Question: Price and Shula

deliveryman35

Hall of Fame
Jul 26, 2003
12,998
1,194
287
55
Gadsden, AL
I was totally embarrassed for Shula in his intro presser. It was atrocious, and painful to listen to. He couldn't speak one sentence without saying "umm" at least two or three times....it was sad. It was at that point a lot of us realized he was totally in over his head.
 
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Crimson1967

Hall of Fame
Nov 22, 2011
18,734
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187
Shula filled a need when we were in a tough spot. He did not get us on probation and did not sleep with someone other than his wife. For that I am grateful. Plus, Saban came available when we were having a bad year so we could fire him.


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deliveryman35

Hall of Fame
Jul 26, 2003
12,998
1,194
287
55
Gadsden, AL
Shula filled a need when we were in a tough spot. He did not get us on probation and did not sleep with someone other than his wife. For that I am grateful. Plus, Saban came available when we were having a bad year so we could fire him.


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Reluctantly, I have to agree with this also. Kind of hard to find a decent HC in the month of May AND when you're on probation. Unfortunately Coach Moore did not do his homework on Price but I think we can all agree he more than made up for that error by bringing in Saban.
 

wishbonedays

1st Team
Mar 30, 2003
663
4
0
Hanceville, AL, USA
www.wfl1974.com
I seem to remember Coach Price referring to Coach Bryant as "Papa Bear" in that introductory press conference, which was pretty clueless as well.
I remember riding through Cullman that day listening to Coach Price's introduction, I distinctly recall Coach Price saying "We're not going to do it the way Papa did it..." my first though was that he was going to unleash a passing attach and eschew the running game...now, obviously, it had another meaning too.:wink:
 

TIDE-HSV

Senior Administrator
Staff member
Oct 13, 1999
84,527
39,615
437
Huntsville, AL,USA
I remember riding through Cullman that day listening to Coach Price's introduction, I distinctly recall Coach Price saying "We're not going to do it the way Papa did it..." my first though was that he was going to unleash a passing attach and eschew the running game...now, obviously, it had another meaning too.:wink:
See my remark above about Darby and the six running plays ...
 

theBIGyowski

All-American
Aug 4, 2005
3,645
35
67
42
Cumming, GA
My oldest daughter was a student at Alabama when Price was hired. One night during the Spring of 2003, actually sometime after midnight, my phone rings and it is my daughter. Of course I automatically expect something bad, she and several of her sorority sisters are at the Mellow Mushroom drinking and Price and a couple of his assistants are hitting on them and every other female there. She said they were all drunk and obnoxious. When I told my wife she said Price had a lot to learn about coaching Alabama and living in Tuscaloosa.
A girl I grew up with has a similar story. We were both in school down there and one day she told me that Mike Price was at whatever bar she was at with her friends the night before. He bought everyone drinks and tried hitting on her. I knew then that he wouldn't last more than a season...if that long.
 

TideMan09

Hall of Fame
Jan 17, 2009
12,187
1,156
187
Anniston, Alabama
CMS's introductory presser was very thrown together, subdued...and yes, deer in the headlights in appearance. Poor Ken Darby...shula ran him to death. Never understood why he tried to wear opponents out when HE was the one that was short 20 players!
Yup..It seems like after every other word Shula would go ummm or something like that cause the Barners were making fun of him about it..
 

Alasippi

Suspended
Aug 31, 2007
12,875
2
57
Ocean Springs, MS
I was totally embarrassed for Shula in his intro presser. It was atrocious, and painful to listen to. He couldn't speak one sentence without saying "umm" at least two or three times....it was sad. It was at that point a lot of us realized he was totally in over his head.

He's a great coordinator. Very very good. That doesn't make you a great college head coach, or even a "potential" great college coach. I have nothing but respect for the effort of Mike Shula. He gave every effort he had, and came "this close" to signing Tim Tebow. History will never show the difference that could have made, but he simply didn't have the disciplinary mentality necessary to manage an entire program, especially one as big as Alabama. But to compare him to Mike Price, in any way at all, is totally unfair. Mike Price was nothing but a total embarassment to the program. Mike Shula wasn't a very good head coach, but he was a very good man and still is. Not to mention the fact that he's the OC of the Carolina Panthers who are in the Super Bowl. I don't think they'll win it, but he's done a fantastic job with his pre-madonna QB.
sip
 

rgw

Suspended
Sep 15, 2003
20,852
1,351
232
Tuscaloosa
To be fair, I think Price's plan would have been just what we needed to do with the numbers working against us. We would've been a proto-spread offense that Urban Meyer eventually brought to the SEC a few years later. I wouldn't make too much out of the limited number of run plays...if you get teams spread out enough, 6 is all you need.

Price just wasn't the man for the job even though I thought his offensive philosophy and defensive hires were pretty solid (especially considering it was Kines that pretty much dragged the teams to wins throughout Shula's tenure).
 

Snuffy Smith

All-American
Sep 12, 2012
3,539
641
162
Huntsville, AL
I have a very similar story. I was working in Atlanta, recently graduated from UofA, and some of my friends who hadn't graduated at the time were having drinks in The Houndstooth. They called me and bragged about how Coach Price was in the joint buying everyone drinks and talking about how they would beat everyone in the SEC. Mind you, this was before he coached a game. Perhaps he had coached Aday.
I have heard that the club in Florida still advertises themselves as the "Home of the 10 million dollar lap dance"


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TitleWave

All-American
Dec 3, 2012
3,171
828
132
Re: Price and Shula
...he's done a fantastic job with his pre-madonna QB.
"Cam Newton, you've just won the Super Bowl! What's next?"

"I'm going to Disneyland - and coming out as Camlyn!"
 

deliveryman35

Hall of Fame
Jul 26, 2003
12,998
1,194
287
55
Gadsden, AL
He's a great coordinator. Very very good. That doesn't make you a great college head coach, or even a "potential" great college coach. I have nothing but respect for the effort of Mike Shula. He gave every effort he had, and came "this close" to signing Tim Tebow. History will never show the difference that could have made, but he simply didn't have the disciplinary mentality necessary to manage an entire program, especially one as big as Alabama. But to compare him to Mike Price, in any way at all, is totally unfair. Mike Price was nothing but a total embarassment to the program. Mike Shula wasn't a very good head coach, but he was a very good man and still is. Not to mention the fact that he's the OC of the Carolina Panthers who are in the Super Bowl. I don't think they'll win it, but he's done a fantastic job with his pre-madonna QB.
sip

He may be. I've never questioned Mike Shula's morals or ethics, or even his abilities as an OC. He was just not a good HC.
 
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ecraj

Scout Team
Jan 24, 2009
196
16
37
Florence, AL
Does anyone know if either presser was on tv or just radio? One thing I believe I remember reading, whether it was the newspaper or a magazine is that Price was quoted as saying Bama was his dream job.
 

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