Guest Tigrinum Major Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Pickens County Picayune - From The Sidelines Nothing earthshattering, but I do enjoy reading. I would wager that this column raises the ire of many of the Bama faithful. They might even fire off an email in response. Let's just hope they have spellchecker. The $10 million manMarch 1 , 2006 -- The University of Alabama announced last week that it was rewarding head football coach Mike Shula with a substantial raise and a contract extension a year after he led the Tide to a 10-2 record. Reported specifics of the contract varied. ESPN reported that Shula inked a six-year deal worth $1.8 million per year while Birmingham sources indicated that the deal was closer to $1.4 million for the first season with yearly increases of up to seven percent. Shula made $900,000 last season. With the announcement of Shula’s new contract, Alabama guaranteed that Shula would become the first Alabama head football coach in history to lose three consecutive games to Auburn and be around to take a shot at four. The new deal elevates Shula to the upper half of the SEC scale inhabited by coaches like Tommy Tuberville of Auburn ($18.2 million over seven years), Tennessee's Phillip Fulmer ($2.05 million per year), Urban Meyer of Florida ($2 million), Mark Richt of Georgia ($1.8 million) and Houston Nutt of Arkansas ($1.5 million). "We don't set the market, but we're going to follow the market," said a Birmingham trustee in reaction to Shula’s salary hike. What exactly is the market? With the exception of Meyer, who signed an inflated initial contract, each of the coaches on the list above has won at least a division title. Fulmer, Richt and Tuberville have each won SEC championships. No offense to Shula, but he hasn’t shown he deserves a spot in that club just yet. Alabama fans as a whole seem to be okay with the new contract, many openly celebrating it, which to someone raised in the 70s is mystifying. Bill Curry came to Alabama, improved year by year and was still hooted out of town primarily because he was unable to beat Auburn. Like Shula, Curry finished his third season with ten wins but a loss to the Tigers. Curry’s team shared the SEC crown with Auburn. From this perspective, it’s not difficult to understand Alabama’s desire to show solidarity by providing Shula with stability and rewarding him for a productive season. It is difficult, however, to comprehend the justification for nearly doubling his salary. Before Richt, Fulmer, Nutt or Tuberville topped the $1M mark, each had added a division title to their resume. Shula has not achieved that yet. His best finish in the West came this season when the Tide was third in a six-team field. His 20-17 record over the past three seasons is middling. Of the 20 wins on his ledger, eight of them came at the expense of Southern Miss, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Of the 20 wins, only seven of them came against teams with a winning record and three of those wins were against Southern Miss. When he arrived on the Capstone, Shula inherited a team fresh off a ten-win season and by most accounts flush with talent. Alabama promptly floundered to a 4-9 record that most were willing to write off to a lack of time to prepare. His second team finished 6-6, but again Shula got a pass because of the rash of injuries that plagued the team. Last season, Shula’s Tide finished 10-2, but lost to division rivals Auburn and LSU. Of the nine wins in 2005, six came against teams with a losing record. Perpetual punching bag Southern Miss added another. The team needed a last second field goal to beat a horrible Ole Miss squad and relied on defensive scores to get past one of the weakest Mississippi State teams in decades. The only win of any resonance came against a mercurial Florida team. In hindsight, was that win an anomaly? In many ways, the 2004 Alabama team was superior to the 2005 squad despite the disparity in records. The 2005 team just had more luck. Bama fans who back Shula’s new deal point to the progressive trend in the win column to support their cause. On the other hand, there’s another trend that should give them pause. Since Shula arrived Alabama’s offensive production has dropped sharply each season. In 2003, the Tide averaged 331 yards per game. In 2004 that number dropped to 295. Last season, Alabama averaged just 263 yards per game. That’s a precipitous drop when the head coach is also the offensive leader. Bama fans have been quick to point to probation as the reason Shula is given more latitude -- and now more money -- than any coach in Alabama history. And judging from comments made by UA Athletic Director Mal Moore in response to questions about Shula’s contract, the probation justification appears to have legs for a few more years. “I fully recognize we have possibly some tough times ahead of us,†Moore said. “We've got a couple of years of hard recruiting to get our (scholarship) levels back." A couple of years? Shula deserves a raise. He deserves the stability that a contract extension provides. But Alabama shouldn’t worry about keeping up with the Joneses (or the Tubervilles) until Shula’s proved that he can hang with the big boys of the SEC. So far, the jury’s still out. Bama fans have been uncharacteristically patient with Shula. Now that he’s being paid like one of the league’s top coaches, how long will the fanbase wait for him to deliver like one of the league’s top coaches? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolltoomer 0 Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Shula has more than just uat fans pulling for him to stay and be coach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KunzelTiger 0 Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Upon reading of Shula's contract extension on the ESPN bottom line, my roommate and I quickly gave each other a nice High Five... Thanks Alabama for keeping this guy around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUesquire 1 Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Valid points there, though. Not a slam on Shula, just the facts that make you scratch your head and wonder how someone's salary could be doubled given the way they struggled to the 10 wins. The drop off in production is what would worry me the most. That being said, today's market for big time college football seems to bear out giving substantial raises and contracts for short term success. Just look at what we did for Bowden after one stupid play call by the Bama coaches. I have no reservations in saying he would have been gone had Bama not thrown a triple fakey, woopdeedo reverse screen pass with the game in the bag. Having said that, I have no qualms with giving him a good bump, but I'd let him prove one more year that the program is on it's way up before doubling the salary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeagleDMS 0 Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Strickland makes some pretty good points. I think I agree with everything there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aucanucktiger 1,794 Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 As an Auburn fan, I hope Shula's around for a LOOOOOONG time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarDlowe 39 Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 I purchased a Fear The Thumb t-shirt today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freebody 0 Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 Shhhh! Don't wisen them! I for one think he deserves every penny uat pays him. I just wonder if some of his raise is being funded by Tigers Unlimited? War Damn Flipper! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKW 86 7,431 Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 Dear Kevin, Make sure your insurance is paid up. There are rumors of airborne bricks in Pickens County. Get a locking gas cap for you car. Hide the wife and kids. Turn off the phone and stay away from the door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuNuma1 1 Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 Of the 20 wins, only seven of them came against teams with a winning record and three of those wins were against Southern Miss. And they've even got a painting of the most recent win over the mighty golden eagles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BamaGrad03 0 Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 Of the 20 wins, only seven of them came against teams with a winning record and three of those wins were against Southern Miss. And they've even got a painting of the most recent win over the mighty golden eagles. 223030[/snapback] Jokes the guy who thought Tubberville should have been fired before he beat Bama in 02. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarTiger 3,910 Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 Of the 20 wins, only seven of them came against teams with a winning record and three of those wins were against Southern Miss. And they've even got a painting of the most recent win over the mighty golden eagles. 223030[/snapback] Jokes the guy who thought Tubberville should have been fired before he beat Bama in 02. 223031[/snapback] Tuberville Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BamaGrad03 0 Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 Sorry...i always spell his name right...But lately ive been referencing him has Tubby for short. And it carried over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarTiger 3,910 Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 Sorry...i always spell his name right...But lately ive been referencing him has Tubby for short. And it carried over. 223035[/snapback] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger in Spain 0 Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 I for one think he deserves every penny uat pays him. I just wonder if some of his raise is being funded by Tigers Unlimited? War Damn Flipper! 223007[/snapback] Amen! I'd pitch in a generous donation to TUL if I knew it went to keep Shula on the sidelines over in West Vance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarTiger 3,910 Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 I took the liberty of posting this on another board, and this is one of the responses in the thread from a UATer...... "Honestly, the article was right on the money. Much to my surprise, Mike Shula was the right man for Alabama and I hope he retires there in 40 years." So do we, dude, so do we..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarTim 3,456 Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 Sorry...i always spell his name right...But lately ive been referencing him has Tubby for short. And it carried over. 223035[/snapback] Strange. I have never spelled flipper with only one "p". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthLink02 8 Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 Shula's coaching view will be decided in 2006, imo. I am not sure he is worth 1.8 million but we will find out in 2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freebody 0 Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 Dear Kevin, Make sure your insurance is paid up. There are rumors of airborne bricks in Pickens County. Get a locking gas cap for you car. Hide the wife and kids. Turn off the phone and stay away from the door. 223024[/snapback] If he didn't have any burning A's in his yard at night after the series of articles parodying the whole uat soap opera a couple of years back, then I would think he is safe...... (Or, maybe he is just holed-up under protective custody in the old Pickens County courthouse, the one with the "ghost" face on the window?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quietfan 233 Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 I recommend to Shula that he use that big raise buying out the brick market within a 200 mi radius of Tuscaloosa... First he raised their hopes and got their blood boiling with a 10-win season and a Sports Illustrated cover, then he leads them into one of the most embarrasing Iron Bowl loses of all time, then he recovers with a bowl victory and a strong recruiting push. Now he's basically promised them, to the tune of $1.8 million a year, that he can deliver on their expectations even after losing the heart of his defense and his experienced QB to graduation. The Crimson faithful are getting antsy and Shula keeps cranking their expectations up a notch. Trouble is, no matter how successful Shula is, he's chasing expectations based on a mythical coach whose legend grows every year--no living coach can ever overtake the growth of the myth. Flipper might want to look up Bill Curry's number. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarTim 3,456 Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 I recommend to Shula that he use that big raise buying out the brick market within a 200 mi radius of Tuscaloosa...First he raised their hopes and got their blood boiling with a 10-win season and a Sports Illustrated cover, then he leads them into one of the most embarrasing Iron Bowl loses of all time, then he recovers with a bowl victory and a strong recruiting push. Now he's basically promised them, to the tune of $1.8 million a year, that he can deliver on their expectations even after losing the heart of his defense and his experienced QB to graduation. The Crimson faithful are getting antsy and Shula keeps cranking their expectations up a notch. Trouble is, no matter how successful Shula is, he's chasing expectations based on a mythical coach whose legend grows every year--no living coach can ever overtake the growth of the myth. Flipper might want to look up Bill Curry's number. 223332[/snapback] 1-800-get-brick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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