Keep Coach Shula...UNLESS:

Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, or Bobby Petrino will take the job.

Here is my rationale:

I believe that CMS (Coach Mike Shula) is going to be a great head football coach. I think that it takes time, but he has shown growth the last two seasons. His recruiting is very good, and he has brought respect back to a position that just three years ago had been through scandal, abandonment, and sanctions. He has returned the program to a "family" feeling, and you can see it from the recruits comments, players comments, and the media reports.

Can CMS win a National Championship with UA? Yes, without a doubt. If you look at the recruiting classes, they have made significant steps forward in talent each year. Even looking at the kids who consider UA but ultimately go to other schools we're moving up. Eventually that tide will turn (no pun intended). Tim Tebow choose Florida over UA. It won't be long before it goes the other way. Alabama fans have been through a lot, and are starting to believe that good things just don't happen to us! That will change, but 'Bama fans will need to find something we haven't had since 1982...PATIENCE.

Changes need to take place, without a doubt. Re-assigning the current assistances is not the answer. CMS has proposed moving Dave Unger from Tight-Ends to coach the Offensive Tackles as well, and taking Special Teams away from Unger and giving them to David Turner. He also is going to hand over "play calling duties" to his Offensive Coordinator, Dave Radar. That is just simply not enough. Changes must be made within the system, and unfortunately and unfairly, the must start with replacing Dave Radar. Maybe he hasn't been calling plays on the field, but the Offensive system was his, and such is the life of a college coach, fair or not, sometimes you take the blame and are shown the door. This offense hasn't scored significant points since the third game of the 2004 season (when Brodie Croyle was lost with a torn ACL).

Dabo Swinney is one possible replacement. The head coach of Hoover High, Rush Prospt could be an interesting option. Look at the success that Arkansas had after bringing in a high school coach with an innovative offense.

I am partial to Swinney because he is one of the best recruiters in the Southeast. One football recruiting site said this about Swinney:

Swinney, 33, received a bachelor of science degree in commerce and business administration at Alabama in 1993 after lettering three times for the Crimson Tide (1990-92). A walk-on who went on to earn a scholarship, Swinney played at wide receiver and was a member of Alabama's 1992 National Championship team under Gene Stallings. His position coach was Bowden in 1989 and former Tiger assistant Woody McCorvey from 1990-92. Swinney was also an All-SEC Academic team and SEC Scholar Athlete Honor Roll member in both 1990 and 1992.

Rumors run rampant around Tuscaloosa, and around the internet. Last night there were multiple unconfirmed rumors that Coach Steve Spurrier had agreed to terms with UA and would bring Brother Bill Oliver back as Defensive Coordinator.

This is the best Spurrier Rumor: (keep in mind this is from someone with less than 10 posts EVER on BOL)

I don't post much but I just got a call from a friend who works at UA. Sounded 100% positive Spurrier to bama. I heard rejoicing in the background. He said former player confirmed it (ex great DB)...don't hold me to it till we see it happen but I can't hold this in.

And our favorite blogger - Memphistider -has this to say:

Ok, here's what all I've been hearing regarding Spurrier possibly coming to Alabama. Some of these could just be rumors, and some of these could actually be truths. I'm just putting everything I've heard down.

The University's (N1UA) and Paul Bryant Jr's (N323P) private jets were both in Augusta, GA on Monday after LSU's win over Bama. Please see N1UA's flight pattern and N323P's flight pattern to see this. I have been told it was for routine maintenance, but I've also been told it was not. Very odd that this just so happens to be where Spurrier enjoys playing golf, and it's only 60 miles outside of Columbia, SC.

"I grew up an rooting for Bama. Heck, how can you not love Coach Bryant? But, my opinion of Bama changed when I was not offered a scholarship to play there." - Steve Spurrier in Sports Illustrated back in 2001.

Supposedly, Spurrier's wife, Jerri, was in Tuscaloosa this weekend for two reasons: 1) To visit her goddaughter, and 2) To look at some real estate here in town.

Alumni friends of my parents and grandparents, who also happen to be close with AD Mal Moore, explained to us yesterday that this has been a done deal since the Bama / Florida game this year.

To throw a little credibility to that, Steve and Jerri Spurrier sat with the Crimson White crew on press row at the Florida game and apparently had a nice long dinner with a few members of the Board of Trustees after the game.

Rumors have been circling about Spurrier being ready to get out of South Carolina already because of the inability to recruit and win there. He apparently wants another national championship and knows that it is extremely possible at Alabama. He was always a fan of Bear Bryant, and the chance to coach at Alabama might be too good an offer.

Also, he is supposedly intrigued at getting to play against Florida State again next year.

Rumor has it that his defensive coordinator would be 'Brother' Bill Oliver, who I would gladly welcome back to Tuscaloosa. He and Spurrier have been reportedly been having meetings for the last couple of months, and everyone thought it was regarding Brother going to South Carolina. Brother would probably not leave the state of Alabama to take another job, so this would work perfectly for him. Brother and Mal coached together under Bear Bryant from '71-'79 and again under Gene Stallings back in '90-'93. Brother stayed around until '95. He and Mal Moore also played together under Bear Bryant on the 1961 National Championship team. Almost seems too perfect.

People really are crazy. The BOL community has been watching the "FlightAware" on this website to see where the UA plane and Paul Bryant Jr's plane goes. You can put in the two tail numbers mentioned above to check the current status of those airplanes.

I don't think Spurrier would leave USC unless it is to become the highest paid coach in the country. UA certainly has the money, but when you add in the $4,000,000 buy out of Shula's contract, the $2,000,000 buyout of Spurrier's contract, the cost of buying out the assistant coaches and then hiring new ones, you're looking at more than $10,000,000 to make this change.

Saban is another possibility, and people close to him say he is unhappy in the NFL. He always identified UA as a place he'd like to coach, and his ties to the Louisiana area (and now south Florida) could be huge for recruiting.

Monday will be the next opportunity for official word from the University, and a failure to put out a statement supporting Coach Shula in the 8 days following the loss to Auburn certainly doesn't speak well for his future with the Crimson Tide.

All this being said, the only way that UA can afford to change coaches (and take another step BACKWARDS in its rebuilding) is if that new coach is a proven winner and solid recruiter. To be dragged through another embarrassing national coaching hunt to settle on a "B list" candidate would do more damage than letting CMS coach the team in 2007.

There you have it, two options make sense:
(1) Hire a big name to replace CMS
(2) Keep CMS and make sure real change takes place on the assistant coaching staff.

Roll Tide!

Stay Tuned...