re: Bama Football Tidings

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My take...of course I am disappointed in this. But I am incredibly proud of my friend. To go from a HS coach to the pinnacle of the profession in a few years is nothing short of remarkable. He also has left IU in far better shape than he found it, which frankly was a joke (I can say that now because there are no repercussions). He has laid down the path and the framework for whoever follows, and as I just said made it a very attractive job. IU will still be on the right path.

This is not known, but Ballou and Rhea were bombarded with official and unofficial requests to leave "lowly IU" and go to greener pastures continually. The CFB industry couldn't understand how they stayed. Everyone in the industry knew who they were. From 3 NFL teams last year, to any "blue blood" that had an opening, potential opening, or a HC looking to improve. They stayed every time.

So what is the difference now? It's not just that it is Bama. Of course that is a huge draw...but their new Sport Science center is the diamond nobody else can match. Ballou and Rhea will literally be able to write the book on the next steps in the industry, and pave the way for the next generation of sport performance. THAT is a once in a lifetime deal.

My hope was that IU, Ballou, and Rhea would be like Chris Doyle at Iowa from 20 years ago. Everyone and anyone came after Doyle but he stayed put. However, and of course this is just speculation, if Chris Doyle was in the same place and this opportunity came up, then I think he would have done the same thing.

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