The right stuff?

Time will tell if Shula is best man for Tide

It’s easy to take shots at Alabama when the last head coaching search stumbled upon Mike Price, who never coached a down in Tuscaloosa and will forever be remembered for the “too drunk to really know’’ defense.

But give the new president, Robert Witt, credit for having the gumption to show his football coach the door. If he had done anything else, 'Bama would deserve all the one-liners that come along with a shady athletic program.

Now, letting athletic director Mal Moore have a say in the selection of Price’s successor is another story. This is the same guy whose previous search -- which we assume wasn’t big on background checks -- brought Price in from Pullman, Wash. Had Witt really been on his game, he’d have gone out and signed up Tom Coughlin, a disciplinarian tough enough to handle the Tide boosters.

So what did Alabama officials do? They went the safe route by hiring one of their own. The really safe route, some argue, by hiring Mike Shula, son of the NFL coaching great, and not Sylvester Croom, who would have been the SEC’s first black head football coach.

Time will tell if the 37-year-old Shula is up to the job. Having no college coaching experience raises an eyebrow. But the guess here is he could be another Mark Richt, whose own play calling at Florida State was often second-guessed before he landed the Georgia job.

What the kid first needs to do is display the take-no-bull attitude of his father, Don, and firmly let Alabama folks know he’s in charge of the program. He can’t be indebted to the powerbrokers that pushed him for the job. He needs to thank them and then convince them to stay out of the way. Alabama can’t afford any more shenanigans.

This is only one man’s opinion, of course.

On to the mailbag ...

Mike Shula was a player on the 'Bama team when my son was the director of the Bear Bryant athletic dorm. Mike was considered an outstanding young man as well as a terrfic player. Keep your eye on the Crimson Tide. As the saying about the South goes: “We will rise again!" -- Corinne Bradford, University of Alabama, Class of 1947

Part of the Shula allure is his clean image, but don’t expect him to be a miracle worker. Coaching changes after spring practice are very rare. And with Alabama in the midst of NCAA sanctions for past sins, it might be three more seasons before the Tide have a full complement of 85 scholarship players.

One big question has still not been asked about the Mike Price debacle. How did the Alabama organization not find out about Mike Price's drinking and carousing habits well before offering him a $10 million coaching contract? Obviously, the school's background checks and hiring procedures leave much to be desired. -- George Holzapfel, Seattle, Wash.

George, you’re asking the $10 million question. It’s hard to imagine Mike Price hadn’t let loose before his April junket in Pensacola.

Thanks for the article on David Kimani. As a graduate of the University of Alabama, I thought it was a very sad but positive indicator of our athletes, despite recent negative events with our school. David was indeed a great champion and we were lucky to call him one of our own. I appreciate your insight on this wonderful young man. What a tragedy that we don't get to enjoy his spirit and smile any longer. -- Stoney Chavers, Mobile, Ala.

You’re right, David's story is a terrific contrast to the negative news coming out of a too many athletic programs recently. A great runner and, by all accounts, an even finer person. We’re not soliciting funds, but friends at Alabama are trying to raise money for his family back in Kenya. The mailing address: David Kimani Remembrance Fund, ATTN: Marie Robbins, P.O. Box 870393, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487.

When will John David Booty turn 19? It sounds like he would have been pretty close to 19 while he was still playing in high school. I and many of my teammates graduated from high school at 17. Sounds like it is already time for Booty to play with the big boys instead of running up big numbers against 15-, 16- and 17-year-olds. -- Mark Ruane, Lynn, Mass.

Mark, you raise an interesting point. I’m always leery about the practice of holding back youngsters, as Booty was in fifth grade, so they can presumably gain a physical advantage for sports. According to his father, the Southern Cal-bound quarterback turns 19 next January.

With all the talk of how many Florida State players are in trouble right now, I was wondering if the NCAA keeps track of how many criminal offenses players in each program have. I think if you could show some numbers that prove the FSU has an unusually high number of players in trouble, that would convince me that things are really going wrong down in Tallahassee. -- Brett Ogletree, Richmond, Va.

Nope, sorry. The NCAA is too busy tracking athletes and programs messing with its own rules to dabble in criminal affairs. Besides, the statistics would be meaningless if schools are covering up, as apparently was the case with the FSU football program, and not reporting things like alleged credit card theft to the police.

The NCAA is not investigating Florida State, the school is. In addition, just how credible do you think Grady Irvin is? Let's just say he is the type that gives lawyers a bad name. It's also not against NCAA rules for players to sell jerseys, rings, etc. The catch is they have to be sold at fair market value. ... Just so you know, the boosters, of which I am one, have encouraged athletic director Dave Hart and coach Bobby Bowden to close access forever to the press. No more open locker room after the game, no access to you or anyone else at SI, or any other media other than FSU media. No more access to players unless it is a school-sanctioned news conference. Seems they are listening. We are looking forward to our day in court. We're very confident. -- Nelson Jones, Panama City, Fla.

Well, I wouldn’t be so bold as to predict what the NCAA is up to. There’s obviously no formal investigation, but we understand two NCAA reps -- Bill Saum and Rachel Newman -- were in Tallahassee early last week. One suspects they weren’t reviewing Florida State’s new media access policies.

It is no secret the 'Noles have been “skating" for years on various problems. And the way the latest issue was handled is a testament on “how" they have been able to skate so successfully. I have respect for what Bobby Bowden did for that program. But it's over. I am sick of his grandpa image the media has so joyfully shown over the years. -- Pat Holcombe, Panama City, Fla.

Pat, what Bobby Bowden has done with the program is remarkable. I covered FSU back in the late 1970s when they were a weak sister to the Florida Gators and it was a big deal to get a bowl invite. No question, he’ll go down as one of the great college coaches. You just wonder who’s calling the shots and watching over his program now.

It's about time someone focused on what's wrong with Florida football. It starts at the high school level and is grossly exacerbated at the three major Florida universities. Take a look at their graduation rates, particularly black players! These schools have a win-at-all-cost mentality and couldn't care less whether these kids graduate. -- Stephen A. Finelli, Tampa, Fla.

You raise an issue worthy of serious consideration, but the suspicion here is the Florida schools aren’t much different than other big-time football programs. Here’s what we dug up from the most recent NCAA graduation rates, which is the class that entered as freshmen in 1995-96: University of Florida football, 32 percent graduation rate (black players 23 percent); Florida State 53 percent (black players 50 percent); Miami 56 percent (black players 42 percent).

I don't have much respect for a coach who signs a contract, then breaks his word and moves on somewhere else. Maybe they should have to lay out a year or two like players have to if they break their contract. -- Mac Blair, Huntingdon, Tenn.

Mac, good point. The NCAA isn’t in position to impose penalties or hold coaches to contracts, but the universities should take it upon themselves to include a clause in contracts. As an example, Illinois had a $500,000 buyout clause in former coach Bill Self’s contracted if he wanted out. The university upped it to $1 million for his replacement, Bruce Weber.

Which is more of an atrocity, a coach who leaves a program after 15 years of work and accomplishments or a player who bolts to the NBA after one or two years? Which person has shown more loyalty to the program? If a player, or any student, is allowed to leave his school to pursue employment, so should a coach. If not, then a letter of intent should be just as binding to prevent a player from jumping to the pros early. -- Calvin, Winooski, Vt.

A couple of key differences here. The big-time coach likely has a country club membership, a couple of courtesy cars and is collecting millions for his loyalty. The player is often stuck if the coach jumps for a better college job or the pros. Conversely, if the star player goes pro, the coach can at least consider his own career options, often without any restrictions.

Welcome to a glimpse of the real world, players. When you accept a job with IBM, in part because you like your boss, and the boss leaves, that doesn't mean you'll just quit and follow him or easily get a job with someone else. ... Stop trying to (grant) more outs for irresponsible decisions by highly pampered student-athletes. If they aren't going to play by the rules, then they shouldn't be in college masquerading as college students in the first place. You pick the school, first. -- Spencer Moore, San Francisco

Spencer, we’ll be the first to agree that some players are pampere, but that’s probably not true of the majority. And if they ever land a gig at IBM and their boss leaves, I don’t think they have to sit out two years before taking a job with Xerox.

I'm glad to see that our esteemed California state legislators are able to spend the time to help the college athletes who toil in bondage. Thank goodness they are able to focus on this issue in the midst of a $35 billion budget shortfall! -- Steven Deeley, Pasadena, Calif.

I hear your pain, yet budget deficits aren’t the only issue of the day. The lawmakers’ charge is to represent all constituents and at last check California is home to 17,000 Division I athletes.

Our only hope to compete with the Kenyans is to do what you talked about with the Team USA camps. It is vital for us to train these young runners and to provide the money to back them. Because these grassroots camps are in their infancy, it will take quite some time for us to compete on same level as the Kenyans. But in 5 years, I hope to see 2-3 Americans placing in the top 10 at the Boston Marathon. -- Paul J. Isaac, Lansdowne, Pa.

Distance running in the U.S. had reached the pits, so I’m all for spending bucks on camps that bring elite athletes together. Just don’t bank on Americans running wild at Boston anytime soon.

Mike Fish is a senior writer for SI.com.

Comments? To e-mail Fish, click here.

 

Related information

Stories

Previous Mike Fish Columns

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video