Advertisement

Register for free to remove this ad

Stay classy, Bama fans.

Originally Posted by lordopus99 Are you talking about Dabo Swinney? The first of his two seasons took the team to #24 in the country. CJ Spiller was nominated for a heisman under him. This year his recruiting is #8 (based on rivals). I wouldn't say he has been a disappointment at all, especially considering the re-emergence of Florida State and the enhancements to NC State and Maryland.

Which was pretty much what Tommy Bowden did. Great recruiting classes. But finish ranked in the bottom of the top 25 or unranked--underachieved for the talent he brought in. Dabo hasn't regressed, but when you fire a coach and hire an assistant you're likely to get at best more of the same, which was my point. Not that Dabo's a bad coach, but just that you seldom will fire a coach and have an assistant take big steps forward.

Originally Posted by lordopus99 I agree. It was just typical Alabama football. Again though playing in the SEC playing tough competition in-league every week prepares teams to destroy other conferences' good teams. Again, Mich St is a good team just not great. They are without those talented players for that game. The game will be alot closer than you might expect.

Mmm. I think you're giving too much credit to Alabama. MSU was lackluster. Given your status as a staunch defender of SEC football, I won't put much more effort into arguing this particular topic.

I'm referring to their second string players. Sure, they're second string...but they're Ohio State second string. You're right, it might be closer than I expect, but I still don't expect Miami to pull an upset at all.

Originally Posted by A Happy Panda Mmm. I think you're giving too much credit to Alabama. MSU was lackluster. Given your status as a staunch defender of SEC football, I won't put much more effort into arguing this particular topic.

Too much credit First String was pulled middle of third. Third string players were scoring for Alabama (see Ed Lacy). This was done to a team that beat a good Wisconsin team and also took away Denard Robinson's heisman by exposing him. Mich St also finished with only one loss in a Big Six conference.

Alabama's losses were to the National Champions, #8 LSU (who dominated their bowl opponent), and #22 South Carolina... again, how am I giving them too much credit?

Originally Posted by dmaul1114 Not that Dabo's a bad coach, but just that you seldom will fire a coach and have an assistant take big steps forward.

Fair assessment but this statement I don't necessarily agree with. Fisher was under Saban and Miles and has done great stuff with FSU so far. Mullen was under Meyer and he has turned Missisissippi St completely around. Every coach starts somewhere as an assistant.

Originally Posted by lordopus99 Fair assessment but this statement I don't necessarily agree with. Fisher was under Saban and Miles and has done great stuff with FSU so far. Mullen was under Meyer and he has turned Missisissippi St completely around. Every coach starts somewhere as an assistant.

Yeah, but those were under great coaches. Not coaches that got fired.

Of course you can hire an assistant and every coach starts as an assistant. I was just saying it's silly to fire a coach and then hire one of his assistants. If you want to make a change, make a change.

Fire a coach and hire a hot assistant from somewhere else that runs a different system etc. Hire an assistant from the staff of the coach you fired, and well you shouldn't be surprised when you get the same results as they were usually mentored by the guy you just fired.

If it's a successful coach who retires or takes another job, by all means try to hire one of his coordinators as you want to keep it going. But if the head coach wasn't getting it done for you, why do you want to fire him and hire one of his lackeys? If you fire him, ditch the whole staff and start from scratch with someone new--be it an established head coach, or a rising coordinator from somewhere else etc.

Originally Posted by lordopus99 Too much credit First String was pulled middle of third. Third string players were scoring for Alabama (see Ed Lacy). This was done to a team that beat a good Wisconsin team and also took away Denard Robinson's heisman by exposing him. Mich St also finished with only one loss in a Big Six conference. Alabama's losses were to the National Champions, #8 LSU (who dominated their bowl opponent), and #22 South Carolina... again, how am I giving them too much credit?

I think you said it yourself right there. 3rd string players were beating the shit out of MSU. MSU = lackluster. I'm not saying Alabama isn't a good football team, because you present the evidence right there and I agree with it, but to lose 49-7 and in such an embarrassing fashion? That is lackluster.

Originally Posted by dmaul1114 Yeah, but those were under great coaches. Not coaches that got fired.

Tommy Bowden resigned. He wasn't fired. Yes, you can claim he felt pressure to but if you noticed he hasn't gone to any other team since. He bowed out like Terry, his brother, once did. If the team really wanted to get rid of him, they would flat out fired him like Michigan did with Rodriguez or Notre Dame did with Weis.

Originally Posted by dmaul1114 True. But Florida has passed them as top dog in the state, and FSU is ahead of them as well. South Florida moving to a BCS league in 2004 has helped them get more instate talent as well. And I'd be surprised if UCF didn't also move to the Big East in the next few years. Maybe as soon as 2012 if Villanova says no to moving up to D1 in football. So Miami's path back to the top isn't as easy as it was when Butch Davis turned them around from their down period in the late 90s.

Very true but, as a whole the state of Florida has too much talent to go around for Miami to be down forever.

Originally Posted by A Happy Panda Did Bama play their best game? To me, it looked like they played typical Alabama football against a very pedestrian MSU team. Cousins was knocked out sure, but losing 49-7 proves you had no business to complain about not getting a BCS bowl. Mmm, I don't think anyone ever said Miami would be down forever. But just looking at the past few years, it doesn't seem like they're exactly done with their rebuilding years. Maybe I'll retract my powderpuff statement about Miami...but OSU seems too deep in talent to lose. Miami might give them a couple jabs, especially since its at Miami, but I'd still take OSU (even though I really ing despise the Big 10)

So, you don't think typical Alabama football is them playing their best?

Yes, very true they have not looked very impressive in the last few years. It all depends on how well the second string can step up in that game.

Originally Posted by lordopus99 Tommy Bowden resigned. He wasn't fired. Yes, you can claim he felt pressure to but if you noticed he hasn't gone to any other team since. He bowed out like Terry, his brother, once did. If the team really wanted to get rid of him, they would flat out fired him like Michigan did with Rodriguez or Notre Dame did with Weis.

Come on, you know better than that.

Coaches are always given the option to resign rather than get fired. Bowden took it, guys like Rodriguez did not (so they could get their full buyouts etc.).

Tommy was forced out, period. If he'd refused to resign, he would have been fired. Terry was also forced out. He resigned as all the boosters were calling for his head.

Terry got into broadcasting and didn't make much effort to get back into coaching until lobbying hard for the WVU job in 2007, and ending up at North Alabama. Plus no one wanted him as he got blamed for the recruiting scandals that were the fault of the boosters etc.

Tommy probably hasn't gotten any major offers yes as his teams always underachieved. Great recruiting, mediocre results in a weak ACC. Not winning the league even during FSU and Miami's down years sealed his fate. Hell, he's a WVU guy originally (played there etc.) and people got laughed off the boards for suggesting him as a possible replacement for Bill Stewart.

Originally Posted by dmaul1114 Coaches are always given the option to resign rather than get fired. Bowden took it, guys like Rodriguez did not (so they could get their full buyouts etc.).

True but Tommy still got his payment.

Back to the original comment, elder Bobby Bowden was in the same position. He was far from a bad coach... in fact he is one of the greastest in college football history.

Tommy probably hasn't gotten any major offers yes as his teams always underachieved. Great recruiting, mediocre results in a weak ACC. Not winning the league even during FSU and Miami's down years sealed his fate. Hell, he's a WVU guy originally (played there etc.) and people got laughed off the boards for suggesting him as a possible replacement for Bill Stewart.

Tommy took over for a coach with a losing record prior to his arrival i.e. started from nothing. He got them in a bowl every year and even took them to the ACC Championship in 2009 (the year before he retired). Yes, FSU and Miami were down most of his tenure (2002-end) but the conference still had the powerhouse of Virginia Tech. Winning the league was near impossible for them as their recruiting wasn't as strong as Virginia Tech... heck even FSU and Miami both had better classes than Clemson. Living here in the Carolinas, South Carolina gets all the best players from the state if they don't leave the state (i.e. Lattimore last year, Clowney this year). Having a Spiller, Ford, or Bowers is great but the rest of the squad were not nearly as good. Just look at how many players from Clemson have made the pros in the past so many years (realistically 2-3 more than I mentioned). So how did the team underachieved? Because the boosters said so ... I think the boosters calling his head for benching "star" qb Cullen Harper (never made it to the pros) after getting blown out by National Champion Alabama in week 1 and losing to Wake in week 2. To me it is crap especially when he took the previous years team to #24 in the Nation. Just saying...

Tommy's retirement to me was just as crap as Phil Fulmer's firing at Tennessee. Now look at them... Clemson's still in the same position they were in, which will probably get worse now that FSU, NC St, and Maryland have all been now rolling along with Virginia Tech and Tennessee, is well a huge joke that will most likely get nailed for bad recruiting practices from Lane Kiffin. Karma's a bitch.

Originally Posted by lordopus99 Tommy's retirement to me was just as crap as Phil Fulmer's firing at Tennessee. Now look at them... Clemson's still in the same position they were in, which will probably get worse now that FSU, NC St, and Maryland have all been now rolling along with Virginia Tech

I agree. And again, my point was it's even worse when you fire/force out a coach and hire one of his assistants. What's the point? Unless it was a recent addition to the staff, they were mentored by the guy you just fired/forced out because you thought they weren't getting the job done.

But his teams did underachieve. His team's final rankings were never equal to his recruiting class rankings. That's underachieving. But I know you love the Bowden's as a FSU fan, so I won't bother arguing the point.

Originally Posted by evildeadjedi Very true but, as a whole the state of Florida has too much talent to go around for Miami to be down forever. So, you don't think typical Alabama football is them playing their best? Yes, very true they have not looked very impressive in the last few years. It all depends on how well the second string can step up in that game.

By that logic, typical "insert school name here" football is them playing their best.

I'm not saying Alabama didn't look impressive, they did. I just think MSU looked way worse than Alabama was impressive.

Originally Posted by A Happy Panda I'm not saying Alabama didn't look impressive, they did. I just think MSU looked way worse than Alabama was impressive.

I can agree with that.

Oregon Recruiting Scandel. Oh Noes!
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/footbal...r-oregon030311

Deion Sanders is finally getting into the Hall of Fame. Hells yeah

Jim Tressel resigned as Ohio State coach today.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=6606999

even better the SI article

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...&sct=hp_t11_a3

I know it will never, ever, ever happen again in college football, but even if 10% of the shit alleged in the article is true, OSU is deserving of the death penalty. The violations described in this article are as egregious as SMU committed back in the day.

I think if they really do an investigation, most big name school are going to be just as bad, if not worst.

USC is officially stripped of their BCS 2004 title. The title is vacated and no one will be replacing them.

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angele...ory?id=6632190