PhinsFan4life
Rest in Peace Pat Tillman.
I don't know if this has been mentioned already.
If not, here is one person's view (not mine) of how Saban became coach
FW: From TideSports.com
> Subject: FW: From TideSports.com
>
> >
> * "The week after the Alabama vs UT game, Saban's agent contacted
Alabama
> officials to inform them that Nick would be interested in talking to them
> about the head coaching position if it were to come open. At that
time, Mike
> Shula had full confidence from his superiors and there was no reason
to
> believe that there would be a coaching vacancy, however there were
beginning
> to be some rumblings within power circles that Shula was over his
head and
> it was becoming obvious. Anyone who watched Alabama
underachieve could not
> deny it.
> "Then came the loss to MSU and that is when the powers that be
started
> reviewing their options. The week after that game, Mal met with Shula
and
> told him that there had be signs of improvement the following two
weeks. He
> didn't dictate that Shula had better win but back to my point earlier, it
> was obvious the team was digressing instead of progressing. Bama
played
> better but lost to a good LSU team and for the most part it looked like
the
> problems had been addressed.
> "Then came the Auburn game. Shula horribly mismanaged that game
and Dr. Witt
> and Mal were both so furious that they stormed out of their skybox
before
> the game ended.
> "Let me go back a little. Mike Price brought in an OL coach named
Bob
> Connelly who taught the zone blocking scheme that is ideal for a
spread
> offense. Shula retained him when he came and it became painfully
obvious to
> everyone (except Shula) that the zone blocking scheme was not
working for
> the pro set that Shula wanted to run. It was clear in 2004 that a new
OL
> coach was needed and Shula never addressed it. Also, although
Shula had an
> "OC" in Dave Rader he chose to call the plays himself and quite
frankly was
> not very good at it.
> "Back to the Auburn loss; Mal held a meeting with Shula the Monday
after the
> Auburn game and told him that he needed to address the problems
with the
> O-line and with playcalling and (or as my source told me, gave him an
open
> book test with the answers). There were also serious issues in
regards to
> discipline and S&C that needed addressing.
> "Shula did not demand S&C participation and left it up to his
assistants to
> oversee player participation, however he did not back up his coaches
when
> the players were not attending as they should. They met again the
next day
> and Shula's plan was to move the OL coach to centers and guards
and to move
> the ST coach (who has never ever coached the O line) to tackles. He
also
> told Mal that he would not give up playcalling duties. Mal told him that
was
> not acceptable and to present another plan to him the following day.
> "Well, Shula came back the next day and gave him the exact same
plan. What
> was really happening is that Shula was getting bad advice from Ray
Perkins
> (who was Shula's coach at Bama and was positioning himself to be
AD when Mal
> retired.) Perkins was telling Shula to stand his ground because they
> wouldn't dare fire him.
> "In the meantime, Mal and Dr. Witt were making contengency plans.
On the
> Sunday after Thanksgiving, Shula scheduled a players meeting for
that night
> and attended that meeting and informed the players that there would
be no
> changes and that all the coaches would be back next year. He was
fired
> shortly after that meeting.
> "What many don't realize is that Shula knew what he was doing and
was trying
> to force Mal's hand because Mal had been trying to call him all day
long and
> Shula wouldn't answer his phone. In the days preceeding the firing,
Saban's
> camp had reiterated that they were interested in the job but would not
talk
> further until there was an official opening. Once that opening came,
talks
> progressed fast and Saban told Bama that if they would wait until the
end of
> the NFL season that he would be theirs.
> "At that time, Jimmy Sexton started leaking Spurriers name about
the job and
> that was done in order to try and keep the attention off of Saban for as
> long as possible. There was really never any serious flirtation with
> Spurrier and contrary to reports he was never offered the job.
> "There is a group in the Alabama AD that I call the "rats". these guys
> consist of a bunch of good ole boys who have jobs because they
know the
> right people and would rather protect their jobs than do what is best for
> Alabama.
> "These "rats" were putting pressure via there powerful (BOT) friends
on Mal
> to look at other options because they "thought" Saban and Sexton
were just
> using Alabama to get an extension. The reason I put "thought" in
parentheses
> is because these guys actually knew that Saban would come if Bama
waited
> (and Mal and Dr. Witt were willing to wait) and they also knew that
they
> would be out of a job if Saban came.
> "Mal went to New York for the NCAA awards ceremonies and while
there he met
> with three people (and you can call me crazy if you want but my
record
> speaks for itself) Greg Schiano, Bob Stoops, and Rich Rodriquez. RR
was very
> interested in the job and he was immediately positioned as the #2
guy if
> something should fall apart with Saban.
> "Unfortunately, the "rats" convinced their BOT buddies that we could
not
> take the chance to wait on Saban and we needed to get RR while we
could. We
> offered him and he agreed. Now this is where it is pure speculation on
my
> part but I really believe that Mal helped "sabatoge" the RR deal
because he
> allowed him to go back to West Virginia to think it over, and thus
allowing
> WV to counter offer.
> "Thank god RR turned it down because #1 it allowed Mal to get back
in
> control and it allowed the "rats" to be outed. After RR decline, Bama
got
> together a powerful group to "support" Mal and keep the "rats" at bay.
That
> group consisted of Joe Namath, Gene Stallings, Lee Roy Jordan, and
Billy
> Neighbors (One of those guys is who I was getting my info from).
> "Saban's camp once again said that things could happen if we would
just
> wait. So we did. During the meantime, the contract was essentially
drawn up
> between Sexton and Bama officials with the only thing holding the
> announcement being Dec 31. During this time Nick was already
putting out
> feelers to guys he was interested in bringing in as assistants.
> "On Jan 1, Mal and Billy flew down and Joe met them there. They
met with
> Nick and his family and all plans were for a formal announcement on
Tuesday,
> however, Nick thinks very highly of Wayne Huizenga and Wayne
asked that Nick
> wait one more day to make the decision, which was never a decision
at that
> point. Yesterday afternoon Nick signed some documents that were
akin to
> promissory notes and then last night around 8:30 Nick signed the
contract.
> Nick is in Tuscaloosa now and has already toured the facilities this
> afternoon. Press conference will be tomorrow at 10 am."
If not, here is one person's view (not mine) of how Saban became coach
FW: From TideSports.com
> Subject: FW: From TideSports.com
>
> >
> * "The week after the Alabama vs UT game, Saban's agent contacted
Alabama
> officials to inform them that Nick would be interested in talking to them
> about the head coaching position if it were to come open. At that
time, Mike
> Shula had full confidence from his superiors and there was no reason
to
> believe that there would be a coaching vacancy, however there were
beginning
> to be some rumblings within power circles that Shula was over his
head and
> it was becoming obvious. Anyone who watched Alabama
underachieve could not
> deny it.
> "Then came the loss to MSU and that is when the powers that be
started
> reviewing their options. The week after that game, Mal met with Shula
and
> told him that there had be signs of improvement the following two
weeks. He
> didn't dictate that Shula had better win but back to my point earlier, it
> was obvious the team was digressing instead of progressing. Bama
played
> better but lost to a good LSU team and for the most part it looked like
the
> problems had been addressed.
> "Then came the Auburn game. Shula horribly mismanaged that game
and Dr. Witt
> and Mal were both so furious that they stormed out of their skybox
before
> the game ended.
> "Let me go back a little. Mike Price brought in an OL coach named
Bob
> Connelly who taught the zone blocking scheme that is ideal for a
spread
> offense. Shula retained him when he came and it became painfully
obvious to
> everyone (except Shula) that the zone blocking scheme was not
working for
> the pro set that Shula wanted to run. It was clear in 2004 that a new
OL
> coach was needed and Shula never addressed it. Also, although
Shula had an
> "OC" in Dave Rader he chose to call the plays himself and quite
frankly was
> not very good at it.
> "Back to the Auburn loss; Mal held a meeting with Shula the Monday
after the
> Auburn game and told him that he needed to address the problems
with the
> O-line and with playcalling and (or as my source told me, gave him an
open
> book test with the answers). There were also serious issues in
regards to
> discipline and S&C that needed addressing.
> "Shula did not demand S&C participation and left it up to his
assistants to
> oversee player participation, however he did not back up his coaches
when
> the players were not attending as they should. They met again the
next day
> and Shula's plan was to move the OL coach to centers and guards
and to move
> the ST coach (who has never ever coached the O line) to tackles. He
also
> told Mal that he would not give up playcalling duties. Mal told him that
was
> not acceptable and to present another plan to him the following day.
> "Well, Shula came back the next day and gave him the exact same
plan. What
> was really happening is that Shula was getting bad advice from Ray
Perkins
> (who was Shula's coach at Bama and was positioning himself to be
AD when Mal
> retired.) Perkins was telling Shula to stand his ground because they
> wouldn't dare fire him.
> "In the meantime, Mal and Dr. Witt were making contengency plans.
On the
> Sunday after Thanksgiving, Shula scheduled a players meeting for
that night
> and attended that meeting and informed the players that there would
be no
> changes and that all the coaches would be back next year. He was
fired
> shortly after that meeting.
> "What many don't realize is that Shula knew what he was doing and
was trying
> to force Mal's hand because Mal had been trying to call him all day
long and
> Shula wouldn't answer his phone. In the days preceeding the firing,
Saban's
> camp had reiterated that they were interested in the job but would not
talk
> further until there was an official opening. Once that opening came,
talks
> progressed fast and Saban told Bama that if they would wait until the
end of
> the NFL season that he would be theirs.
> "At that time, Jimmy Sexton started leaking Spurriers name about
the job and
> that was done in order to try and keep the attention off of Saban for as
> long as possible. There was really never any serious flirtation with
> Spurrier and contrary to reports he was never offered the job.
> "There is a group in the Alabama AD that I call the "rats". these guys
> consist of a bunch of good ole boys who have jobs because they
know the
> right people and would rather protect their jobs than do what is best for
> Alabama.
> "These "rats" were putting pressure via there powerful (BOT) friends
on Mal
> to look at other options because they "thought" Saban and Sexton
were just
> using Alabama to get an extension. The reason I put "thought" in
parentheses
> is because these guys actually knew that Saban would come if Bama
waited
> (and Mal and Dr. Witt were willing to wait) and they also knew that
they
> would be out of a job if Saban came.
> "Mal went to New York for the NCAA awards ceremonies and while
there he met
> with three people (and you can call me crazy if you want but my
record
> speaks for itself) Greg Schiano, Bob Stoops, and Rich Rodriquez. RR
was very
> interested in the job and he was immediately positioned as the #2
guy if
> something should fall apart with Saban.
> "Unfortunately, the "rats" convinced their BOT buddies that we could
not
> take the chance to wait on Saban and we needed to get RR while we
could. We
> offered him and he agreed. Now this is where it is pure speculation on
my
> part but I really believe that Mal helped "sabatoge" the RR deal
because he
> allowed him to go back to West Virginia to think it over, and thus
allowing
> WV to counter offer.
> "Thank god RR turned it down because #1 it allowed Mal to get back
in
> control and it allowed the "rats" to be outed. After RR decline, Bama
got
> together a powerful group to "support" Mal and keep the "rats" at bay.
That
> group consisted of Joe Namath, Gene Stallings, Lee Roy Jordan, and
Billy
> Neighbors (One of those guys is who I was getting my info from).
> "Saban's camp once again said that things could happen if we would
just
> wait. So we did. During the meantime, the contract was essentially
drawn up
> between Sexton and Bama officials with the only thing holding the
> announcement being Dec 31. During this time Nick was already
putting out
> feelers to guys he was interested in bringing in as assistants.
> "On Jan 1, Mal and Billy flew down and Joe met them there. They
met with
> Nick and his family and all plans were for a formal announcement on
Tuesday,
> however, Nick thinks very highly of Wayne Huizenga and Wayne
asked that Nick
> wait one more day to make the decision, which was never a decision
at that
> point. Yesterday afternoon Nick signed some documents that were
akin to
> promissory notes and then last night around 8:30 Nick signed the
contract.
> Nick is in Tuscaloosa now and has already toured the facilities this
> afternoon. Press conference will be tomorrow at 10 am."
