Why must our next hire be a "homerun"?

[bamanut_aj]

Hey, I like the idea of a Saban or a Spurrier as much as the next guy. But, there are plenty of up-and-coming guys who just need the horses and the resources to win at a big program. It's been beaten to death here, but what was Stoops before OK? What was Spurrier before UF? What was CPB before BAMA?

Here's the problem, and here's the only fault I have with Mal Moore in this. While I don't think he dropped the ball on CRR (hey, he made a good offer to a good coach. That coach decided to stay home), I think all involved are being very short-sighted. "Well, we didn't get Spurrier or Saban, so let's get CRR. Well, CRR said no, so let's take to Grobe." I don't think the people picking this coach know a damned thing about coaches other than their names. "OOOH! Spurrier is a good name! OOOOH! Saban is a good name! I've heard of Wake Forest!" IMO, we're at a point on the list where the names at these "bigger" schools are no better than the up and comer at Directional Tech.

That's my fear. Those with the money know some names, and that's about all they know.

 

[mrags]

Hey, I like the idea of a Saban or a Spurrier as much as the next guy. But, there are plenty of up-and-coming guys who just need the horses and the resources to win at a big program. It's been beaten to death here, but what was Stoops before OK? What was Spurrier before UF? What was CPB before BAMA?

Here's the problem, and here's the only fault I have with Mal Moore in this. While I don't think he dropped the ball on CRR (hey, he made a good offer to a good coach. That coach decided to stay home), I think all involved are being very short-sighted. "Well, we didn't get Spurrier or Saban, so let's get CRR. Well, CRR said no, so let's take to Grobe." I don't think the people picking this coach know a damned thing about coaches other than their names. "OOOH! Spurrier is a good name! OOOOH! Saban is a good name! I've heard of Wake Forest!" IMO, we're at a point on the list where the names at these "bigger" schools are no better than the up and comer at Directional Tech.

That's my fear. Those with the money know some names, and that's about all they know.

Good observation. I agree with your points but must point out that RR is way overrated and would have been a horrible fit for our program. He knew that and we should be counting our blessings.

 

[bayoutider]

Next hire has to be a homerun all we have had lately are field goals.

 

[CrimsonAlways]

Good observation. I agree with your points but must point out that RR is way overrated and would have been a horrible fit for our program. He knew that and we should be counting our blessings.

I was never a Rodriguez fan. What is a fit anymore? When I sign off today I won't know anymore than I did when I got here except that folks on this board are smarter and more concerned about Bama than the media thinks. But we know what we think of the media. I am so ready to see those players have some stability in their program. Heck, give coach Kines a year contract and see what happens. At least we know he is loyal
RTR

 

[bamanut_aj]

Next hire has to be a homerun all we have had lately are field goals.

you gonna be performing here all week?

 

[im4datide]

Hey, I like the idea of a Saban or a Spurrier as much as the next guy. But, there are plenty of up-and-coming guys who just need the horses and the resources to win at a big program. It's been beaten to death here, but what was Stoops before OK? What was Spurrier before UF? What was CPB before BAMA?

Here's the problem, and here's the only fault I have with Mal Moore in this. While I don't think he dropped the ball on CRR (hey, he made a good offer to a good coach. That coach decided to stay home), I think all involved are being very short-sighted. "Well, we didn't get Spurrier or Saban, so let's get CRR. Well, CRR said no, so let's take to Grobe." I don't think the people picking this coach know a damned thing about coaches other than their names. "OOOH! Spurrier is a good name! OOOOH! Saban is a good name! I've heard of Wake Forest!" IMO, we're at a point on the list where the names at these "bigger" schools are no better than the up and comer at Directional Tech.

That's my fear. Those with the money know some names, and that's about all they know.

Great post Anthony. I liked the idea of a Saban, Spurrier or Stoops coming to Bama. Really didn't think Rodriguez would leave WV. I'm not sure that canidates such as Johnson,Grobe or Schiano really excite me, Petrino might with right DC. To me a highly respected coordinator that wants to prove his worth such as a Jimbo Fisher would excite me. The guy has a great offensive mind, you keep CJK as the DC and I really think Bama could cause a lot of trouble for the rest of the SEC. JMHO so flame away!

 

[BamaHistoryM]

Anyone who has ever played baseball knows there is one MAJOR problem when you go out and try to hit a home run ... you usually miss.

Think about it this way. No matter who we hire, it all comes down to what POTENTIAL they actually have. We all know that big name coaches like Stoops, Saban, Spurrier had a start somewhere. To continue our baseball analogy, these schools were not out swinging for the fences when they hired these coaches, they were just trying to make contact with the ball. That's what we need to do, go out and try and make contact again. Shula was a foul ball, but not a bad swing.

We need to go out, keep our eyes on the ball, and wait for that right pitch down the middle.

To me, a pitch down the middle would be a proven head coach, someone with a winning record, does not have to be a 1A coach, but needs to have that POTENTIAL to be a great coach with the right support. We don't need to go after a coordinator (just a bit outside) or some HS coach (we ain't farmers, so don't swing at s..t in the dirt).

You get someone like this, with the best coordinator that we can find, and we have got a good chance of getting on base again.

Waiting on the right pitch takes patience, concentration, and most importantly, the strength to keep the bat in the air until the right one comes along.

 

[bamanut_aj]

good post, BamaHistoryM.

 

[TommyMac]

Actually, Coach Bryant was a highly successful HC before he answered Mama's call and Spurrier had won an ACC championship at Duke.

I agree with you though, there are too many promising young lions out there who would kill for the BAMA job and would work 24/7 to prove themselves for us to restrict ourselves to only a select few possible candidates.

 

[FortyYearFan]

The AD--or whoever made the decision to fire Shula--set himself up for the expectation that a bigtime name had to be hired. Lots of Bama supporters would have been content to keep CMS, either with or without changes being made on his staff. Face it, the status quo is easier to deal with than the unknown. Letting Shula go, with the inevitable and immediate disruption to the program that we're seeing, logically made people think that there was a huge hire on the horizon. In addition, it made sense to think, from a fan's perspective, that the Alabama job was automatically gonna be attractive due to the tradition, facilities, money, etc.

Admittedly, I was OK with keeping Shula, despite the obvious flaws I saw AS A FAN. I witnessed the same things that everyone else did, but rationalized the shortcomings on the basis that I'm not an expert at coaching football, that the coaches know more than I do, and that they had more information than I did. (I also don't tell surgeons how to do their jobs, although as an observer, I can clearly see where they screwed up, ).

I was amazed when no Sudden Savior was hired. Suddenly, I found myself learning all I could about coaches whose names I had never heard! "Huh? Paul Johnson? Jim Grobe? Who ARE these guys? Alabama football has come to THIS?"

By now, I think, the home run coach expectation is history. Let's get on with it, hire a respectable coach who is fired up to come to Alabama, and see how it all works out.

 

[T Town Tank]

Great post Anthony. I liked the idea of a Saban, Spurrier or Stoops coming to Bama. Really didn't think Rodriguez would leave WV. I'm not sure that canidates such as Johnson,Grobe or Schiano really excite me, Petrino might with right DC. To me a highly respected coordinator that wants to prove his worth such as a Jimbo Fisher would excite me. The guy has a great offensive mind, you keep CJK as the DC and I really think Bama could cause a lot of trouble for the rest of the SEC. JMHO so flame away!

I don't think Petrino would be a good hire, I expect him to want to go to the NFL ASAP. Why do we have to have a big name coach? We could be ruling out and excellent coach that is not at a 1A school. We need a coach that will instill much needed discipline on this team, has the ability to motivate players, develope a team atmosphere and knows how to hire great assistants. He needs to put the best players on the field that give the team their best chance to succeed and not merely say he is going to put the best players on the field. This coach needs to be a top notch CEO that surrounds himself with great assistants that know how to coach X's and O's and realize the importance of strength and conditioning. I believe it was Coach Bryant that once said, a Head Coach is only as good as the assistants he hires.

 

[hightide5]

Our next coach doesn't have to be a homerun, but it needs to be someone that has had success, maybe not as the head coach, but someone that has proven he can get the job done.

 

[TheBearww]

We don't have to get a homerun coach. Just a man with success. He does not even have to have been a HC. Mainly someone that has proven he can get the job done.

 

[PattheCatinSaudi]

Next hire has to be a homerun all we have had lately are field goals.

And the CRR episode was wide right. :biggrin2:

 

[Bad Pony]

We could just hire my brother... he played on 2 NC teams at UNA, won a state championship in his first year as HC and is in semi-retirement from coaching with an .875 winning percentage :biggrin2:

 

[johnnychristmas]

I'm enjoying the boilerplate answer "we don't need a homerun coach, just someone who can get the job done".

However we really do need a homerun coach, or grandslam coach, touchdown coach, etc. Bama's on the verge of falling off the map here. Coming out of these steaming pile of (you know ) and just having an OK hire will be the final confirmation that Bama isn't to be taken seriously by anyone.