Secrets and lies

Franchione shows disloyalty to 'Bama by taking A&M job

The first words on the Web site CoachFran.com are: "Accountability. Loyalty. Trust."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Certainly, Dennis Franchione is not the first college football coach to leave one program in his rearview mirror when another comes calling with the bling-bling.

But considering the circumstances, I can only think of few who so blatantly misled their former employer in the weeks and months before signing on with a new one.

Despite what he likely will say at his introductory news conference Friday, Franchione did not land the richest contract in the sport's history overnight, nor, specifically, in the three days between his return from Alabama's game at Hawaii and Tide AD Mal Moore's confirmation of his departure.

The rampant rumors and reports leading up to this week's events turned out be almost dead-on accurate, indicating they had substance all along. Maybe Franchione didn't talk directly with the folks in College Station, but that's not even necessary with the amount of middlemen and representatives always involved in such matters.

Nevertheless, Franchione spun the same tune 'til the very end: "I'm happy where I am." "This is where I want to be." "Don't you worry, Tide fans, I'll sign that contract extension soon enough." He assured Moore he wasn't going anywhere. He lambasted some of the Texas reporters who originally dug up the details back before Thanksgiving.

The good people of Alabama don't have the most flattering stereotype when it comes to their intellect, and Coach Fran must have bought right into it if he thought he could go an entire season putting off the extension only to suddenly find his dream job to be vacant, then expect an entire state of fanatics to believe it was just one big happy coincidence.

In retrospect, it's apparent Franchione was looking for a way out of Tuscaloosa from almost the day he got there. He knew of the NCAA situation coming in, sure, but not nearly the extent. He may well try to spin it that Alabama wasn't up front with him about the severity of the infractions, but c'mon -- there aren't many secrets when it comes to these things. Rumors about the Albert Means situation had been floating around the SEC long before it became public. Nothing has come out that a prospective coach couldn't have found out about from some of his colleagues.

In the nearly two years before his anticipated escape, he did absolutely everything right in terms of both appeasing the locals and keeping his name hot. Franchione is indisputably one of the top coaches in the country, proving it everywhere he's been (which, in his case, has been a new place about every two years). At Alabama, that involved leading a team that had every reason to be deflated to a memorable 10-3 season just two years after it finished 3-8.

He did it with a sensational core of juniors and seniors, any of whom, once the bowl ban was announced in February, could have transferred to another school without sitting out the usual year. But Franchione, with his now-laughable preachings of loyalty and family, convinced every last one to stay aboard.

For the umpteenth time in recent years, we're reminded that the same expectations held of college players by no means apply to their coaches.

No one in his right mind can fault Franchone for leaving. It's a lot of money, it's a return to his former stomping ground and even he wouldn't have avoided the temporary downfall in store for the Crimson Tide in coming years.

Alabama, as always, will survive the adversity and once again compete for championships down the road. Hopefully, whatever coach is charged with weathering the immediate storm actually will practice what he preaches.

Stewart Mandel covers college football for CNNSI.com.

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