By
Justin Saia
Historic college football powerhouses find themselves in uncharted territory
ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE
Tuscaloosa, AL
11 National Championships, 30 Bowl Wins, 25 Conference Championships
The raw numbers:
56-43 overall, 30-34 in SEC play, 3-2 in bowl games since 2000, 7-6, 6-7, 10-2, 6-6, 4-9, 10-3, 7-5, 3-8
Program in turmoil:
1-7 against archrival Auburn since 2000, including the second longest losing streak in the history of the series (currently @ 6 games); 6 different head coaches since 2000; 10 players arrested since the hiring of current head coach Nick Saban; 5 years of NCAA probation; 0 players drafted in the 2008 NFL Draft
How it all began:
Hard pressed is it to find a more storied program, rich in football tradition and championship lore than the University of Alabama Crimson Tide. Most famous for its legendary head coach, Bear Bryant, and more than 20 National College Football Hall of Fame inductees, the Tide lays claim to an impressive 12 national championships. Though steeped in winning ways, blessed with an ardent and loyal fan base, and home of remarkable football facilities, recent history has not been so forgiving for fans of the crimson and white, suggesting that perhaps the Tide is turning…or rolling as they say in T-town.
Tracing the program back to the 2000 season, one can slowly begin to piece together the roots of such a deplorable sustainment of football over the last 8 seasons.
Expectations for the 2000 season were immense, following a highly touted recruiting class and abounding pre-season rankings, which had the Crimson Tide ranked as high as third in the country. The Tide disappointed in the season opener, as it was upset 35-24 by the underdog UCLA Bruins. A truly humbling and embarrassing 21-0 home thumping at the hands of a perpetually mediocre Southern Mississippi team foreshadowed the long road to follow. Head coach Mike DuBose offered his resignation following the game, which was eventually rejected by Athletic Director Mal Moore. Following several uninspiring victories over paltry opponents, the season reached a low point with a demoralizing 40-38 home loss to Central Florida. The loss plunged the season into despair as the Tide closed out the season on a five-game skid, including a 9-0 Iron Bowl loss to Auburn. The game was played amidst a dreadful setting of sleet and snow and served to further epitomize the despondence of the 2000 season.
Following the 2000 season, Mike DuBose was fired amidst a shroud of controversy and intense scrutiny by the NCAA Infractions Committee. A despondent Mal Moore turned his hopes to the much sought after TCU head coach, Dennis Franchione, sending Alabama nation into a state of euphoria. Franchione made quick work resurrecting DuBose’s shortcomings by posting a 7-5 record in 2001 and earning a post-season bid to the Independence Bowl. The 14-13 bowl victory over Iowa State was Alabama’s first bowl win in five seasons and served to alleviate some level of apprehension by die hard Tide fans. Franchione followed a decent 2001 season with an admirable 10-3 record and an SEC Western Division crown in 2002. Unfortunately for the Tide, a birth in the SEC Championship was denied by NCAA sanctions placed on the team earlier in the year.
In 2002, the NCAA Infractions Committee accused the Alabama football program of 11 major violations and five minor charges which occurred under the direction of former head coaches Mike DuBose and Gene Stallings. The findings included gifts and payments totaling more than $20,000 to a potential Alabama recruit, as well as cash bribes to a high school coach. The committee placed a five year probation on the program, which included a two-year bowl ban and reduction of scholarships by 21 over three years. The penalties should be perceived as light, considering the chatter amongst committee members to impose the death penalty on the program for violating its repeat offender rule.
Alabama fans and administrators were enamored by Franchione’s on-field accomplishments and rewarded him with a hefty 10-year contract extension. Franchione spurned the program when he surprisingly bolted to College Station, Texas to fill the head coaching position vacated by R.C. Slocum. Franchione’s departure was heavily scrutinized following a public statement that he would not be leaving the University of Alabama.
Alabama quickly found itself in search of yet another head coach. The coaching search resulted in the hiring of Washington State head coach Mike Price. Price’s stint with the Tide was short lived, following an incident with a stripper during a golf tournament in Pensacola, Florida. It was alleged that Price visited a strip club, then retired, stripper in tow, to a nearby hotel for some after hours entertainment. Price’s contract offer was immediately pulled and a very public media firestorm ensued. Sports Illustrated wrote an illicit article documenting the complexities of the incident, which further served as a black eye to the Alabama program.
Following the infamous Mike Price debacle, Alabama made an highly impulsive decision in the hiring of Miami Dolphins’ quarterbacks coach, Mike Shula. Shula, lacking any head coaching experience at any level, stumbled through the 2003 season, to the tune of a 4-9 record. Shula’s rebuilding experiment continued into the 2004 season, as the Tide improved its record to a meager 6-6 and earned a trip to face Minnesota in the Music City Bowl. Shula continued to blow big games, losing close contests to SEC foes Tennessee and Auburn, and Minnesota in the bowl game.
The 2005 season would turn out to be the only shining moment in Shula’s brief tenure as Alabama’s head coach. Alabama cruised to a 9-0 start, before again suffering heartbreaking losses to both LSU and Auburn. 2006 saw much of the same for a struggling Alabama program. A 6-7 overall record, a 2-6 conference record, and a fourth straight Iron Bowl loss, led to the demise of Shula’s career with the Tide. Shula will take up his side in crimson and white lore as the only Alabama head coach to lose to Auburn four consecutive times.
From 2000 to 2006, the Crimson Tide program churned through 4 different head coaches, 5 years of NCAA sanctions, and suffered a drastic fall from college football’s elite. Amidst a string of questionable hirings, seasons marred by embarrassing off field “extramarital affairs” and presumptuous boosters , and devastating program losses to the likes of Central Florida, Southern Mississippi, Northern Illinois, Hawaii, and Minnesota, Alabama fans were all but left to dig up the “Bear” himself.
2007…Enter Nick Saban; thought by many to be the savior…the chosen one. Saban’s heroic arrival in Tuscaloosa was tainted from the very start, as his departure from the Miami Dolphins was shrouded in controversy. Saban spent two dismal seasons with the Dolphins amassing an underwhelming 15-17 overall record, before taking over the reigns at Alabama. Saban received a rock star welcome in Tuscaloosa to go along with his astounding 8 year, $32 million contract. The second coming of the “Bear” started out with a 3-0 early season start and had Tide fans looking towards post-season accolades. Those thoughts were promptly obliterated with a humbling loss to the Mississippi State Bulldogs, a shocking and embarrassing loss to Louisiana-Monroe, and an unexplainable sixth straight loss to arch-rival Auburn. Saban managed to salvage the season with an unimpressive victory over a 6-7 Colorado team in the Tide’s third visit in seven years to the Independence Bowl. With Tide fans booking yet another New Year’s Eve party reservation in the bustling metropolis that is Shreveport-Bossier City, one has to wonder whether administrator’s motives were aimed at recovering a little coaching overhead at the luxurious Horseshoe Casino.
The latest saga to plague the once storied program is the alarming rate by which Alabama football players have been involved in criminal activities. In Nick Saban’s brief 18 month stint at the helm of the capsizing ship that is Alabama football, an unsettling 10 players have been arrested by local law enforcement. The apparent disorder has spilled over into the Alabama alumni base as well, as former Alabama quarterback Kenny Stabler was arrested just last month for driving under the influence of alcohol. It appears that one of college footballs elite programs has moved from holding up championship banners and selling post season tickets, to armed robbery (Jeremy Elders) and drug trafficking (Jimmy Johns).
Even Saban’s off-season success in recruiting, which landed the Tide the best overall recruiting class in the country, was marred by top signee, Julio Jones, appearing as a key witness in a brutal murder trial.
And, just when you thought things couldn't get any worse at the Capstone...they did...the 2008 NFL Draft appeared like a tornado on the horizon.
In the draft Appalachian State, Bentley, Coastal Carolina, Delaware, Eastern Kentucky, Furman, Gardner-Webb, Grand Valley State, Hampton, Idaho, Jackson State, McNeese State, Middle Tennessee State, Montana, Mount Union, North Dakota State, Northwest Missouri State, San Diego, Washburn, Weber State, and Winston Salem State all had at least one player drafted.
Alabama, however, did not.
My take:
A quick analysis of Alabama’s on-field performances since 2000 reveals some alarming statistics. Since 2000, Alabama is 30-34 in conference play, running up 24 of those wins against the likes of Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Arkansas. Over that same time, Alabama is 6-23 against the SEC elite, Auburn, LSU, Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida, including a 2-14 mark against Western Division rivals Auburn and LSU. The Tide is also an abysmal 7-20 against ranked opponents since 2002. The sheer magnitude of these numbers is tough to comprehend. How could a program steeped in winning traditions and football history fall this far from the tree?
Far less storied football schools in the SEC have quietly built programs that are worthy of prominence and national respect over the last decade. Head coaches like, Mark Richt at Georgia, Urban Meyer at Florida, and Tommy Tuberville at Auburn, brought a new philosophy and a renewed enthusiasm to their respective programs amidst times of general turmoil. Each of these coaches was given adequate time to cleanse the program before firmly implementing a strategy that fans, boosters, alumni, and administrators alike could reasonably buy in to and be proud of. Each of these coaches has fostered a program built upon realistic expectations that focuses on allowing kids time to grow and to develop into their offensive and defensive systems. The idea behind this approach is that breeding stability and consistency leads to winning, and winning leads to championships.
Loyalists to the Alabama program will immediately attribute the Tide’s recent downturn in success to the failure by coaches to win SEC, bowl, and rivalry games, or the apparent meddling by boosters, poor coaching hires by the administration, and an overall decline in recruiting. While these are all valid concerns pertaining to football programs in regression, they fall far from the heart of the issue. The fundamental problem with Alabama’s football program is the general atmosphere and mentality being pontificated to players and fans alike. Generations of Alabama faithful have been disillusioned by their historic past and remarkable run to greatness. Fans have long been instilled with a sense of entitlement and privilege, which has ultimately led to outlandish expectations and the complete abduction of any level of tolerance and decency.
Far too long has it been customary for Tide faithful to call for the firing of a head coach following an embarrassing loss or lack of championship hardware. Alabama found itself so far removed from the sweet taste of sugar in New Orleans that athletic administrators have often made questionable and impulsive coaching hires in an all out effort to quell the storm. Mike Price apparently skipped the place on the employment application form for extracurricular activities, while Mike Shula failed to list his previous coaching experience. The hiring of Coach Fran seemed reasonable at the time, but he failed to live up to average expectations at the program he jumped ship for.
A quick analysis of Alabama’s on-field performances since 2000 reveals some alarming statistics. Since 2000, Alabama is 30-34 in conference play, running up 24 of those wins against the likes of Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Arkansas. Over that same time, Alabama is 6-23 against the SEC elite, Auburn, LSU, Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida, including a 2-14 mark against Western Division rivals Auburn and LSU. The Tide is also an abysmal 7-20 against ranked opponents since 2002. The sheer magnitude of these numbers is tough to comprehend. How could a program steeped in winning traditions and football history fall this far from the tree?
Far less storied football schools in the SEC have quietly built programs that are worthy of prominence and national respect over the last decade. Head coaches like, Mark Richt at Georgia, Urban Meyer at Florida, and Tommy Tuberville at Auburn, brought a new philosophy and a renewed enthusiasm to their respective programs amidst times of general turmoil. Each of these coaches was given adequate time to cleanse the program before firmly implementing a strategy that fans, boosters, alumni, and administrators alike could reasonably buy in to and be proud of. Each of these coaches has fostered a program built upon realistic expectations that focuses on allowing kids time to grow and to develop into their offensive and defensive systems. The idea behind this approach is that breeding stability and consistency leads to winning, and winning leads to championships.
Loyalists to the Alabama program will immediately attribute the Tide’s recent downturn in success to the failure by coaches to win SEC, bowl, and rivalry games, or the apparent meddling by boosters, poor coaching hires by the administration, and an overall decline in recruiting. But let’s not kid ourselves here. While these are all valid concerns pertaining to football programs in regression, they fall far from the heart of the issue. There is certainly no shortage of talent, facilities, or excitement for Alabama football. For many kids in the South, the opportunity to suit up in crimson and white is a lifelong dream. For many adults in Alabama, the Tide’s starting quarterback is often scrutinized more than George Bush’s foreign policy. The fundamental problem with Alabama’s football program is the general attitude and mentality being pontificated to players and fans alike. Generations of Alabama faithful have been disillusioned by their historic past and remarkable run to greatness. Fans have long been instilled with a sense of entitlement and privilege, which has ultimately led to outlandish expectations and the complete abduction of any tolerance for mediocrity.
Far too long has it been customary for Tide faithful to call for the firing of a head coach following an embarrassing loss or lack of championship hardware. Alabama found itself so far removed from the sweet taste of sugar in New Orleans that athletic administrators have often made questionable and impulsive coaching hires in an all out effort to quell the storm. Mike Price apparently skipped the place on the employment application form for extracurricular activities, while Mike Shula failed to list his previous coaching experience. The hiring of Coach Fran seemed reasonable at the time, but he failed to live up to average expectations at the program he jumped ship for. While the addition of Nick Saban should help to mend some wounds and set the program in the right direction, only time will tell if the Crimson faithful allow Saban the necessary time he needs to mend a football dynasty in utter despair. Though Saban is an authoritarian dictator, there were times last season, where even he seemed rattled by the media exposure and constant barrage of criticism and scrutiny. For Alabama to depart from its losing ways and break free from this vicious cycle, it is essential that the Tide faithful buy into Saban’s coaching philosophy and endure his quirky idiosyncrasies. Saban’s savvy, meticulous coaching style and recruiting prowess will enable him to re-establish Alabama’s place among football’s elite.
Prognosis:
Alabama will likely suffer this season behind the leadership of senior quarterback John Parker Wilson. With a horrific schedule that includes a neutral site game against No. 6 ranked Clemson, road games against No. 1 ranked Georgia, No. 12 ranked LSU, No. 14 ranked Tennessee, and Arkansas, and a home game against bitter archrival and No. 10 ranked Auburn, for the Tide to finish any better than 8-4 would be miraculous. As Saban begins to flush out the riffraff left over from the Shula regime and locks down another outstanding recruiting class, the Tide’s on-field performance will again flourish. Look for Alabama to compete for the SEC Championship title in 2010, with Auburn, Florida, and Penn State all visiting the friendly confines of Bryant-Denny. The Tide will finally bring to an end Auburn’s 8-year Iron Bowl dominance, just short of the Bear’s 9-year run from 1973-1981, and notch its first ever win against Auburn in Tuscaloosa (0-6 all-time since 1895).
Have an opinion? Want to weigh in? Email me at thetigerbeatau@gmail.com, or discuss in the Scout Forums.
Up next...Programs on the Brink…Notre Dame
And…New Faces of the Auburn Coaching Staff
Past articles:
AU poised for SEC run, July 1
Programs on the Brink…Alabama, July 7
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