the white house under the younger Bush.

So what in your extensive background of Academia makes you think she is not? Or are you just a racist and anti woman?

Her political career was an unmitigated disaster, but I won't judge her academic qualifications by her politics. I'd rather have someone else, but we could do worse than her for sure.

Whoever it may be, I wish we would install them. The vacuum at the top is what's allowing the athletic department to run on auto-pilot. Sooner or later, Battle will screw something important up if left alone long enough. I'd rather that not happen. Find a new president and charge them with replacing the AD like yesterday.

Battle replaced a lousy basketball coach only after a group of big basketball boosters told him to reverse his decision to retain Grant or they were pulling their financial support of the program. He then proceeded to conduct a very public "search" that quickly identified Gregg Marshall as the one and only candidate for the job. After an open courtship where Marshall led us down the primrose path, he publicly embarrassed Battle and Bama by staying at Witchita. Avery Johnson saved the day by calling and inquiring about the job which led to his eventual hiring. It was nothing that Battle did to find a coach. Battle also stated that the search and hire was one of the hardest things he ever had to do.

Now he is faced with a similar situation in the baseball program and has already affirmed his support for Gaspard who is overwhelmingly disliked by baseball supporters and the consensus is he should be fired. But Battle will have none of that because a search is too hard.

Battle IS an accomplished businessman, nobody is disputing that. But there is a lot more that goes into being a good AD than just being a good businessman. And in my humble opinion, aside from his business acumen, he is an abject failure as an AD and we'd better remove him before he pulls a Bockrath and really screws something up.

I don't mean this as a personal attack on the man as I have never met him in person. I had the privilege of meeting and speaking with Coach Moore on a couple of different occasions and whatever else you might say about the man, you couldn't question his love for Alabama and his desire to do right for it. Maybe the same can be said for Battle but while Mal made the occasional misstep, Battle appears to be a bumbling idiot at the job. Sure, he's keeping the business side of things going fairly smoothly, but he's managed to piss off various groups of boosters, student athletes, and fans in the process. It's not always about the bottom line.

So you can defend Bill Battle all day long if you like him, that's your right to your opinion. But mine is I don't like him or the way he is running the athletic department that I support both emotionally and financially and I'd like him gone.

I know a professor on the search committee and they have already identified and started interviewing candidates. I know because he had to miss class to go to the ATL airport for an interview. He wouldn't tell us who but the process has begun.

What has been the reason for the high turnover in the president's position over the past several years? We've had Guy Bailey and Judy Bonner since Dr. Witt left. I want to find a long term hire.