JessN: Decision on Grant is more complex than it looks

JessN

Administrator & Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Oct 13, 1999
6,269
3,828
432
Decision on Grant is more complex than it looks
by Jess Nicholas
TideFans Editor-In-Chief
February 28th, 2015 10:20 PM

Here we go again. Unfortunately, Alabama finds itself in the same position it was in late in the 2008-2009 season, watching Mark Gottfried coach out the string, knowing that no amount of money, intradepartmental support or good press was going to make an appreciable difference in […]

Read More Here
 
Last edited by a moderator:

AlexanderFan

Hall of Fame
Jul 23, 2004
11,076
7,524
187
Birmingham
If there's ANY chance to snatch Wichita States coach you have to, right? If he even glances this way you throw the checkbook at him, right?

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk
 

ptw1961

1st Team
Dec 8, 2011
793
0
0
Jess- great read and thank you for your input. Your insight is really appreciated. The only part of the article I would question is the Ricky Tarrant excuse factor. This team lost several winnable games when he was completely healthy. I would like to Dr Robert Witt take the lead and make this call- because I have my doubts Bill Battle will do what most knowledgeable fans want and deserve.
 

B1GTide

TideFans Legend
Apr 13, 2012
45,500
46,843
187
I have never closely followed Alabama basketball, but count me among those who really thought that the Grant hire was a homerun. As much disappointment as you must feel about how it has worked out, firing him without a solid plan for a replacement would be a mistake. You really have been the victims of some horrible injury luck on the bball court since he arrived.
 

CrimsonEyeshade

Hall of Fame
Nov 6, 2007
5,412
1,522
187
Winthrop beat a lot of fine teams under Marshall, and he transformed them overnight.

If Bob McKillop at Davidson, enrollment 1,800, were a few years younger ... Jumps to the A-10 this year and his team leads the conference in scoring and they are now the favorite to win the conference.
 

capnfrog

All-American
Aug 17, 2002
3,556
0
155
Pell city, Al. U.S.A.
What the heck, give CAG another year. It's plain that CAG is the victim of bad luck with the injuries he has had to indure year after year. Bama is just one or two good players away from having a really good team. Not having enough fire in his belly is something he can easily over come. One more year, he can't be as bad as he looks this year.
 

CajunCrimson

Moderator (FB,BB) and Vinyl Enthusiast
Staff member
Mar 13, 2001
26,511
20,455
337
Breaux Bridge, La
I have never closely followed Alabama basketball, but count me among those who really thought that the Grant hire was a homerun. As much disappointment as you must feel about how it has worked out, firing him without a solid plan for a replacement would be a mistake. You really have been the victims of some horrible injury luck on the bball court since he arrived.
Had Grant figured out how to put a saddle on Tony Mitchell, we would be a Top 25 team. He couldn't, we aren't, and well....that was his one chance, and he blew it.
 

WylieTexasTider

All-American
Sep 24, 2006
3,567
112
82
Jess- great read and thank you for your input. Your insight is really appreciated. The only part of the article I would question is the Ricky Tarrant excuse factor. This team lost several winnable games when he was completely healthy. I would like to Dr Robert Witt take the lead and make this call- because I have my doubts Bill Battle will do what most knowledgeable fans want and deserve.
Agree on Tarrant.... We were already in a position to where the only way we make the NCAA tourney would be win the SEC tournament. I do think CAG comes back only because Battle only cares about football and as a short timer could care less about the wreck at Coleman. He's more than happy to let the next AD handle that one....
 

4Q Basket Case

FB|BB Moderator
Staff member
Nov 8, 2004
9,569
12,865
237
Tuscaloosa
I believe Bill Battle wants what's best for all sports. He certainly knows the value of a winning program in terms of exposure, leading to increased enrollment -- a position Witt rejuvenated and rode to the biggest growth in school history. Not to mention the monetary value, which Battle's experience with Collegiate Licensing would drive home.

So I think the only way he leaves Grant (and the basketball program) twisting in the wind is if he plans to hang it up in short order -- as in, immediately upon naming a new president. Otherwise, we're right back here next year having the same discussion. In essence, not cutting ties now, simply because Battle wants his successor to make the call, gives Grant two more years, not just one.

I think Battle makes the call at the end of the season, OR announces his retirement by A-Day, effective at the end of the football season.
 

JDCrimson

Hall of Fame
Feb 12, 2006
5,346
4,417
187
51
As long as Battle is the AD he needs to be the AD and do his job. I don't get all the politics here. People not wanting to make tough decisions and passing buck is not leadership. Coaches know what is expected of them regardless of who their boss is. I go to work everyday focused on doing my job - sitting around worrying what my boss thinks of me is the least of my concerns. I agree if he doesn't want to handle this situation he does need to retire. Everyone knows the program is going nowhere. Same goes for baseball too. Shoot if I were Battle and I knew I was a short timer it would be easy to make these tough decisions now and let the new AD come in and get his feet wet for a year or two. His legacy is not going to be tarnished by how handles the basketball and baseball situations - just man up and do something.
 

bodiddle

All-SEC
May 14, 2006
1,338
0
0
As long as Battle is the AD he needs to be the AD and do his job. I don't get all the politics here. People not wanting to make tough decisions and passing buck is not leadership. Coaches know what is expected of them regardless of who their boss is. I go to work everyday focused on doing my job - sitting around worrying what my boss thinks of me is the least of my concerns. I agree if he doesn't want to handle this situation he does need to retire. Everyone knows the program is going nowhere. Same goes for baseball too. Shoot if I were Battle and I knew I was a short timer it would be easy to make these tough decisions now and let the new AD come in and get his feet wet for a year or two. His legacy is not going to be tarnished by how handles the basketball and baseball situations - just man up and do something.
Yeah!
 

CullmanTide

Hall of Fame
Jan 7, 2008
6,614
885
137
Cullman, Al
As long as Battle is the AD he needs to be the AD and do his job. I don't get all the politics here. People not wanting to make tough decisions and passing buck is not leadership. Coaches know what is expected of them regardless of who their boss is. I go to work everyday focused on doing my job - sitting around worrying what my boss thinks of me is the least of my concerns. I agree if he doesn't want to handle this situation he does need to retire. Everyone knows the program is going nowhere. Same goes for baseball too. Shoot if I were Battle and I knew I was a short timer it would be easy to make these tough decisions now and let the new AD come in and get his feet wet for a year or two. His legacy is not going to be tarnished by how handles the basketball and baseball situations - just man up and do something.
Amen!
 

cuda.1973

Hall of Fame
Dec 6, 2009
8,506
607
137
Allen, Texas
I don't get all the politics here.
Seems simple to me. Brother Bill hangs on until we get a new President. They come in, and get to name their own AD. The new AD will probably get the advantage of CAG's contract running out, and simply does not renew it. No fuss, no muss. Maybe no leadership, as well, but that is "politics".

So, we are probably looking at 2 more years of what we have now. The bigger question is will the new coach be given a free rein, or will he be handcuffed? I think WTT's notion that the role of the BB program is to not embarrass the University, and get the NZAA snooping around the football program, is pretty close to what goes on behind closed doors. In which case, the best we can expect is Bruce Pearl finally gets API in deep water. Which also probably won't happen. (They will skate, as always, when it does happen.)
 

TitleWave

All-American
Dec 3, 2012
3,171
828
132
So there's a belief that Grant's grace period for "running (guarded use of the word) in place" will be extended to a tenure that would've made even Hayden Riley blush? And Hayden doubled as baseball coach! Maybe Grant could be "reassigned" within the athletics department as cricket coach, 'cause even if that program doesn't yet exist, it couldn't possibly suffer from a worse loss of interest than what's befallen 'Bama basketball under Grant. Befallen and can't get up - he's turned the Tide...into another Grant's Tomb.
 

RTR91

Super Moderator
Nov 23, 2007
39,407
6
0
Prattville
I forget JuBo isn't coming back as president next school year. With the two lame-duck positions, the likelihood Grant returns goes up. That brings up the question of what the BOT wants. If the Board wants Grant gone, do they push for it to happen now? And if Battle pushes back, do they push him out? Have to think Dr. Witt and the BOT play a bigger part in this than under normal circumstances.
 

imauafan

All-American
Mar 3, 2004
3,619
977
232
Huntsville, AL
I brought up the point about the prez and the AD a few weeks ago in the basketball forum. It is does have me concerned that a lame-duck coach will be retained when the decision should be crystal clear, remove all emotion and look at it from a strictly business standpoint and CAG must be let go.
 

4Q Basket Case

FB|BB Moderator
Staff member
Nov 8, 2004
9,569
12,865
237
Tuscaloosa
Like many here, I believe Anthony Grant is what he is -- a 17-15 coach, with a losing record in the SEC, and just enough flashes and excuses to give his (dwindling) supporters something to point to.

Trouble is, in six years, there have been no pleasant surprises. No overcoming obstacles, no unexpected development of players. The top end has been expected levels of performance, punctuated by inexplicable lapses and disappointments.

I'm convinced we'll never be more than what we are right now until we get a replacement.

But I do wonder what impact, if any, our current AD / President situation would have on attracting a quality replacement.

As in, let's assume that Battle is willing to make the call at the end of the year. Would anyone we'd care to have look at the vacant President chair, compounded by the fact that Battle can't possibly be in his chair all that much longer, and say, "Thanks, but not until the campus and AD leadership is settled?"

Or could we overcome that with a 5-year, $10 - $12 million contract?

I don't know enough about how coaches and their agents think, and would be curious to hear the thoughts of the board.
 

Latest threads

TideFans.shop : 2024 Madness!

TideFans.shop - Get YOUR Bama Gear HERE!”></a>
<br />

<!--/ END TideFans.shop & item link \-->
<p style= Purchases made through our TideFans.shop and Amazon.com links may result in a commission being paid to TideFans.