I'm just glad that we didn't have to fire the first black coach in the SEC. Can you imagine how the national media, which was still staunchly anti-Bama at the time, would have spun that?!
I have no inside information whatsoever. But I think this is a big reason why Croom didn't get the job. Moore knew that whoever was in the chair was going to have a tough time. Neither Shula nor Croom had been head coaches, so it was more of a crapshoot than is normal when hiring a new HC.
If Croom didn't work out, the combination of scholarship limitations, post-Dubose / Franchione / Price detritus, and the racial angle would have made it difficult to fire him for at least six, maybe eight, years. If Shula didn't work out, it could be (and was) done significantly sooner, before the damage became insurmountable, and we became thenceforth and forevermore relegated to has-been status.
That, and has been reported on this forum by extremely credible posters, Croom thought the job was his for the taking, and by his own admission blew the interview.
Shula may not have been a great hire. But the Croom non-hire might have been a decision up there with Moore's decision to camp out in his car in Miami.