Mr. Big

Price adjusts to spotlight, takes Crimson Tide to the air

More in this column: • 'Horns like their Chance • New home for Granddaddy? • Worth noting: Seminole RBs

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- From a couch inside a lavishly decorated office the size of some peoples' living rooms, Mike Price marvels at his surroundings like a hotel guest who just got upgraded to the penthouse suite.

"I've got my own bathroom and shower and kitchen," says the new football coach at Alabama. "And it’s all going to be redone -- I’m going to have a brand new office just as big and nicer and better."

Big and nicer describes almost everything about making the jump from the football wasteland that is Pullman, Wash., to the football volcano that is Tuscaloosa, Ala.

But better? That will ultimately depend on one thing: Winning.

The 56-year-old Price surprised just about everyone -- including himself -- when he left the relative anonymity of Washington State, his employer of 14 years, for one of the biggest pressure-cookers in football in a part of the country completely foreign from his native Northwest.

But when you’re a football coach, and one of the most prestigious football schools in the country comes calling, you "feel like a kid at a candy store," Price said.

And so a new era of Alabama football has begun, the sixth in the 20 years post-Bear Bryant.

Price sees reminders of Bryant everywhere, from the busts of his famous hat and murals of his most memorable moments that adorn the football office, to the Paul W. Bryant Hall of Fame down the street -- Paul Bryant Drive, to be exact.

But rest assured, when the Crimson Tide kick off Aug. 30 against South Florida, it will look nothing like the football played by Bear’s teams, nor those of predecessor Dennis Franchione.

It will look like the Washington State teams of Ryan Leaf and Jason Gesser.

Gone are the two-back sets, replaced by four and five receivers. Gone is the conservative play-calling, replaced by shotguns, spreads and all-around unpredictability.

"We go shotgun a lot, we have a lot of quick hot routes," said sophomore quarterback Brodie Croyle, "but also on every route we have a deep ball, and you can take that any point in time you think you have it. There’s always that chance you might score on every play."

For Croyle, the former all-everything prep star and son of former Bryant player John Croyle, Price’s hiring couldn’t have been more fortuitous. The Alabama native was once recruited by Washington State, which had him ranked as the No. 1 quarterback prospect in the country, but Price couldn't convince him to visit Pullman.

Now Price has come to him.

"I never imagined in my wildest dreams that Coach Price would come down here and I would get to play for him," said Croyle, who went 13-of-22 for 260 yards and three touchdowns in Alabama's spring game Saturday. "Nothing against the old staff at all, but the opportunity to throw the ball and make some big plays -- it’s a quarterback’s dream."

Same goes for Alabama's corps of senior receivers -- Dre Fulgham, Triandos Luke, Antonio Carter and Zach Fletcher, most of whom signed with Franchione’s predecessor, Mike DuBose, who ran a more pass-friendly offense, only to spend the heart of their careers as afterthoughts in Franchione’s power attack.

"I watched [Washington State] in the Rose Bowl," Fulgham said. "Seeing they were in a run situation, and they threw it -- that really caught my eye. I was all juiced up."

How well this will all work, however, remains to be seen.

Croyle’s arm strength is legendary and potential unlimited, but following a mistake-filled freshman campaign as Tyler Watts' understudy, he must make the transition to full-time starter while learning an entirely new offense.

Fulgham's position, despite his proclamation as "the best receiving corps in the SEC," is lacking in depth after Franchione’s staff recruited it lightly and will be asked to do more than ever previously presented.

And the offensive line and running backs, though full of proven talent like Wesley Britt, Justin Smiley and tailback Shaud Williams, must master an entirely new set of blocking schemes.

Then there's the whole probation thing.

Alabama is entering its second year of a postseason bowl ban and reduced scholarships due to sanctions committed under DuBose. Price isn’t using it as an excuse, but he also admits the next couple seasons will be tough. A 10-win season like the Tide’s last year might not be so easy to replicate.

"It seems like there’s going to be patience," Price said of Alabama’s notoriously impatient supporters. "We better beat Auburn, I hear that every day. But it’s more like, 'Hey coach, we’re behind you. We’re glad you’re here for the long haul. It may not happen overnight, but if it doesn’t happen overnight, we’re going to be with you.'"

The long-haul thing is particularly important. Tide fans felt hoodwinked when Franchione left for Texas A&M after just two seasons and have welcomed the substantially less ego-driven Price with open arms.

But they’re also paying close attention to his every move -- word that he has yet to sign his seven-year, $10 million contract was front-page news a couple weeks ago, much to the surprise of Price, who’s yet to fully adjust to his vastly elevated profile.

"In Washington, it was like -- 'Oh, that’s just the old coach from the college, buying his mouthwash,'" said Price. "Here, it's like 'Oh my gosh, there’s the coach!'

"I don’t hide out. I go downtown, go to restaurants, go to movies, go to the shopping center and get my haircut. People say I won’t be able to do that [during the season] because I’ll be too much of a rock-star type guy, but I don’t know. I’m not going to shy away from being myself."

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