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AD Bill Battle recap
Posted on 1/26/19 at 2:41 pm
Posted on 1/26/19 at 2:41 pm
Lest anyone forget what a disaster this man was in the AD chair:
-Hired Greg Goff as baseball coach in a panic after reportedly screwing up a deal with respected ECU coach Cliff Godwin by lowballing him and getting rejected. Goff turned in the worst season in UA history and ran afoul of NCAA rules before being dismissed after a single year. Even a brief cursory vetting of Goff’s career at Montevallo and La Tech raised red flags about some of his methods and practices.
-Was going to allow Anthony Grant to remain on as head coach in 2015 despite a worsening record until big basketball donors revolted and threatened to cut off donations unless changes were made. Battle reluctantly fired Grant only to...
-Hired Avery Johnson after being rejected and used by Gregg Marshall to obtain a large raise from Wichita State. Johnson actually contacted Battle about the job and was quickly hired to make an uncomfortable situation go away. Basketball has been on a roller coaster under Johnson despite being the 15th highest paid coach in the country.
-Promoted Dana Duckworth to replace legendary Sarah Patterson. The gymnastics program has failed to maintain its lofty standards under Duckworth and appears to be slowly but steadily declining. The 117 meet winning streak over Auburn that dated back to 1979 ended in February of 2016 on her watch and they failed to reach the Super Six last year for the first time in 11 years.
-Allowed Nike to extend their contract with UA sports without renegotiation, a move that cost the university well over a hundred million dollars through 2025. Nike’s annual deal with UCLA nets the school $18.7 million annually. Ohio State and Texas get over $16 million a year. Alabama gets $5.25 million a year which doesn’t even rank in the top 20 Nike deals with universities. Battle signed the extension in 2013. The contract wasn’t up until June 30, 2018. Now it is there until 2025.
-Told club and intramural teams representing Alabama that they couldn’t use the script A and other licensed logos on their uniforms without a licensing agreement with the university.
-put a price tag on anything and everything in the athletic complex so that for the right donation, your name could be permanently attached to a building, a room, a display case, anything they could “sell.” Whoring out the department seemed like a good easy way to raise much needed monies.
For a man that was supposed to be an interim solution, a caretaker, he left an indelible mark on Alabama athletics. A mark which most would call a scar. One that can hopefully someday, be permanently and completely removed by Gregg Byrne and others.
-Hired Greg Goff as baseball coach in a panic after reportedly screwing up a deal with respected ECU coach Cliff Godwin by lowballing him and getting rejected. Goff turned in the worst season in UA history and ran afoul of NCAA rules before being dismissed after a single year. Even a brief cursory vetting of Goff’s career at Montevallo and La Tech raised red flags about some of his methods and practices.
-Was going to allow Anthony Grant to remain on as head coach in 2015 despite a worsening record until big basketball donors revolted and threatened to cut off donations unless changes were made. Battle reluctantly fired Grant only to...
-Hired Avery Johnson after being rejected and used by Gregg Marshall to obtain a large raise from Wichita State. Johnson actually contacted Battle about the job and was quickly hired to make an uncomfortable situation go away. Basketball has been on a roller coaster under Johnson despite being the 15th highest paid coach in the country.
-Promoted Dana Duckworth to replace legendary Sarah Patterson. The gymnastics program has failed to maintain its lofty standards under Duckworth and appears to be slowly but steadily declining. The 117 meet winning streak over Auburn that dated back to 1979 ended in February of 2016 on her watch and they failed to reach the Super Six last year for the first time in 11 years.
-Allowed Nike to extend their contract with UA sports without renegotiation, a move that cost the university well over a hundred million dollars through 2025. Nike’s annual deal with UCLA nets the school $18.7 million annually. Ohio State and Texas get over $16 million a year. Alabama gets $5.25 million a year which doesn’t even rank in the top 20 Nike deals with universities. Battle signed the extension in 2013. The contract wasn’t up until June 30, 2018. Now it is there until 2025.
-Told club and intramural teams representing Alabama that they couldn’t use the script A and other licensed logos on their uniforms without a licensing agreement with the university.
-put a price tag on anything and everything in the athletic complex so that for the right donation, your name could be permanently attached to a building, a room, a display case, anything they could “sell.” Whoring out the department seemed like a good easy way to raise much needed monies.
For a man that was supposed to be an interim solution, a caretaker, he left an indelible mark on Alabama athletics. A mark which most would call a scar. One that can hopefully someday, be permanently and completely removed by Gregg Byrne and others.
This post was edited on 1/26/19 at 2:44 pm
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Posted on 1/26/19 at 2:44 pm to phil4bama
Don't forget he almost lost Saban to Texas. Saban basically ran him out of his office because Battle went in there to discuss his contract and Saban told him something along the lines of he didn't handle that stuff.
Posted on 1/26/19 at 2:45 pm to Cobrasize
What a complete imbecile.
Posted on 1/26/19 at 2:47 pm to phil4bama
I'm sure he's a good guy, but he sucked as AD. Just horrible
Posted on 1/26/19 at 2:47 pm to phil4bama
All were Bill Battle’s fault
Posted on 1/26/19 at 2:56 pm to phil4bama
quote:
-Told club and intramural teams representing Alabama that they couldn’t use the script A and other licensed logos on their uniforms without a licensing agreement with the university
The most asinine item on the list.
Posted on 1/26/19 at 3:22 pm to phil4bama
Lets also not forget the constant spamming of email with his "Battle Plan." Annoyed the hell out me.
Posted on 1/26/19 at 3:31 pm to East Coast Band
quote:
The most asinine item on the list.
For me renewing Nike for pesos on the dollar beats that.
I mean you're a business man. How fricking stupid was that??
Posted on 1/26/19 at 3:44 pm to phil4bama
Unfortunately his hiring shows that other than Saban and Seawell, the athletic department hasn’t made a good hire in many years.
This post was edited on 1/26/19 at 3:45 pm
Posted on 1/26/19 at 4:07 pm to phil4bama
Something in the water at Tennessee made him retarded.
Posted on 1/26/19 at 4:12 pm to East Coast Band
quote:
The most asinine item on the list.
It's the one i actually applaud the most. Like i spent all that time and effort getting good at a sport to be confused with some chucker playing an intramural/club sport
Posted on 1/26/19 at 4:18 pm to MoarKilometers
You do know that anybody can go to a store and buy hats and other gear that makes them look like a varsity athlete without having to be good at a sport, right?
Posted on 1/26/19 at 7:23 pm to JackieTreehorn
quote:
Unfortunately his hiring shows that other than Saban and Seawell, the athletic department hasn’t made a good hire in many years.
I think Byrne will change that. He’s already made two hires. Bohannon is still building the baseball program. Lindsey Devine was just hired for volleyball.
Posted on 1/26/19 at 8:22 pm to CapstoneGrad06
I really think Bohannon is a great hire. We actually had a guy here wanting to hire him when Battle crapped the bed.
Posted on 1/26/19 at 10:36 pm to Cobrasize
It’s looking good so far for Bohannon. He definitely needs another year or two with the disaster Gaspard followed by Goff created.
I’m ready for Byrne to start cleaning house:
Avery’s gotta go.
Duckworth should be put on notice.
Murphy needs a come to Jesus meeting where it’s said that he needs to get off his arse and stop polishing his one natty and do something. What have you done for us lately?
Curry was doing a good job building the women’s hoops team back but she’s stumbled badly this season. Something to keep an eye on.
Golf and swimming both men and women’s are doing well and the coaches deserve a raise.
The rest I don’t know but I’m sick of the complacency in the basketball and softball programs. Put up or shut up.
I’m ready for Byrne to start cleaning house:
Avery’s gotta go.
Duckworth should be put on notice.
Murphy needs a come to Jesus meeting where it’s said that he needs to get off his arse and stop polishing his one natty and do something. What have you done for us lately?
Curry was doing a good job building the women’s hoops team back but she’s stumbled badly this season. Something to keep an eye on.
Golf and swimming both men and women’s are doing well and the coaches deserve a raise.
The rest I don’t know but I’m sick of the complacency in the basketball and softball programs. Put up or shut up.
Posted on 1/26/19 at 10:41 pm to phil4bama
Duckworth needs to go in my opinion. We've declined every year
Murphy needs to get his arse in gear. He's been coasting while the rest of the SEC has caught up or passed. (Or at least made serious progress)
Curry is better than what we've had but she has reached her ceiling here.
Murphy needs to get his arse in gear. He's been coasting while the rest of the SEC has caught up or passed. (Or at least made serious progress)
Curry is better than what we've had but she has reached her ceiling here.
Posted on 1/27/19 at 8:11 am to LovetheLord
quote:
You do know that anybody can go to a store and buy hats and other gear that makes them look like a varsity athlete without having to be good at a sport, right?
So these stores you speak of... they sell licensed merchandise that goes directly to the ua athletic fund, right? And that's hysterical you see a dude in a hat and think they must play varsity baseball, since it's the only hat wearing men's sport.
Posted on 1/27/19 at 9:21 am to MoarKilometers
Don’t worry, MK, we have searched diligently for UA swim merchandise and there is little to none to be had. Your sport is safe. My daughter would LOVE more Bama swim stuff but it’s not out there which leads me to point out that some sports are missing out on revenue opportunities. There are more athletes out there besides football and basketball and baseball players. Kids that swim, dive, row, play golf want to have stuff too.
This post was edited on 1/27/19 at 9:22 am
Posted on 1/27/19 at 4:04 pm to phil4bama
You're missing the part where he banned Dixieland Delight for three years because he didn't like the fanbase being irate with it, one time, after the kick six.
This post was edited on 1/27/19 at 4:04 pm
Posted on 1/27/19 at 8:52 pm to Cobrasize
quote:
Don't forget he almost lost Saban to Texas.
You can blame Battle for many things, but if Saban had went to Texas, and I think he was pretty close to doing so, it wouldn't have been Battle's fault. From what I've read, it would've been more the fault of Bama boosters and Jimmy Sexton...I think we have a dysfunctional Texas administration/athletic department to thank for botching that potential hire...
Read a good article 'bout how close it was three years ago; most of it sounds pretty plausible to me. Here's the link if anyone is interested:
LINK
This post was edited on 1/27/19 at 8:54 pm
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