this is insane to me. how do you go from not just an alum but a letterman in football then go play against your most hated rival... dollar signs dont equate to the hate between alabama and auburn....
dont get me wrong i *LOVE* to see every barner on the face of the earth ....ed of over this, and would i like it that much more if they get the death penalty ? absolutley. but the fact is, that regardless of the circumstanes surrounding his departure from the barn, this is a traitor like act. remeber how ....ed everyone was when thompson snivled away? i personaly dont know what to think. was he a good recruiter/coach, sure he was... but he still was a cow patty specialist... i support and respect him as one of our new Bama family mebers but its wierd.
Is it a good thing we hired willis? yes and if only for the reson it merely adds another torch that helped burn the barn down. ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!!:BigA:
It may seem a bit weird at first, but I'm glad we have him on board. He's a great coach and a great recruiter, and he has a big-time future in this business if he plays his cards right. These are exactly the type of people you want.
Honestly, I think it all boils down to the fact that we gave him a much better opportunity. He is an Auburn man, to be sure, but I think he was smart enough to see there was no future on the Plains. They may have very well fired him after the recruiting season ended, and even if not it's clear that the powers that be control the place anyway. If he wants to really take his career to the next level, I think he just realized he had to get away from Auburn, and when Alabama came along... well, there's not many programs who can offer what Nick Saban Alabama can.
And besides, all of these school connections often fade away. Just look through history a bit. Darrell Royal was an Oklahoma graduate. Pat Dye was a Georgia graduate. Vince Dooley was an Auburn graduate. David Cutcliffe was an Alabama graduate. You get the point... sure you often see times where "Mama calls," so to speak, but it's just as common to see coaches sacrifice former allegiances for career's sake.
Finally, no one should forget what he gave up to come to Alabama. This guy is a lifelong Auburn man, and after this -- as much little brother syndrome as they have -- Willis is effectively dead to the Auburn family. By coming to Alabama, not only has he burned the proverbial bridge, he nuked the whole county. He's got my respect for that alone, because honestly I probably could not do the same thing.
