Well, the dumb sons of bitches did it. They up and fired head coach Mike Shula. The raving lunatic fans who think that every goddamn head coach who comes to Bama has got to get us in the NC picture immediately won out, like they always do. The guy took us to a 10-2 season last year, lost most of his star players, and still nearly beat several nationally ranked teams this year with a sophomore QB. Yeah, we have a crappy record this season, and there ought to be staff changes made, but Shula was not high on my list for personnel that needed to be replaced. Rader, sure. The ol’ “let’s run it right up the gut for three downs then punt it away” tactic wasn’t working for us, but there were some very bright spots for us.
Now those kids will have get used to another head coach, have at least one more “transitional” season (like every other fucking season since Stallings left,) and the stupid, moronic fucking sharks who think that the name “Alabama” still carries the same weight it did in the '70’s will immediately start calling for this new guy’s job as soon as he loses a game. And no, you anencephalic dipshits, you will never, ever, EVER get Spurrier for the job, and IMO, it’s a sign of how low the program has sunk that you assmonkeys even want him there.
Shula should have had one more season, with some personnel changes.
True. The thing is, Bear Bryant is dead. Surprisingly to some in the state, He did not rise again on the third day. Every coach that comes into Bama has to wrestle with the Bear’s legacy. Most of them lose.
The morons want every coach to be the Bear, and it’s never gonna happen. If MS had had the chance to learn to be a head coach instead of the whole “OC by committee” thing - and he was learning to do that - we could have had a real winner.
I think Shula deserved another year, at least. He took the job when UA was in a helluva mess and rode through it with grace and style. I think he expected, and rightfully so, to be retained long enough to see the results of his labor. Those in charge at UAT ought to be ashamed.
Whoever comes in next will owe Shula some thanks for restoring integrity.
I don’t think Spurrier or Saban will take the job. Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia seems like their best bet.
Of course, from a personal standpoint, it suits me fine if the folks in Tuscaloosa change coaches every three or four years. Continuity is important to success and the more they screw around over there the better it is for Auburn.
Hey, if you’re lucky, your AD will hire a washed-up coach of questionable skills who can sleepwalk a team to a 7-5 record but manages to blow a win at Tennessee because his QB can’t get a play off on a 2nd and goal at the 3 late in the game.
Christ, we should have beat Tennessee. Instead, the streak goes to 22 years without a win.
I did too. Hell, I thought everybody did. It was the only sensible conclusion, given what he inherited at Bama. So naturally, the University did just the opposite. Morons. I’d really like to see Mal Moore’s head on a platter over this. The only thing that I can see that might possibly have justified his firing was that, apparently, during his “week-long evaluation,” whatever that exactly means, he refused to make any staff changes at all. Bad move. We really need new blood at the OC position.
If he had another bad year, I’d have hated to see him go, but I could see where it might make sense to replace him. But now? Jesus.
I did not know that. Since the non-announcement*I’ve pretty much avoided the coverage because the whole situation makes me angry.
*How classless do you have to be to let the media inform some of your players that their coach has been fired, then issue a gag order to them? I sincerely believe Mal Moore held a meeting that consisted of 5 minutes deciding to let Shula go, and 55 minutes trying to vote in the worst way to handle it. God I hate that man. I heard someone say about him this morning “Three Mikes and you’re out!”
Guess this is as good a place as any to tell my story. This past weekend my husband and I were shopping for Christmas presents and I was buying my mom one of the framed Alabama prints (the kind with the crimson matting and the University coin in it). My husband wanted a specific one but I refused, based on the fact that Shula was in the centerpiece. I said “what if he gets fired this weekend?” Damn. Glad I didn’t buy it, though.
I think Shula was a temp from the beginning. Until Alabama is off sanctions next year, it was going to be hard to find the coach they really want. Now is the perfect time for their search.
Mike Shula is a terrible coach, and as such I would have liked to see him remain at Alabama for at least another year. Bama should have a lot of talent next year, so letting Shula stay probably would have resulted in a good season that you couldn’t fire him for. (Even bad coaches can be made to look good with the right talent.) So essentially if they wanted to get rid of him anytime soon they had to do it now. Shula was the kind of guy to get you some good recruits while your teams sucks and is on probation, but he’s not going to be the guy to lead the Tide to the promised land. Of course, they could easily hire someone much worse than him this time around.
Things I find funny:
Sly Croom at Mississippi State has beaten four SEC teams in three years. Two of those teams fired their coach as a direct result of the loss.
In both 1999 and 2005, Alabama looked shakey early in the year, then beat Florida and went on to have a great season. After both years they rewarded their coach with a big contract extension. In both 2000 and 2006 Alabama imploded and had to fire their coach, which also meant they had to buy out that big contract extension. Message to all other SEC teams: beating Florida is very expensive.
Alabama has hired four coaches in the past decade, and the best one has been Dennis Franchione.
A Kentucky fan is complaining about going 7-5. In football. Count your blessings, brianjedi, I’m not sure if your basketball team will have that good a record after 12 games.
According to a story in today’s Birmingham News, Shula claims to have spent his “evaluation week” lining up a new offensive coordinator and O-line coach. These were people with “national championship experience”. (No names mentioned)
Shula claims that when he was called into the meeting with Moore, he wasn’t given a chance to outline the changes he had planned but was fired without any discussion.