Shula Staff

[Hoop Fan]

what he did at Alabama, good or bad, is of little relevance to us. Couldn't be bigger differences in terms of support, attractiveness to recruits, expectations and pressure to win. IF you want to pro and con Shula, got to focus on the intangibles and how he fits here. Alabama gave him great experience in coaching and life, but his record there gives us little to go on. Can he build us into a bowl team, conference champ, and solid program from scratch or not? Does he have the personality, energy, contacts, football smarts etc? Those are the questions.

Yeah, just because he couldn't succeed at Alabama with unlimited resources and unparallelled fan support doesn't mean he can't be great at SMU.

how old was he? Has he grown as a coach? Glad you were perfect at a young age. And glad you are not the AD with simpleton logic and judgment like that.

[Stallion]

Mike Shula ia another example of a decent candidate who took a horrible job that handicapped his ability to succeed. Its asking too much for most on this board to get much past Wins and Losses. An SMU AD is going to have to dig deeper than your average SMU fan in analyzing the "perfect SMU coaching candidate" because he doesn't exist.

[Stallion]

oh wasn't there that little problem that he wasn't hired until AFTER spring practice. The Alabama job was a mess at the time. 3 Coaches in half a year. 4 Coaches in what 3 years. That is going to have a disasterous affect on recruiting which ALWAYS has a disasterous affect on winning 3, 4 and 5 years later. See SMU. You can not compete in the SEC when you changing Coaches amid protracted scandal and NCAA probation. When are some of you going to figure this out. Another coach who SMU would be lucky as hell to get-especially in the situation we currently find ourselves

[Pony81]

I have thought Mike Shula would be the coach from day one. Not only because SMU has a reasonable chance to get him but because:

1. His record at Alabama is not indicative of his ability. See Stallion's comments.
2. Isn't he the Matt Dopherty of college football. An up and comer who went up too fast and didn't have the maturity and experience to handle the pressure cookers of name brand programs.
3. He has learned from his Alabama experience and will run a more wide open offense that he has learned in the pros.
4. He can attract quality assistants because being a Shula assistants know he has contact that they can to network down the road.

I think Shula is the guy. He would be great for SMU. He can coach up the talent we have. He can definately win in CUSA. I think we are close to getting him but I'm sure he wants a low buy out clause and SMU wants a high one. That must be the sticking point. Shula is a rental but he can get us back on the map and make us attractive again to recruits.

[BRStang]

I think we are close to getting him but I'm sure he wants a low buy out clause and SMU wants a high one. That must be the sticking point.

What? Where are you getting this? I can't believe some of the wild-@ss speculation that gets spouted as fact. Do we even know if this guy has been contacted. My gosh, man.

[Stallion]

Here is a decent chronology of events from Wikipedia, Special attention should be paid to the point that "the first full recruiting class without NCAA restrictions since 2001 was 2005." Therefore if you count to 2, 3, 4 and 5 after each of the recruiting classes after 2001 you will see that Shula was working under a very difficult disadvantage. Not to mention the protracted NCAA investigation(seems like it lasted 2 full years-I know it was from before Fran was hired), throw in negative media attention, The Mike Price fiasco, Shula's hiring after spring practice, multiple Coaching changes which always affect recruiting and you got problems in the SEC. Gary Gibbs had an even tougher probation to dig out of at OU. For once look past wins and loss to analyze what a mess the program was in during Shula's tenure.

Following the death of Bear Bryant, Alabama has had its high points and its low points. Since the retirement of Bryant, the team has had eight different head coaches: Ray Perkins, Bill Curry, Gene Stallings, Mike Dubose, Dennis Franchione, Mike Price, Mike Shula, and most recently (hired as of January 3, 2007) Nick Saban. The Tide won its last national championship in 1992 against the University of Miami Hurricanes during the Stallings tenure.

Following Gene Stallings's retirement in 1996, defensive coordinator Mike Dubose was named head coach. He proved to be an excellent recruiter of defensive linemen, though as a head coach he wasn't as effective. He benefited tremendously from the leadership of Shaun Alexander and Chris Samuels, winning the SEC championship in 1999. Expectations quickly rose for the Tide, which started the season as high as No. 3 in some polls. The Tide quickly lowered, ending up 3-8 in a season best exemplified by a last-second loss to Central Florida. Dubose was fired and replaced by an up-and-coming coach from TCU, Dennis Franchione.

The media-savvy Franchione gained popularity quickly with his coaching style and media-friendly press conferences. He led Alabama to two winning seasons in 2001 and 2002, going 7-5 and 10-3, respectively. After NCAA sanctions hit in 2001, Franchione was rumored to be interested in other jobs, including the Kansas opening. One year later, under much media scrutiny, Franchione left for Texas A&M. After the well-documented Mike Price fiasco [4], Miami Dolphins quarterbacks coach Mike Shula was hired after a rushed search. It was his first head coaching job at any level. Shula went through many first-year pains, ending up 4-9 after suffering heartbreaking narrow defeats to Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Slight improvement during his second season sent the Alabama Crimson Tide to a 6-6 record and the Music City Bowl, its first bowl in three years. The season started off with great promise as the Tide rolled to a 3-0 start, but ultimately season ending injuries to the entire starting backfield doomed the Tide's chances of any great successes. The 2005 recruiting class was Alabama's first "full" recruiting class since 2001 due to the harsh penalties imposed on the program for NCAA violations under Coach Dubose.

The NCAA penalties were caused by illegal recruiting tactics by an Alabama booster, Logan Young (an alumnus of Vanderbilt University), who was sentenced to three years in prison for paying high school coach Lynn Lang $150,000 to get his Prep All-American defensive lineman Albert Means to go to Alabama. After the investigation was over, in addition to the loss of scholarships, Alabama was banned from bowl games for two years and was put on five years probation. Young later died in his Memphis home. Investigators initially concluded Young was murdered due to the bloody scene, but they ultimately concluded that Young's death resulted from a fall he sustained while walking up the stairs in his home, and foul play was ruled out.

In 2005, Alabama rolled to a 10-2 record including a 13-10 win over pass-happy Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl, however, they failed to beat Auburn University for the fourth straight time. The Tide had trouble scoring at times because of a season-ending injury to Tyrone Prothro, Brodie Croyle's best target and because of poor play on the offensive line. They opened the season with a dominating 9-0 record, including beating the rival Tennessee Volunteers, and the Florida Gators by a score of 31-3. A third-ranked LSU team ended their streak with a home defeat in overtime, and the Tide lost to Auburn in the Iron Bowl the next week after the defense surrendered 21 first quarter points.

2006 was a "rebuilding year" that saw the likes of Croyle and DeMeco Ryans replaced with such players as the young John Parker Wilson. It ended in a disappointing 6-7 record overall and 2-6 in the SEC, including losses of eight points or less to conference opponents Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi State, and Auburn. On November 27, 2006, Shula was fired and defensive coordinator Joe Kines was announced as Alabama's interim head coach. Mike Shula finished his career at Alabama as the only Alabama coach ever to lose to Auburn four times in a row.

[George S. Patton]

If Shula turns out to be the guy -- again, we have no idea if he is even on Orsini's radar -- he would definitely get the sororities to come to the games. And that's a very good thing.

[westexSMU]

Mike Shula comes highly recommended by Gene Stallings. Stallings has said that he thinks Shula did not get a real chance at Alabama. Shula was 10-2 his first year and 6-6 the 2nd year. Then he was fired. Remember Alabama went 6-6 with Nick Saban this year following Shula....The recruiting record at Rivals shows Shula did a good job recruiting at Alabama also in 2004 and 2005.....I can't see why he would not be considered if SMU is not going to look at the coaches most wanted by the fans.

[BoazHoes]

An SMU AD is going to have to dig deeper than your average SMU fan in analyzing the "perfect SMU coaching candidate" because he doesn't exist.

He does exist... his name is Paul Johnson.

[Bergermeister]

An SMU AD is going to have to dig deeper than your average SMU fan in analyzing the "perfect SMU coaching candidate" because he doesn't exist.

He does exist... his name is Paul Johnson.

Sorry, not a candidate.

[me@smu]

[quote="Big Hoss"]Ooof, you would bring up the Rashaun Woods 7 TD performance. You know the game is not going in your favor when the opponent's wideout pushes down your DB for one of his 7 TDs, and the refs throw a flag for pass interference......on YOUR DB! That had to be one of the most painful games to watch, even worse than Tomlinson's last game at the Hilltop back in Nov 2000.[/quote]

Man Tomlinson's last game here was something special to watch. Took me about a quarter to get over the fact that it was against us...and then man just sat there spellbound watching a really amazing player simply have his way. One of hte best performances I have seen live.

[Alaric]

Sometimes I'm actually glad Stallion's around. Good analysis.

[SMUMan02]

what he did at Alabama, good or bad, is of little relevance to us. Couldn't be bigger differences in terms of support, attractiveness to recruits, expectations and pressure to win. IF you want to pro and con Shula, got to focus on the intangibles and how he fits here. Alabama gave him great experience in coaching and life, but his record there gives us little to go on. Can he build us into a bowl team, conference champ, and solid program from scratch or not? Does he have the personality, energy, contacts, football smarts etc? Those are the questions.

Yeah, just because he couldn't succeed at Alabama with unlimited resources and unparallelled fan support doesn't mean he can't be great at SMU.

how old was he? Has he grown as a coach? Glad you were perfect at a young age. And glad you are not the AD with simpleton logic and judgment like that.

How much could he have grown, its been 1 year.

[SMUMan02]

Mike Shula comes highly recommended by Gene Stallings. Stallings has said that he thinks Shula did not get a real chance at Alabama. Shula was 10-2 his first year and 6-6 the 2nd year. Then he was fired. Remember Alabama went 6-6 with Nick Saban this year following Shula....The recruiting record at Rivals shows Shula did a good job recruiting at Alabama also in 2004 and 2005.....I can't see why he would not be considered if SMU is not going to look at the coaches most wanted by the fans.

You are an idiot. Shula was at Alabama for 4 years: 4-9, 6-6; 10-2; 6-6. A basic Wikipedia search and an ounce of CFB knowledge would have prevented you from making this post.

[SMU Football Blog]

What is this "Enter-Net" people keep talkin' about?