Week 12 NCAA Football

I had to wait for a few days before I wrote on my blog this week because I like to have a clear head. After the Auburn game I was so aggrivated that I didn't feel like I should write for a few days because my emotions were all over the place. I guess I was like a lot of other Alabama fans in that I was ready to fire the whole coaching staff. After calming down for a few days I have a more clear perspective on the situation. Everyone should be fired BUT Shula and Kines and Shula should give up the play calling on offense. And if the team has a bad season next year Shula should be fired at that time. All of this talk of bringing in a new head coach now is only hurting Alabama. If you were a hot shot recruit and were thinking of coming to Alabama would you now?? You would have no idea who will be your head coach and what kind of system you would be playing in. Hasn't recruiting been Bama's major problem for the last few years? We are just now getting to the point that we have a full recruiting class. We sure don't need to have any reason for the best high school players not to want to come to Bama. I think Shula is a good recruiter simply because of his name. The Shula name is big in Florida and will get him into doors that some other coaches can't get in. It is pretty clear that Kines is a great defensive coordinator, every year that he has been there Bama has ranked very high nationally. The play calling should be given to someone other than the head coach in my opinion because he has plenty of other things to worry about during the course of the game. Very few head coaches can do both. Only Steve Spurrier comes to mind right now. The smart move would be to get an offensive coordinator who may be ready to become a head coach soon and then if Shula somehow messes up next season we can just move the new guy up. But I would stick with what we got right now. He is a good guy and I hope he does well.

Week 11 NCAA Football

Well it's finally here, Iron Bowl week!!! At the first of the season I already had this game marked up as a loss for the Tide. But Alabama showed some signs of life against LSU and the Tigers looked nothing like they did early in the year. Auburn seems to be going backwards with even their defense looking weak at times. It looks to me like running the ball right up the middle is the best way to attack Auburn and then when their LB's come up to stop the run bring your TE and WR's over the middle for open lanes. Alabama has been successful at this at times this season so there is hope. But do we really know which teams will show up this week? Alabama is still young and makes mistakes like you would expect. The play calling has been questionable on offense but was a little better against LSU. Auburn can play great one week against some of the best teams in the SEC and then lose to Georgia who has been struggling for weeks. It is a hard game to figure but my gut tells me the Tide is due. Shula needs this game and you know the few seniors on this team would like to go out with a win like this.
Bobby Knight is back in the news. Again it is for all the wrong reasons. He is a great coach who knows more basketball than probably any coach in the nation. But he can not control his temper. After watching the incident on ESPN I think he should be suspended at least. The reports are that he was raising the kids head up to make him pay attention to him. But was there any need to use his fist and jar his head back like he did? The bad part in all of this is that the coach, the AD, the parents, and the player are all acting like it is no big deal. How can it not be a big deal? Other coaches are seeing this and it will be an open invitation for them to use their own ways of getting attention. I have always respected Coach Knight but he needs to get some help or retire.

Week 10 NCAA Football.

How low can Bama football go? How can a team go backwards in their development? Shouldn't you see improvement over the course of the season? There are a lot of questions to be answered by the Tide coaching staff. The rumblings have already started that Shula should be fired and after losing to Miss. State I can almost see why. But not quite. He went 10-2 last season and got a contract extension and everyone was happy. We lost a lot of starters and the expectations were not as high as they were for last season. That is until the season started and then some fans were expecting to be playing for the national championship. That was completely crazy thinking. This was going to be a rebuilding year and it still is. Bama should not have lost to the Bulldogs but you have to give the coach a chance to make changes. If the fans run off Shula what kind of coach do you think will take the job? Mike Dubose is the only coach that should have been run off. Fran couldn't handle the expectations and deserted his players. Price wanted to party and his character was called into question and he was fired. Fire Shula and what decent coach is going to want to even try the Capstone out? You have to give Shula 6 seasons in my opinion and this is his 4th. After that, if he hasn't made them consistantly a good team then he should be replaced.
Louisville has thrown a wrench in the BCS picture. If they go undefeated should they play for the national championship? Are they better than Florida, Auburn,Tenn, or LSU? I don't think so. A playoff would be nice right now.