SHULA GETS A RAISE

Definitely a good idea to give a guy a raise after a 10 win season. He’s earned it at this point. It’ll be interesting to see if he can continue to keep the Bama brass happy as the years go on. His biggest problem is that he’s now raised expectations.

Now, if he could just win a national title or two and begin wearing a hounds tooth cap instead of a baseball cap, he’ll really be set.

Alabama – the Vanderbilt of the SEC West.

Doubles coach’s salary after going 20-17, losing every game against Auburn and LSU, and only winning 1 of 3 against UT, and that was the worst UT team to see a field in

I’m still trying to figure out who had the biggest contract party.

Was it Mike Shula (buyout clause)?
Was it Shula’s Agent (Lipstick on a pig)?
Was it Tuberville (Can you spell Job Security)?
Was it Auburn Fans (Fear the Zipper)?
OR
Was it Alabama Fans (Don’t have to endure another coaching search by Mal Moore)?

Wow. Apparently, Bama doesn’t know that shit happens.

Explain Fulmer winning a title, Lloyd Carr winning a title and Mack Freakin’ Brown winning one. How? Cause shit happened.

Somehow, someway, Shula won 10 games. I’ll bet Spurrier’s soul it doesn’t happen again, even with the 12-game schedule.

The Auburn Family would like to congratulate Coach Shula and we sincerely wish that he will continue to remain head Coach of the Tide. We also would like to contribute Tigers Unlimited funds toward a lifetime contract for Coach Shula, with the proviso that Coach Rader also be offered a lifetime contract.

I’m okay with rewarding the guy for a 10-win season. Some schools reward guys because they fear he’ll get hired away (eg. Bruce Pearl at UT will probably get a contract worth $100 Million and 20 years as both reward and fear of departure). I doubt that’s the case here – who’d Alabama fear hiring him away? Tx A&M has a coach (at least for another season).

I predict Bama’s 7-5 next year excluding bowl game. Not because I want them to fail – I just think they’ll struggle EVEN more (if possible) on offense with a new QB and Kines will start fading as this Def Coordinator Extraoridinaire.

Always a sure thing to get people talking when Bama gets mentioned. It will be interesting to see how the Tiders react if Shula follows up this 10 win season with a mediocre one in T-town. I honestly don’t see them overcoming LSU or AU this year. I also don’t know that they will be able to beat UT again this year up in Knoxville. Throw in a rematch at UF against a UF team that will be looking for revenge, and you’re looking at 4 likely losses before they ever take the field. Slip up anywhere else on the slate and you have 7-5, maybe even 6-6.

I, for one, will be following their season closely to try to gauge the feelings in Tide-land if and when the times get tough. Then again, they may surprise us all and find themselves in the SEC title game come the first weekend in December (unlikely, but stranger things have happened).

As a Bama fan I’m optimistic about the coming season but I don’t think we should depend on the kind of luck we had against UT and elsewhere. One thing lots of folks don’t seem to understand is that Bama’s STILL overcoming the effects of NCAA sanctions and will be for a couple of more years. That limited us in depth this season and will for a couple more. Any time you’re playing true freshmen and sophomores something’s hurting in your program. Unfortunately, its doubtful that the frothing-at-the-mouth alums who influence the athletics dept. and expect NCs every year can see that.

Hopefully Bama can go 8-5 or 9-3 in the regular season in ‘06. Anything more’s icing as far as I’m concerned.

I’m just glad this new deal further diminishes the infinitesimal chance he returns as offensive coordinator for the Bucs. (Gene Deckerhoff voice: “And it’s Shaun King to Bert Emanuel for 3 yards on 3rd-and-9…and here’s Alstott up the middle for a gain of 2, making it 4th-and-8.”)

Just to add to what Andy said…if you follow Bama closely you can see the depth is getting better. We can win in the SEC with alot of our second teamers now, and this fall it will trickle down to the third teamers as well. I think 8-4 would be a good year for us in 2006 IF one of those wins are against Auburn. I still think we are a year away from being able to reload every year. I will have VERY high expectations in 2007 as we will have talent and experience at EVERY position on the field. Next year our facilities will be second to none in the SEC and in 2007 the fruits of those upgrades along with having a stable coaching staff for 4 years will show that Bama will be back to stay.

“Any time you are playing true freshman and sophomores something’s hurting in your program”?

USC has been doing OK the past few years.

Steve F—you lived the same nightmare we did watching Shula dicker the Bucs O into the ground. Agony, wasn’t it? Illustrates the ferocity of that Bucs defense all the more.

It’s nice to run smack about time in the pros, but we all know coaches do differently in the pro game than the college game.

Moving on, I feel like I’ve crawled up this program’s rectum and took a look around, and things look pretty clean and cancer-free. I like eight-10 wins for Bama this year, especially with the improved o-line and overall depth. And that cupcake of an OOC schedule should help, too.

Orson: It most certainly does. One of the greatest crimes of the 20th century was the lack of support that offense gave to the 1999 defense, denied the Super Bowl it deserved and placement in the pantheon of great Ds like the 85 Bears.

The fact that they went up to the TWA Dome (or whatever the hell it was called that year – The Dome at The Center of the Observable Universe?) and held that 99 Rams team to 9 stinking points and still lost sticks in my craw to this day. Warner and Martz may have become jokes lately, but there was nothing funny about the way they put up 30+ on everyone that year just by walking on the field. And then the Buc D lined up against them, and simply pwn3d them. I mean you had Torry Holt spitting up blood on the sidelines after Derrick Brooks cracked his ribs.

And what did they have to show for that? Nada, thanks to 6 points from that Shula offense. Worse yet, the Buc offense gave the Rams two points with a safety, so they netted 4. Thankfully, most of those 99 Bucs got to taste glory three years later, but unfortunately Brad Culpepper wasn’t one of them.

(By the way, what do you guys think of Martz? I always considered him to be the Spurrier of the NFL, RUTSing, going for 4th downs on any part of the field, not giving the usual coach-speak, etc.)

Hey Steve Re #9,

It’s not 1978 anymore.

You’ve been beaten 4 times in a row by your biggest rival.
You’re relying on true freshman to be an ‘upgrade’ on the OL.
You lost both safeties and all of your LBs.
You’re replacing a ‘draftable’ QB with an invited walkon.
You have 1 SEC level RB.
Your WRs drop more balls than a bowler.
I’ve never seen a current TE catch a pass.

But yet you’re close to being ‘Back to Stay’.

I’ve seen delusion before but this takes the cake.

congrats your article made ESPN radio’s Colin Cowherd Show ‘The Herd’

Steve F,
You are also forgetting to mention the official’s role in determining the outcome of that game when they, for still inexplicable reasons, called that pass that Bert Emmanuelle caught an imcompletion (apparently, after catching the pass, Bert forgot to get up, spin 3 times, and spit to declare himself “safe”). If that pass had been ruled complete, I was convinced that the Bucs would have at least tied the game or maybe even scored a TD to win it (if I recall correctly, the ball would have been placed inside the 20).

As for Martz, love the personality. Sure the dude is crazy and can’t do basic things like clock management (or defense, or motivation, or speak with any semblence of tact), but it was fun as hell to watch him call a pass on 4th-1 plays to stroke his own ego. Of course, that led to him being bashed to bits by columnists, but you’d be lying if you didn’t think he was fun as hell to watch, if only to see him fall apart.

As for Bama being back, I think they’re on the right track by bringing in the talent, but they still have a good way to go. Next year will be a big challenge for Shula. As for the talent being there, yes, Bama has more talent than it has had in the past 5-6 years, but they still are at best on par with LSU and AU in the talent department.

No one will ever rule the SEC year in and year out anymore. Spurrier’s time at UF is the closest to all out domination and a dynasty as anyone will likely ever come again. The competition is just getting too tough.

Moin:

The Emanuel call at the time was technically the correct one, although seldom called. The tip of the ball had hit the ground while he made the catch, and under the rules in 1999, that was an incomplete pass. The rule was changed the next year, allowing the ball to touch the ground as long as the receiver had control, and is now known as the “Bert Emanuel rule” (you can google it).

The Bucs still needed a TD at that point (the score was 11-6), so even if they gave him the catch, there was no guarantee they’d punch it in (the six points that came in 59 minutes preceding that was a pretty good predictor they wouldn’t). Bad call or not, the fact that they only had 6 against a Rams D that was pretty much average was the inexcusable thing; a decent, competent offense should have had no problem easily getting at least 17-20 against them.

Oh yeah? Sorry, my memory of that game was blurred by the image of Proehl’s great catch and Bert’s catch, the rest was a blur (it wasn’t that good of a game, if my memory serves me). I don’t know if the tip of the ball was touching or not, but I was firmly in the Rams camp for that game and even I was thrown by how bad the ruling was. The simple fact that they changed/clarified the rule shows you how bad that call was.

Speaking of the Proehl catch, it was indirectly the fault of Shula’s bad offense as well. The score at that point (early-mid 4th quarter) was 6-5 Bucs, and the Rams were facing a 3rd-and-10 at the Buc 30. They were in FG range, but at that point, even assuming they make a 40+ FG, the Rams only go up 8-6, and the Bucs would only need a FG to win.

But Dungy apparently had so little faith in the offense to even manage one more FG that he decided to blitz in that situation to try and knock them out of FG range. Warner just got the pass off, and as a result of the blitz, Proehl was in single coverage against Brian Kelly (then either a rookie or 2d year guy, not the Pro Bowl-caliber corner he is now). The way the Buc D was playing straight up against the Rams that day, under normal circumstances there would be no reason to blitz, other than the fear of failing to score any more points.

And ironically, had they just gone straight up and stopped them there, they could have won 9-8 as they were in FG range (remember M.Gramatica was a great kicker back then) with or without Emanuel’s catch.

shula gets a raise and extension after taking a floundering program marred by scandal, sanctions and a revolving door coaching staff from a 4-8 record to a 10-2 season in three years, recruits well and begins the process of rebuilding a depth chart decimated by injury and loss of scholarships, and displays a class attitude through the whole affair process.

tuby gets a raise and extension after the classless backstabbers he calls boss hop on a plane to louisville to hire one of his former assistants (one notorious for openly flirting with and sending mash notes to other programs in order to drive up his own stock) to replace him and then have to pony up a truckload of hush money to keep him from causing a stink after he takes “the greatest backfield of all time” and pre-season national title hype to an 8-5 record after scoring only three points in their first two outings.

p.s. how many 10 win seasons does the blessed saint tommy of the plains have? one? is it one? cause i think it’s one, which is the same number shula has. of course, it only took him three years to get it…

The catch was along the sidelines and over the shoulder, it’ll be debateable if the safety help would have gotten there in time to help on a Cover 2 anyways (although since we are talking about John Lynch here, he probably would have been there).

Auburn Fan

Corrections

- lost both safeties, and 2 of the three linebackers. however, should be better on the D-line. Also still have Juwan Simpson and Terrance Jones and Demarcus Waldrop, Prince Hall, etc. (a lot of young guys, some with valuable p.t.). Also, Jeffrey Dukes, new free safety, has already wowed the media this spring, and that was in 2 days. To quote the Mpbile Register, “this guy has playmaker written all over him.”

- One SEC RB? I’ll give you one “proven” SEC back. But let’s not forget Upchurch (if he can beat the injury), Coffee (who did show promise in limited action), JIMMY JOHNS (who had never played the position before but still racked up yardage and can only get better), Mike Ford (5 star out recently played at Hargrave and is a sick athlete), and Grant, Mississippi’s Mr. Football. You are an idiot.

- J.P. Wilson wasa gray shirt, not an invited walk on.

- Zeke Knight, the most prolific pass dropper, moved to DE. Keith Brown is pretty good. I imagine Orson could vouch for that. D.J. Hall too. Nikita Stover should be able to come in and help early.

- Never seen a tight end catch a ball? How about the Iron Bowl? Nick Walker, freshman, caught two passes. One of which was a one handed grab across the middle for a sizeable gain. Granted, that was late in the game, so it didn’t matter. Point being, the young talent is there, waiting to be utilized.

Oh yeh. Let’s not forget LeRon McLain and Tim Castille in the backfield. I think most would concede that they are both proven SEC backs.

Alabama and Shula in particular have two big humps they still have to overcome though, LSU and Auburn. Those two schools have been running the SEC West recently. JJ, you just name-dropped a lot of guys, and I know they’re talented guys, but LSU and Auburn can both do the same thing this year but with likely more experienced names on their list.

I’ll agree that Shula does have things going in the right direction after the program had been all but destroyed, but he’s still got work to do. You haven’t turned the corner just yet. Another year or two like this past one and maybe winning the West again, and I’ll say Shula has gotten the thing fully turned around.

Rebel, I completely agree. AU and LSU can both drop names like I have, because they are both talented squads. My point was only that there is talent in Tuscaloosa. Auburn Fan made it sound like it was a complete rebuilding year. While there will be some rebuilding, we are reloading at the same time. Just not at all positions. On a side note, I really wish we didn’t have so many tough road games. And Orson, I’ve never been to Gainesville for a game, but would like to go this year. Am I going to be killed? I know the reputation Alabama fans have.

You won’t be killed, J.J. Florida fans can be ugly, but the spectacle and warm weather more than makes up for the occasional “FUCK YOUUUUU!” you’ll get lobbed in your direction.

JJ, I went to Gainesville in 1999 and had one of my better road trips. Granted it did help that we won, but I was not harassed before, during, or after the game. I came away with a lot of respect and envy for the Gators, and the atmosphere they create on Saturdays. Ours has improved exponentially since to the point where I think it at least rivals G’ville now.

I agree with you JJ that you do have more talent than a lot of people are willing to give you credit for. It’s the lack of experience with a lot of that talent that will be tough to overcome, especially with road trips to Gainesville, Knoxville, and Baton Rouge on the slate. Fayetteville won’t be a walk in the park either. Throw in the always tough Iron Bowl and Shula has his work cut out trying to get a lot of these young guys truly ready to face that schedule. They really can’t afford a slip against anyone they’re supposed to beat this year.

You really do face a pretty sick road slate this year. I still think UT going to South Bend, Gainesville, Baton Rouge, Tuscaloosa last year was slightly tougher.

Yeah, the Fayetteville trip will be tough. That RB that the Hogs have is one tough mutha, and he keeps getting better — prolly the most underrated player in the SEC.

McPhadden is his name, and yes he’s a tough one. He was a true freshman last year. I really think Arkansas will be tough to deal with this year. Dick really grew into a good QB this past year. Dick will be hard to deal with for most teams. He was only a true freshman last year too and developed pretty well by the end of the year.

I guess I could some it up this way.

Young Dick grew hard and blew Nutt away.

Here’s my take on things (lifted from my own blog):

Alabama’s been a bit trigger happy on coaches in the last 20 some odd years and it hasn’t really paid off. They fired Curry the year he won the SEC. They chased Stallings out and he won whole thing. Dubose, Fran & Price were bad hires, and I wasn’t thrilled about Shula, but Shula’s likely to be a stepping stone back to greatness and here’s why:

1)He’s not making himself or the program look like jackasses. Very important given the fact the last three did exactly that.

2) Alabama historically has paid less to coaches and could get away with it because they were coasting on the name/tradition which they can’t do anymore. This says to coaches: “Hey, come here & win and we’ll give you trainload of money.”

3) Nobody and I mean nobody, holds his first season against him. He was destined to fail. 2nd year, he takes a program crippled by sanctions to 6-6 and a bowl game…not too bad, but he lost too many close games. Year three, he takes a program still hurting from sanctioins to 10-2 and a #8 final ranking. Is he the second coming of Bear Bryant? No. Is he Don Shula? No. But he has put up a winning record in three seasons under hellish conditions in one of the toughest conferences in the game and done it while being quite as a mouse. That’s important.

4) He’ll hang on for 3-4 more years (maybe five)*, maybe equal this season’s 10-2 once the rest of his time at Alabama. He might even get in the conference champhionship game if some cards fall the right way with a 9-3 record at some point. He will however, have restored some dignity to the position, put them back on the winning track and will have forever earned the respect of the Tide faithful for not screwing up. And that’s all we’re really expecting of him.

*this is of course contigent on beating Auburn & LSU at least once each in the next two years and he needs to beat Tennessee once more in that time frame to enhance job security.