Is Alabama a Poisoned Well?

Alabama seems upset. They've just finished a 6-6 season, lost their fifth straight game to their biggest rival, and appear headed to Shreveport for the Indy Bowl. One Bama fan told me yesterday that he had never seen the fan base more low after a loss. Cecil Hurt says they can do better. Paul Finebaum and Tider Insider have been discussing the next coach for weeks. Even other fan bases have questioned the direction of the Tide.

While it is never good to call for a coach to be fired, something has to change at Alabama. The natives are severely restless. But the key question is who exactly does Bama think they will get? Most Alabama fans think their program is the best in the country and that every coach should be banging down the door to coach there. But, they haven't been able to land a big name coach since, who, Perkins? Curry? Now all their fans think Spurrier and Bill Oliver are coming to restore Tide Tradition.

Alabama is a good job. There is a lot of money and resources in that program. But it is not anything more than a good SEC job. It's not Miami. It's not USC. It's not Texas. Alabama will not dominate like it did under the Bear ever again. College football is too competitive. Probation and ineptitude have brought the Tide back to the rest of the SEC pack. Auburn and LSU aren't going anywhere for a while. Bama will need a great coach to overcome those two programs and get to Atlanta. Do they have him now? Almost certainly not. But who is coming next?

Bebes and the Bear.

The most probable outcome here is that a few minor coaches get run after the bowl game, but Shula is still in danger. I think Bama fans will have to wait one more year to figure out how much they will pay Spurrier.