I think where you can compare the two is the response to failure. Though Nick went on to lose every game in November, even he (to this day) references the ULM lost as the "wake up call" loss. His response was to recruit like crazy, hire the best assistants he could and dominate.
Undervalued comment. Coach is learning self motivated athletes with something to prove can succeed with a soft touch and encouragement . Top tier athletes where everything comes easy to them sometimes need a push, even an in your face shove to be great.
It wasn’t the talent, it was the culture Nick had to fight. There were good players . Remember, we had a team leader arrested for distributing Cocaine, 9 other players arrested, star players considered workouts optional, etc. That time period of Alabama Football reminded me of the movie Hamburger Hill .
Heck, we got ecstatic about signing two 3-star WR's out of Florida in the same class!
I mean, not really?
That is not decent. That is Nebraska type recruiting. But there were 4 stars.
It was exactly how it ended up on the field for Shula, mid-level. Mediocre, .500 winning percentage, so-so.
Agreed, decent / mid / whatever. It's not G5-level but there was obviously room for improvement. That said, it's hard to expect great recruiting when the program was in the dumps and the HC lacked the ability and/or discipline to get things in order.
I would add that were several four stars or major recruiting “hits” that either didn’t qualify or wound up at Hargrave & never played a down for Bama. i.e., Mike Ford and a receiver or two (names slipped my mind). Shula seemed to be snake bitten when it came to the “big” names except Andre Smith.
It wasn't a coincidence that we had so many non-qualifiers during this time period. Coaches of all programs are well aware of the grade situation for recruits. One of the first things they ask when looking at a potential athlete is to see their transcript. Alabama was a program that wasn't getting top tier recruits back then for reasons we are all aware of. We took chances on some guys that others weren't willing to gamble on in hopes that they would pull through last minute. Shula and staff felt like the juice was worth the squeeze to try to get a 4* if somehow they became eligible late in the process. We don't see this anymore because we don't have to play the wait and see approach with guys and we can go after the blue chips who are "no doubters" when it comes to qualifying.
I read where Nikita Stover is about to be eligible.
Right, this has been discussed at length on this board and another I was part of. That’s why so many of the SEC non-qualifiers wound up at Big East schools if they were able to get to D-1A. Their standards were lower.
He just stepped down as HC of Decatur Heritage Christian Academy. So may be so, hahaha.
