Let me preface this by saying that CFN NEVER takes this strong a stand on something as a rule.....
Mike Shula Fired: The Hammer is Yellow
By Matt Zemek
Staff Columnist
Posted Nov 27, 2006
Down where the Capstone stands, Alabama football fans love to belt out the cheer, "Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer, Give 'em hell, Alabama!"
Well, that hammer is definitely yellow, all right... as in cowardly.
The Alabama administration is a bunch of gutless moral midgets after kicking Mike Shula into the hell of unemployment today (talk about "Give 'em hell--they take their cheers literally in Tuscaloosa), officially proclaiming to all the world that their loyal son--a Bama player and the man who cleaned up the university's image after the Mike Price mess--is nothing but an expensive piece of meat. This rates as one of the most disgusting and morally repugnant coach firings in recent college football memory.
After Miami canned Larry Coker on Friday, the topic of coach handling (and firing) became a hot item at the college football discussion table. (Today's Monday Morning Quarterback column addresses the issue at length.) And when all is said and done, there are two fundamental types of approaches to coaches: the patient one, and the impatient one. Bama clearly chose the latter approach, and it stinks to high heaven.
Some schools realize that their football pedigree and resources aren't great enough to merit a quick trigger with a coach, and they stick with their man. That's one form of patience, but it doesn't apply here. This was a situation in which a brand-name college football power was plagued by scandal and bad publicity in the wake of the Mike Price debacle in early 2003. Given the scenario facing Alabama at the time, a lot of extra rope needed to be given to Shula, the person who was willing to step into the fire, enter his first season without adequate preparation time, take some hits in his first two years, and restore the university's good name. Mike Shula comported himself as an exemplary citizen who ran a clean program. Moreover, he put together a big-time 2005 season when blessed with a reasonably healthy Brodie Croyle, whose injuries prevented Shula's first three years from collecting even more victories. After putting together a season that should have earned him SEC Coach of the Year honors (Steve Spurrier picked off the award), Shula then lost two years at the quarterback position, as sophomore quarterback John Parker Wilson replaced Croyle, the senior. Should it be surprising that wins were harder to come by? Apparently, athletic director Mal Moore and other decision makers thought it was.
Never mind the fact that, much like 2004, Bama never quit on Shula and competed vigorously to the very end of each ballgame, losing hard-fought battles at Tennessee and Arkansas and even at LSU. Shula didn't win enough--especially against Auburn--to suit the tastes of the administration: losing four out of four Iron Bowls is clearly the sin that Mike Shula couldn't overcome. Nevertheless, this intolerance for winning reveals the ugly nature of this decision and the Bama administration's treatment of Don Shula's son.
In the SEC, folks love to tout the toughness of the conference. It's why Shula's rival over the past four years, Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville, has been so adamant in public about the need for a playoff in college football. SEC fans all agree on a few things, amidst their internal rivalries: the conference is getting screwed, and Big East teams wouldn't stand a chance in hell if they played an SEC regular-season schedule. SEC fans will be the first to tout great defense instead of ignoring the limitations of offense. When Alabama and Shula beat Tennessee last year by a 6-3 score, all you could hear from the Capstone was how awesome the Tide's defense was, led by DeMeco Ryans and Roman Harper.
But oh, when the wins didn't come quite so quickly, Shula's conservative, old-time, smashmouth-oriented, SEC play calling--which relied on his defense to win games--suddenly became unacceptable. Being competitive in the "really tough and demanding SEC" didn't seem to matter anymore. Apparently, Shula had to win at Arkansas and Florida and Tennessee to save his job.
That, folks, is a plainly delusional worldview on the part of the Bama administration. Mal Moore must think that the earth is still flat.
The firing of Mike Shula represents the worst of human behavior in an administrative hierarchy, and it mirrors the way Notre Dame treated Tyrone Willingham a few years ago: when the Bama and Notre Dame programs had fallen into deep, dark ditches due to the stain of sorry scandals (at Notre Dame, it was the black mark of the George O'Leary resume fudging episode), the schools turned to two somewhat limited but very ethical coaches to give them positive publicity. Shula and Willingham did Bama and Notre Dame two humongous favors, and both of them managed to pull off one incredible season of football in their respective tenures, while struggling in all their other seasons in Tuscaloosa and South Bend, respectively. Yet, those great seasons (2002 for Willingham, 2005 for Shula) bought them zero leverage with the administration, and apparently with their fan bases as well. Saving the school from scandal became a gesture quickly forgotten, a good deed that would not go unpunished. As soon as on-field fortunes plummeted, these two upstanding men--desperately turned to when Bama and Notre Dame were drowning in negative publicity--got kicked to the curb, thrown into the trash can like a fading supermodel or an older factory worker who was shown no kindness by the corporate giant when an injury created a physical limitation that hampered his working ability.
Mike Shula saved Alabama's hide in 2003. No one could have expected him to do much of anything in his first two seasons. Then, in year three, he excelled. Then, after a difficult 2006, he's gone? It boggles the mind, but much worse than that, it offends every tenet of basic human decency in the world of executive decision making.
If I'm looking at the Alabama job today, I'm definitely thinking, "those are some bloodsucking opportunists over there in Tuscaloosa. Thanks but no thanks." Here's hoping that football karma runs over the dogma of a clearly inflexible and ruthless Alabama administration.
When Mike Price allegedly got a lap dance in Pensacola, Fla., the outrage at an affront to solid moral values (ah, how much that term is bandied about in red states and the Bible Belt at large--ever heard of Mark Foley, folks?) created a firestorm that pushed Price out of the Bama job. But now, after four years of solid moral values, Mike Shula--as a reward for his loyalty and integrity (and a damn fine season in 2005)--has a pink slip just before Christmas, and his growing family has to consider relocation.
The hypocrisy--and the moral cowardice--are overwhelming. I smell football politics in Tuscaloosa, and boy, does it stink. Bama brought the hammer to Mike Shula, and that smelly hammer is definitely yellow. Each time the Crimson Tide gets nailed onthe football field in future seasons, poetic justice will be served.
Looking back, it was a very good move. ROLL TIDE
