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re: In 2003 were you a Croom or Shula advocate?
Posted on 6/22/20 at 8:02 pm to pvilleguru
Posted on 6/22/20 at 8:02 pm to pvilleguru
quote:
Stallings would not have been any better. Everyone would have known he was just a stopgap and recruiting would have likely suffered even more.
Can you imagine Tuberville beating the dog shite out of a Stallings-coached 2008 team?
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Posted on 6/22/20 at 9:00 pm to moester75
Croom. But, I am glad it worked as it did. He may have won a couple too many games here or there to get the Saban hiring timeline right.
He is a good man.
Shula was a good guy as well. And, I think he also did better than most expected given the circumstances
He is a good man.
Shula was a good guy as well. And, I think he also did better than most expected given the circumstances
Posted on 6/24/20 at 10:35 am to Donkeypunch
quote:
Neither. As far as no one wanting the job, I remember Bill Parcells telling ESPN that he was interested and the response from Coach Moore was “not wanting to go that direction”. If I remember correctly ESPN also reported that Coach Stallings offered to come back for a couple of years to “right the ship” and that was shot down as well. Either would have been much better choices.
First time I ever heard that Parcells was interested. I have a hard time believing that although Parcells wrote in his book that Coach Bryant was one of his coaching idols and he basically monitored his style on Bryants.
I remember thinking Croom might be a good idea as I think he would have been the first AA football coach in the SEC? I thought it might be good for recruiting but would be a double edged sword becuase whoever took the job was destined to fail.
Shula seemed like a great idea because of the Shula brand and Mike's NFL resume but at that first press conference and his bumbling, deer in a headlight performance, I knew we were screwed.
Posted on 6/24/20 at 1:58 pm to moester75
Croom but, unfortunately, Bama wasn't ready for a black HC at that time... I think he would have slightly outperformed Shula is give the chance..
Posted on 6/24/20 at 4:11 pm to forestwhitackersgood
I disagree. I think Alabama would have embraced Sly with open arms. The fear was that he would have a record similar to Shula and it would have been difficult to fire him. Everyone knew that without a completely shocking performance, that coach, no matter who it was, was destined to be replaced as soon as was realistically feasible. If that coach was AA, the pundits would have run with the "set him up for failure" storyline all day long. I think both sides did the other a favor that Sly didn't come to fruition. I think under different circumstances, it would have been beneficial for both parties.
Posted on 6/24/20 at 4:37 pm to phil4bama
quote:I think the vast majority would have been fine, but there's a portion of our fanbase that I'm not so confident about.
I think Alabama would have embraced Sly with open arms
Posted on 6/25/20 at 1:58 am to moester75
I wanted neither because neither were close to being qualified. Of the two I preferred Shula because as others have mentioned I knew that letting him go would have been a nightmare; also, Perkins advised Coach Moore that Shula would be better (Perkins had worked with both I think.) Mal wanted Richard Williamson who would have been a better choice by far but he was overruled by the PTB. He had done a good job at Memphis, though poor at Tampa Bay as an interim coach.
It's a myth that no one wanted the job: as others have noted, Parcells expressed interest (he admired Bryant but it mostly had to do with being on Ray Perkins' staff in NY). Tom Coughlin also publicly stated he was interested in the job - I think he had just been let go at Jacksonville. Mal didn't want either because he felt they would not be long term. There were others - I think Les Miles was another. I know he was sometime during that time frame.
I never felt that Shula was doing Bama a favor. He was paid much more than he was previously making and he had a chance as HC at a big time program, though struggling as it was. He had never shown much interest in Bama after he graduated.
Again, neither Shula nor Croom were qualified to be HCs, as they both would go on to demonstrate.
It's a myth that no one wanted the job: as others have noted, Parcells expressed interest (he admired Bryant but it mostly had to do with being on Ray Perkins' staff in NY). Tom Coughlin also publicly stated he was interested in the job - I think he had just been let go at Jacksonville. Mal didn't want either because he felt they would not be long term. There were others - I think Les Miles was another. I know he was sometime during that time frame.
I never felt that Shula was doing Bama a favor. He was paid much more than he was previously making and he had a chance as HC at a big time program, though struggling as it was. He had never shown much interest in Bama after he graduated.
Again, neither Shula nor Croom were qualified to be HCs, as they both would go on to demonstrate.
Posted on 6/27/20 at 3:39 am to moester75
It didn’t matter much to me at that point. I was just glad someone wanted to coach at Alabama at that point.
Posted on 6/29/20 at 10:16 pm to moester75
Croom should’ve gotten the job. He was more qualified for it. Things worked out in the end though.
Posted on 6/30/20 at 5:31 am to Pisco
In the words of Pat Dye,"hind-sight is 50/50".
Looking back.....and I said this then, and still think it would have been a great plan. They should have made Joe Kines the interim HC after the Price debacle in 2003. That was the first year of the sanctions and we weren't going anywhere and the 03-04 seasons were an absolute wash. Tell Kines he would coach for 03 and that they would take care of him after the season. Admin role etc... The offensive system Price installed was in place and they probably could have done no worse than Shula did that year. I honestly think they would have done better because they would have kept the same offense that they had worked on during the spring.
After the 2003 season. Not only was Butch Davis available. The HBC, Steve Spurrier, stepped down from the Washington Redskins and went to USCjr. While I would go through the hell of the Shula years to land Nick Saban again, could you imagine what would have happened if Spurrier would have came to Bama? I always wondered. He and Brother Oliver were tight and loved going against one another and he tried to hire him several times. I always thought he could have got him to come out of retirement to coach at Bama one more time. Would have been something cool to see.
Looking back.....and I said this then, and still think it would have been a great plan. They should have made Joe Kines the interim HC after the Price debacle in 2003. That was the first year of the sanctions and we weren't going anywhere and the 03-04 seasons were an absolute wash. Tell Kines he would coach for 03 and that they would take care of him after the season. Admin role etc... The offensive system Price installed was in place and they probably could have done no worse than Shula did that year. I honestly think they would have done better because they would have kept the same offense that they had worked on during the spring.
After the 2003 season. Not only was Butch Davis available. The HBC, Steve Spurrier, stepped down from the Washington Redskins and went to USCjr. While I would go through the hell of the Shula years to land Nick Saban again, could you imagine what would have happened if Spurrier would have came to Bama? I always wondered. He and Brother Oliver were tight and loved going against one another and he tried to hire him several times. I always thought he could have got him to come out of retirement to coach at Bama one more time. Would have been something cool to see.
Posted on 7/2/20 at 4:43 pm to moester75
Given everything that happened, should have just promoted Carl Torbush. Alabama would have avoided the Mike Price fiasco and the 2003 season probably would have been a little more respectable.
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