Shula Documentary: Makes you think a little.

[bamamc1]

Watch new doc about Mike Shula’s Alabama career, Tide fans who lived it

Did fans take the former Alabama head coach for granted?

www.al.com

 

[davefrat]

I have no hard feelings towards him at all.

He walked into mess at the 11the hour and did the best he could with decency.

Although not great, it could have been a lot worse.

 

[bamagradinATL]

I’m not mad at Shula. He took the job at the last minute. Coaches were using the Alabama name to get contract extensions. We were not a dream job by any stretch of the imagination. He held it down long enough for Mal to get Saban.

 

[CoolBreeze]

We got exactly what we wanted with the Shula hire. It was a messy time leading up to that point and he was the salve for a spiraling PR problem. His demeanor was perfect for the role but he was never hired to win championships. I love the guy, as a player, coach and person for all he has done for the University. After 4 years of steadying the ship, it was time to get back to winning.

 

[teamplayer]

I have no hard feelings towards him at all.

He walked into mess at the 11the hour and did the best he could with decency.

Although not great, it could have been a lot worse.

I can almost feel this way, but he made us super soft with his seemingly optional strength and conditioning programs. You are correct that it could have been worse, but it could have been much better.

 

[bamaga]

The documentary. Told us nothing new, no new light on anything, same as we already knew. Mike Shula was the coach we needed at the time. I wish no ill will toward him. Was he a good coach? No. But he was a Bama man, when a Bama man was what was needed . His daddy was the problem for me in the end.

 

[CajunCrimson]

of all the Bama stories to tell, that one wouldn’t have made the top 100 of me wanting a deeper dive.

What‘a next - “LSU - The DiNardo Years”?
“Arkansas - Big Bert”?
“Vandy - The 70’s”?

 

[Tidewater]

His biggest failure: too loyal to his staff. If a guy ain't getting the job done, it is time to thank him for trying and wish him well in whatever comes next.
Bucket-step Bob.

 

[STONECOLDSABAN]

of all the Bama stories to tell, that one wouldn’t have made the top 100 of me wanting a deeper dive.

What‘a next - “LSU - The DiNardo Years”?
“Arkansas - Big Bert”?
“Vandy - The 70’s”?

Yeah no retrospective about the 2011 or 2012 teams. or even a retrospective about 2nd and 26. But lets talk about this. LOL

 

[CoolBreeze]

Mike Shula Fired

"I have informed Mike Shula that he will not be retained as head football coach at the University of Alabama," says Alabama Athletic Director Mal Moore in a released statement.

www.wsfa.com

 

[chris]

Makes me think about not checking it out!

 

[bamaga]

screen shot from the documentary

 

[colbysullivan]

I don’t see how anyone could possibly have bad feelings for Shula. The guy had no idea what he was doing, but we KNEW that going in. He took the job and did everything he could to right the ship. People shouldn’t be mad at him just because this job was too big for him. He was in a no-win situation, and some people just aren’t meant to be head coaches. I’ll never forget being at the LSU game in 2005 thinking to myself “I can’t believe we even made it this far.” Yes, Shula sucked as a head coach, but he made it very hard to root against him.

 

[BamaMoon]

I'd like to forget about his years as coach, but I'll never forget a couple of winning drives against Georgia (Shula to Bell) and the one to move us into FG position for Van Tiffin's toe! May not be a Bama legend but those were legendary drives!

 

[TitleWave]

Is this a propagandoc made to fetch Selma from the shadows in time for the season opener?

screen shot from the documentaryView attachment 36242

 

[CullmanTide]

I could say a lot of things but won't. It's water under the bridge.

 

[CajunCrimson]

I don’t see how anyone could possibly have bad feelings for Shula. The guy had no idea what he was doing, but we KNEW that going in. He took the job and did everything he could to right the ship. People shouldn’t be mad at him just because this job was too big for him. He was in a no-win situation, and some people just aren’t meant to be head coaches. I’ll never forget being at the LSU game in 2005 thinking to myself “I can’t believe we even made it this far.” Yes, Shula sucked as a head coach, but he made it very hard to root against him.

I like Shula. I think he did the best he could. He stepped up in a mess. But I don’t want to relive them either.

 

[graydogg85]

From what I recall hearing at the time, Shula’s biggest issues were disparate / preferential treatment of certain players, being overly lax on discipline, a weak S & C program, and a strange loyalty to underperforming offensive staff members. I think things could have been much, much worse if it hadn’t been for Joe Kines.

Also, I seem to recall the narrative that no one else wanted the job was not necessarily true. Mal Moore decided after the debacles with Fran and Price (and coupled with the short time table) that we needed to interview exclusively Bama guys, but it seems like I heard some fairly prominent names reached out to UA after Price’s dismissal.

Not trying to pile on the guy and it’s been a long time ago, but I think there are a lot of false narratives that get pushed about him. He did have a tough set of circumstances and was not an abject failure, but he didn’t do us any real favors and we probably could have done better.

 

[Evil Crimson Dragon]

His greatest game he coached I feel is the one where they shellacked Urban and Florida............But his loyalty to his staff was a problem when they couldnt cut the mustard

 

[4Q Basket Case]

From what I recall hearing at the time, Shula’s biggest issues were disparate / preferential treatment of certain players, being overly lax on discipline, a weak S & C program, and a strange loyalty to underperforming offensive staff members. I think things could have been much, much worse if it hadn’t been for Joe Kines.

Also, I seem to recall the narrative that no one else wanted the job was not necessarily true. Mal Moore decided after the debacles with Fran and Price (and coupled with the short time table) that we needed to interview exclusively Bama guys, but it seems like I heard some fairly prominent names reached out to UA after Price’s dismissal.

Not trying to pile on the guy and it’s been a long time ago, but I think there are a lot of false narratives that get pushed about him. He did have a tough set of circumstances and was not an abject failure, but he didn’t do us any real favors and we probably could have done better.

I was a long-time Shula supporter because:
— He took the job in a tough time
— He was dealt some tough circumstances beyond his control
— We didn’t have to worry about him understanding the lack of privacy that comes with the job. He’d grown up in a similar fishbowl, and understood the turf.

I finally had to break ranks because of the kowtowing to Brodie and his dad. Blasphemy, I know, but for all his generational work with troubled youth, John wasn’t blameless in the career management of Brodie.

His greatest game he coached I feel is the one where they shellacked Urban and Florida............But his loyalty to his staff was a problem when they couldnt cut the mustard

Agreed on the loyalty to underperforming staff. But a lot of that came from his dad. Don and David Shula left scorched earth in Cleveland when David washed out as the Browns GM.

Don and Mike burned bridges in Tuscaloosa, then dropped nukes at the bases of each bridge, then broke up the melted glass and sowed salt 6 feet down. As the country song says, when you leave like that, you can’t come back.

Point of all that being, Mike listened to his dad too much. In hindsight, he’d never even been a coordinator, let alone a head coach. So listening to Don Shula should have been great career advice. Unfortunately it wasn’t, and Mike couldn’t possibly have had the chops to recognize that.

With the admitted benefit of 20+ years of hindsight:
— Shula would never publicly embarrass the program,
— He was a good QB coach, slightly overmatched as an OC, and hopelessly out of his depth as a HC of one of the top programs in the country.
— He was asked to do something that he simply wasn’t ready to do.
— He listened too much to somebody who should have provided sage counsel, but instead acted more like a helicopter dad.

I will conclude with a quote from someone I can’t name, but who had first-hand knowledge of the decision to fire Shula: “It was a sad decision. But it wasn’t a hard one.”