Thoughts on Mike Shula
i've been wondering this for some time and decided to ask everyone's opinion.
would alabama fans be willing to accept a coach who places the well-being of his players (mental, physical, emotional) above his interest in winning games?
i think shula is one such coach. does he want to win? i have no question that he does. but does he consider his duty as a surrogate parent and mentor to his players greater than his duty to win games for his university? i think so. and i don't think that's a bad thing, either.
i think that's why he keeps the brandon brookses on the field when they are jeopardizing the team's fortunes. i think that's why he sends the leigh tiffins onto the field to try one more attempt when he's already blown several. i think that's why he clearly makes no attempt to run up the score on opponents when we're comfortably ahead late in the game. i think it's why he was able to look in the camera last season and sincerely say to prothro "we miss you and we love you," after barely eeking out a win against an opponent his team should have squashed like a bug. a college football coach tells one of his players he loves him on national television...when was the last time you heard that?
i think shula is a good and decent man. i think he really loves his players as if they were his own family. i think he cares more about who and where they will be 10 years from now than he is concerned with dropped passes and missed kicks during a game.
only hours after the heart-wrenching OT loss to the vols a few years back, shula's daughter was born. commenting on the game and its affect on him, he said something along the lines that losing a game is just losing a game whereas welcoming a child into the world is one of the greatest things in life. he couldn't be more right.
i think shula wants to win, but i think there are also prices he is not willing to pay to do so. and most of all, i think he does what he does because he thinks it is the right thing to do, rather than thinking it the thing that must be done in order to win. or maybe it's because he has a different perspective on what it actually means for a college coach to "win."
but is that good enough for alabama fans? the more i get to know about shula, and the older my children get, the more i'm inclined to say that it's certainly good enough for me.
i've been wondering this for some time and decided to ask everyone's opinion.
would alabama fans be willing to accept a coach who places the well-being of his players (mental, physical, emotional) above his interest in winning games?
i think shula is one such coach. does he want to win? i have no question that he does. but does he consider his duty as a surrogate parent and mentor to his players greater than his duty to win games for his university? i think so. and i don't think that's a bad thing, either.
i think that's why he keeps the brandon brookses on the field when they are jeopardizing the team's fortunes. i think that's why he sends the leigh tiffins onto the field to try one more attempt when he's already blown several. i think that's why he clearly makes no attempt to run up the score on opponents when we're comfortably ahead late in the game. i think it's why he was able to look in the camera last season and sincerely say to prothro "we miss you and we love you," after barely eeking out a win against an opponent his team should have squashed like a bug. a college football coach tells one of his players he loves him on national television...when was the last time you heard that?
i think shula is a good and decent man. i think he really loves his players as if they were his own family. i think he cares more about who and where they will be 10 years from now than he is concerned with dropped passes and missed kicks during a game.
only hours after the heart-wrenching OT loss to the vols a few years back, shula's daughter was born. commenting on the game and its affect on him, he said something along the lines that losing a game is just losing a game whereas welcoming a child into the world is one of the greatest things in life. he couldn't be more right.
i think shula wants to win, but i think there are also prices he is not willing to pay to do so. and most of all, i think he does what he does because he thinks it is the right thing to do, rather than thinking it the thing that must be done in order to win. or maybe it's because he has a different perspective on what it actually means for a college coach to "win."
but is that good enough for alabama fans? the more i get to know about shula, and the older my children get, the more i'm inclined to say that it's certainly good enough for me.
