Houston Nutt fired

And the arguments before that that Alabama was unrealistic to expect/deserve an upgrade on Mike Shula.

 

People really didn't think Alabama could do better than Mike Shula? I'm not sure I buy that one.

 

Ugh. Yeah, what a mess. Gives me a headache just thinking about it.

And the name Mustain gives me a headache, too.

 

No way Alabama could do better than Dennis Franchione.

 

Now then, the Mike Price/Tiffany-what's-her-horseface-name? Boudreaux? That was fun.

 

Alabama was turned down by quite a few mediocre head coaches before they decided to pony up the money for Saban and it was a game changer.

Rich Rodriguez
Mike Riley
Jim Leavitt

I know there were others...

If you pay what Bama is paying for Saban, you can get almost whoever you want, within reason...

 

Leavitt and Riley were offered the job after Price was fired (and thus, before Shula). Scrambling to find a head coach in May and with scholarship limitations hanging over their heads, Shula was probably the best they could do.

But after Shula got schooled on a routine basis by boobs like Sylvester Croom and Tommy Tuberville, there were still a lot of people who thought he should keep his job. "How dare they fire the guy just one year removed from a 10-win season, they can't do any better!" was how the narrative went.

The drumbeat got even louder after Rodriguez turned the job down and Saban uttered his infamous "I'm not going to be the coach at Alabama" sound bite.

 

Based on their tradition, though, expectations at Alabama and at Ole Miss have nothing to do with each other. If anyone had those reduced expectations about Alabama, it was just crazy stupid fan talk. Ole Miss fans, though, seem to think they have this sleeping giant and that all the best recruits will suddenly choose them. Not gonna happen. They can be better than they were under Nutt and they can aspire to an 8-4 finish, but that's about it.

Until Archie Manning has a grandson old enough to play there, anyway.

 

No doubt, but expecting to be 10-2 when you're 6-6 (where Alabama was in 2006) or expecting to be 8-4 when you're 4-8 (where Ole Miss was last year, and they're even worse this year) is really just a matter or degree.

I don't think Ole Miss fans realistically expect to be a national title contender every year, or even SEC West champion. But getting crushed by Kentucky and Vanderbilt isn't going to cut it, not at a school with solid tradition, filthy rich boosters and above-average facilities.

 

And some damn fine coeds, right?

 

I can vouch for that.

 

I was counting the co-eds as part of both the "tradition" and "facilities."