At a select number of Universities, the headcoach does not just have to be a great football mind. He is the caretaker of the program. Alabama, Notre Dame, Michigan, The OSU, Nebraska, and Texas are similar.
As a matter of fact, the term "Caretaker" is a better description than coach. Why? It is simple, really. The program, by the very nature of what it is...tradition, commitment, fan base, recruiting base, alumni support, facilities...all these things make up the whole to create something greater than the sum of the parts.
The program attracts recruits. To this day, even with the down cycle we have experienced, the name Alabama means something to kids. They grow up fans. There is a reason that Alabama merchandise is among the top selling of any program. Kids around the southeast and in Alabama in particular grow up as fans...their parents bring them up that way.
Top assistants will come because Bama can be (and has been) a springboard to head coaching opportunities.
What does all this mean?
It means that a managerial style of coach like Dennis Franchione can be successful because he instills discipline, and surrounds himself with good assistants and lets them do their jobs. TAMU was not a Bama level of program and Fran has struggled. It means that a disciplinarian like Stallings who expected excellence from his assistants and players can be successful because he makes sure that the things that matter are being done.
Caretakers promote the program and maintain a transparent aura of class, dignity, pride, integrity, and trust, that equate to crimson.
Coach Bryant often said that his assistants knew more than he did. He said that if they did not, he had no use for them.
A Caretaker at Bama can hire a top notch staff and manage them...through a managerial style like Fran, or an iron fist like Gene, and win big. That kind of a caretaker can have long term success. When the assistants get recognized and hired away, you can bring in more top notch assistants because they want to be the next one hired away.
Dubose was not a caretaker...he was a crisis manager. He was part dictatorial, part micromanager, part confused and unorganized, and part buddy...with little discipline. He failed...yet still managed a 10 win season and SEC Championship.
I don't know at this point what Shula is. During the good times (to whence we are returning...full allotment of scholarships and experienced players), a caretaker with limited football knowledge and great managerial skills could win big at Bama. We have not been in good times since Shula has been here, yet with the exception of character, there are tell-tale signs that he may have some of the same issues that plagued Dubose.
If Shula is removed from office (and I am not saying that he should or should not be), what we need is a caretaker. Someone who will bring a disciplined approach. Those sort of people usually have a bit of a mean streak. xCDF had one...but it was a board room style mean streak that manifested itself in coaches meetings instead of on the sideline.
We need a caretaker who will hire top assistants and expect them to perform at a high level.
We need a caretaker who will push the players to excell and expect nothing less than 100% because that is what Alabama expects.
Coach Bryant was the ultimate caretaker. Stallings was a caretaker. They knew the expectations and expected excellence.
Bama has some of the best facilities in the nation. We have great fans and tradition. We are no longer "staring down the barrell of a loaded gun." There are no more rumors swirling and our talent level (albeit young) is on par with anyone. We are the candystore to a top notch coach's inner child.
I am losing faith in Shula as a caretaker. He has done a tremendous service in rebuilding our roster and seeing Bama through the hard times, but I don't know if he has it in him to do what is necessary to be the caretaker of the program. Maybe he does, but if the rumors I have received a second witness on are true (at least part of what you said was true, HSV)... I don't see it.
Who out there is a caretaker? I don't know enough about the potential candidates...Pinkel, Schiano, Petrino, Grobe, Patterson, others...they all have track records of success as head coaches...but is any one of them a caretaker?
As a matter of fact, the term "Caretaker" is a better description than coach. Why? It is simple, really. The program, by the very nature of what it is...tradition, commitment, fan base, recruiting base, alumni support, facilities...all these things make up the whole to create something greater than the sum of the parts.
The program attracts recruits. To this day, even with the down cycle we have experienced, the name Alabama means something to kids. They grow up fans. There is a reason that Alabama merchandise is among the top selling of any program. Kids around the southeast and in Alabama in particular grow up as fans...their parents bring them up that way.
Top assistants will come because Bama can be (and has been) a springboard to head coaching opportunities.
What does all this mean?
It means that a managerial style of coach like Dennis Franchione can be successful because he instills discipline, and surrounds himself with good assistants and lets them do their jobs. TAMU was not a Bama level of program and Fran has struggled. It means that a disciplinarian like Stallings who expected excellence from his assistants and players can be successful because he makes sure that the things that matter are being done.
Caretakers promote the program and maintain a transparent aura of class, dignity, pride, integrity, and trust, that equate to crimson.
Coach Bryant often said that his assistants knew more than he did. He said that if they did not, he had no use for them.
A Caretaker at Bama can hire a top notch staff and manage them...through a managerial style like Fran, or an iron fist like Gene, and win big. That kind of a caretaker can have long term success. When the assistants get recognized and hired away, you can bring in more top notch assistants because they want to be the next one hired away.
Dubose was not a caretaker...he was a crisis manager. He was part dictatorial, part micromanager, part confused and unorganized, and part buddy...with little discipline. He failed...yet still managed a 10 win season and SEC Championship.
I don't know at this point what Shula is. During the good times (to whence we are returning...full allotment of scholarships and experienced players), a caretaker with limited football knowledge and great managerial skills could win big at Bama. We have not been in good times since Shula has been here, yet with the exception of character, there are tell-tale signs that he may have some of the same issues that plagued Dubose.
If Shula is removed from office (and I am not saying that he should or should not be), what we need is a caretaker. Someone who will bring a disciplined approach. Those sort of people usually have a bit of a mean streak. xCDF had one...but it was a board room style mean streak that manifested itself in coaches meetings instead of on the sideline.
We need a caretaker who will hire top assistants and expect them to perform at a high level.
We need a caretaker who will push the players to excell and expect nothing less than 100% because that is what Alabama expects.
Coach Bryant was the ultimate caretaker. Stallings was a caretaker. They knew the expectations and expected excellence.
Bama has some of the best facilities in the nation. We have great fans and tradition. We are no longer "staring down the barrell of a loaded gun." There are no more rumors swirling and our talent level (albeit young) is on par with anyone. We are the candystore to a top notch coach's inner child.
I am losing faith in Shula as a caretaker. He has done a tremendous service in rebuilding our roster and seeing Bama through the hard times, but I don't know if he has it in him to do what is necessary to be the caretaker of the program. Maybe he does, but if the rumors I have received a second witness on are true (at least part of what you said was true, HSV)... I don't see it.
Who out there is a caretaker? I don't know enough about the potential candidates...Pinkel, Schiano, Petrino, Grobe, Patterson, others...they all have track records of success as head coaches...but is any one of them a caretaker?
