I think the problem at Bama has been and will continue to be hiring from within the program. Either the people hired or the people making the decision of who to hire are disciples of some sort of The Bear. The pressure that the admin and fans put on the coaches, and the pressure the coaches put on themselves b/c of a long ago history (Bear era) are make it very difficult to succeed. And when they have succeeded it has been blemished. IMO, until Bama has athletic leaders and coaches independent of the "Bear Boys" name tag they will continue to have problems. But I guess you won't see this change for a while. Being that they got burned by outsiders Fran and Price. As for JJ, the man will do anything to get his name in the paper or his mug on TV. He is a disgrace to his race..I think most see that now. Always a personal agenda with him. Never "really" looking out for the Afro-American best interest only lookin for a way to get more dime in JJ's pocket. And, a hypocritical piece of $hit.
I think everyone here is missing the point. The point isn't that Jesse is taking his media-hungry, opportunistic butt down to Tuscaloosa to protest. The point is: The SEC has NEVER had a black coach. Never mind that Croom is actually more qualified and a likely better fit than Shula. It comes down to the fact that Alabama wasn't about to be the first in the conference to "integrate". Hell, there's only one black coordinator in the whole conference. You mean to tell me there aren't qualified black coaches? It is truly a shame. That's the real story here.
Excellent point. I think 'Bama, or any other school with a rich history, needs to get out of the shadow of their past coaches and find guys that will bring their own style--their own attitude. Basically, 'Bama has had the same philosophy since Bear Bryant--and nothing has changed. True, Shula might not have been the best "coaching candadate", but he definately serves as the "most recognizable" one. I think it's a good move (if you're going to go with a former Crimson Tide), for the guy to be well-known. It helps in recruiting. To further comment on "The Rev's" "investigation"...What the HELL is he gonna investigate?! Basically, he's trying to do what he's always accusing OTHERS of doing: "Hire a particular race"..."Hire THIS guy because of his ethnic background." Well, what's the difference? It's the same darn game! Whether it was a black coach that was over-looked or a white coach that was over-looked...SOMEONE isn't going to get the job. Look, IMO, the days of lobbying for a coach because of his race is over. 10-15 years ago, yeah, it was a concern...but today?! No way! There are lots of minority coaches, GM's, AD's, CEO's in sports right now. And I don't care! I don't give a horses' rear end what color the guy may be--as long as he's doing the job. Since Mr. Jackson is so head-set on playing his "race"-trump card, when does it reach a point in where REVERSE discrimination starts to occur??? Will he be satisfied then? Can't believe I'm even worked up about this....But Jackson pisses me off. Go ahead and investigate 'Bama's hiring...and if he PERSONALLY (which he will) feels as if it was not done properly, what is he gonna do?? --Tell 'Bama who they WILL hire? "Yeah, Jessie...Sure...Whatever you say."
As an Alabama fan and alumni, I'd point the last two coaches we had (both outside the "Alabama family"). I don't see Shula's hiring as an attempt to hang on to the past, as he wasn't one of Bear's Boys. He came after that. And the hiring of someone with previous ties to the school... not to rip on my own school, but how many qualified coaches outside of Alabama are still in line to get their shot at coaching at the Capstone. Fran and Price both said, and maybe even thought they knew what they were getting into, and in different ways, neither one had a clue. Every coach given consideration this time around would have already known, and that wouldn't have been a question mark looming over his head as it was before. In a different situation, I'd be willing to consider that the hiring of a former player or someone else with previous ties to the school might be a stale choice to make. Given the circumstances and current state of the program, as well as the history of our past two coaches from outside the program, I'd say it was the better choice to make. More than any other coach that was given consideration, I think Shula wants to be there the most, and I think that's what the program needs right now.
From everything I have read I think that Crooms wanted to be the Bama coach just as bad as Shula did. Shula has more name recognition but Crooms has more impressive coaching credentials. I don't know if the selection process came down to 2 Tide alum because they wanted to "stay within the family" or because they couldn't find any "name" coaches who were interested in the job. Of course I don't know what went on in the minds of the people who made the decision and I don't have access to everything they know about both Shula and Crooms if it had been my decision to make I would have chosen Crooms - NOT because of any affirmative action bullshit or to appease JJ and his Rainbow Coalition but because I believe that Crooms would have helped the program return to its former status better than Shula will in the long run. The name Shula will help for the next year or to the get some recruits who might have gone somewhere else but unless he produces bigtime winners very soon the magic of the Shula name won't help him any more than it helped his brother Dave when he got the head coaching job for the Cincinnati Bengals at the age of 26.
Folks, while Croom is a good coach, he is not known to be as good an X and O guy as Shula is. Where do I get that from? Ozzie Newsome, who happens to be on of the upper management types in the NFL, and a close confidant of Coach Moore. It was that, this decision was based on.
