Something to calm the 'Bama fans...

Here is a good link to an article by Ben Cook of Lindysports.com.

I will post the text for those of you too lazy to click a link:

Despite common perception, Alabama coaching search still has options

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Ben Cook
LindysSports.com

The college football world had a big laugh at the expense of the University of Alabama last week when Rich Rodriguez decided he would rather spend a couple of million dollars a year in West Virginia than Alabama, so he told Alabama athletic director Mal Moore thanks but no thanks. Or maybe he told Moore to take his job and shove it. We'll probably never know exactly what he did, but he turned down the opportunity to coach the Alabama Crimson Tide. The perception is that Rodriguez was the third big name coach to turn Alabama down. He was not third; he was first. Steve Spurrier did not turn Alabama down. He never got the chance. For some unknown reason, Moore never contacted Spurrier. The odd thing is, Spurrier was ready to listen to Moore. He was interested in what he had to say, but Moore never called. Of course, just because Spurrier was interested in listening to Moore had to say does not by any means say that Spurrier would have taken the Alabama job if it were offered. But South Carolina certainly worried enough about the possibility to kick in another half a million dollars a year on Spurrier's salary to insure he would not leave.

The Nick Saban situation is a little different. There was enough interest there that some figures were tossed out to a Saban representative, but don't believe that $5 million a year fantasy created by The Miami Herald. As for a formal offer, that's cloudy but if I had to bet on it I would bet it never reached that stage. It could have had there been interest from the Saban camp, but whether there was is questionable; not out of the question, just questionable.

So that leaves Alabama without a head coach at the moment. So what? The only game the Tide has coming up is a meaningless bowl game against another average football team in the Independence Bowl, or whatever sponsor name it goes by these days. Back when bowl games really were rewards and you had to be a pretty good football team to be invited, neither of these teams would have been given a second thought.


So what's the big deal about not having a coach? It's recruiting, of course. Every day Alabama doesn't have a coach is a day lost. Oh sure, the remnants of Mike Shula's coaching staff are supposed to be holding the fort down when it comes to recruits, but anybody who believes they are putting their hearts into it is out of touch with reality.

But frankly, Alabama needs to think beyond this recruiting class and not hurry into anything. It would have been easy last week for Mal Moore to panic and start throwing out job offers like buckshot just hoping to hit something. The talking heads at ESPN are talking about how nobody wants the Alabama job and how Alabama has screwed up this search because the courtship of Rodriguez was so public, as was the rejection. But in this day of instant news via the Internet, radio, television and just plan fans who like to track movements of university planes there is just no way to conduct a coaching search in private if you are a big-time football school.

Moore didn't make the search public, the public and the media did. And they will do it again as soon as Moore targets his next candidate. It would be the same if it were Georgia or Auburn or Nebraska or Notre Dame. It's the nature of the beast.

So where is Moore looking now? The rumors are still strong about Saban and Alabama could afford to wait on him now that his Miami Dolphins season appears it will officially end on December 31. Hiring Nick Saban the first week or so of January would energize the Alabama program and it would likely be reflected on signing day.

But there are other coaches out there that could take over the program and flourish. Alabama is not--as some would have you believe--a graveyard for coaches. It is just a graveyard for the wrong coaches and Alabama has made a lot of wrong choices over the past 25 years AB (After Bryant). But now is the time to make a right choice, a choice of a coach who will not wilt under the spotlight that shines on the program or be intimidated by the looming specter of Paul William Bryant. The right coach will embrace the legacy that Bryant left behind and use it to his advantage, which is possible.

Despite what Moore said in the beginning about how he would land a coach who is a proven winner and had been a head coach, there are assistant coaches out there just waiting for someone to hand them the keys to the kingdom. Given the opportunity, there are some capable young assistants who would take the job and start added his legacy to that of the Bear. I'm not saying it is the way to go, but it is a way that should not be overlooked. Somebody is going to make a Jimbo Fisher or a Bo Pellini or a Norm Chow a head coach someday and they are going to be glad they did.

Of course, there are other good head coaches who wouldn't cower in fear at the prospect of coaching at Alabama--Steve Kragthorpe at Tulsa, Chris Peterson at Boise State or Paul Johnson at Navy just to name three. I'm not saying any of these coaches are anxious to leave their current positions, but they are evidence that just because Rich Rodriguez said no, the world has not fallen in on Alabama just yet.

Stay Tuned...