Will the Good Ol Boy's creep back in the football program post Saban?

[JD Dupree]

Everyone realizes that Coach Saban was the benevolent director over the football program, dare I say the athletic department/University, BUT not anymore. Thus will there be a power vacuum now that Coach Saban isn't there to keep meddling hands away, who is the gate keeper now? Does Byrne have the clout now to be that person? Or has enough time passed so those types of problems are not present any longer? With the news of Eli Gold being canned, it may have been the right decision, but the optics are bad and gives me pause that other are trying to flex their power and make changes.

 

[rolltide7854]

Everyone realizes that Coach Saban was the benevolent director over the football program, dare I say the athletic department/University, BUT not anymore. Thus will there be a power vacuum now that Coach Saban isn't there to keep meddling hands away, who is the gate keeper now? Does Byrne have the clout now to be that person? Or has enough time passed so those types of problems are not present any longer? With the news of Eli Gold being canned, it may have been the right decision, but the optics are bad and gives me pause that other are trying to flex their power and make changes.

I have to admit I thought of this on the day when the news hit that CNS was retiring. The boosters back then might have been as bad as the Texas boosters we have heard about.

 

[Toddrn]

Only if they are allowed to. CKD should close that door the very first time someone tries to walk through it.

 

[bamaslammer]

The Good old boys you speak of who once wrecked the program have long since retired or joined the ranks of those who have moved on from this earth. There are still movers and shakers involved with Alabama football but they aren't as stupid as the ones who came before them.

 

[Tideflyer]

The Good old boys you speak of who once wrecked the program have long since retired or joined the ranks of those who have moved on from this earth. There are still movers and shakers involved with Alabama football but they aren't as stupid as the ones who came before them.

I would be surprised if it moved back to the bad old days. I`m pretty sure CKD has been thoroughly briefed on that subject by CNS. Would strongly suspect that CKD and CNS have had a least one chat concerning many things, perhaps over an adult beverage, while enjoying the vistas at the lake. At least I hope so.

 

[davefrat]

Everyone realizes that Coach Saban was the benevolent director over the football program, dare I say the athletic department/University, BUT not anymore. Thus will there be a power vacuum now that Coach Saban isn't there to keep meddling hands away, who is the gate keeper now? Does Byrne have the clout now to be that person? Or has enough time passed so those types of problems are not present any longer? With the news of Eli Gold being canned, it may have been the right decision, but the optics are bad and gives me pause that other are trying to flex their power and make changes.

If that were the case we wouldn’t have hired a head coach with zero connections to Saban, the university or the state.

 

[Tidelines]

Sometimes I think we worry about things just to have something to worry about.

 

[BamaMoon]

CNS knew he needed total control. He's still there and will make sure CKD has that too!

 

[TideEngineer08]

I have to admit I thought of this on the day when the news hit that CNS was retiring. The boosters back then might have been as bad as the Texas boosters we have heard about.

There were issues but I do not believe this was the case. They were not nearly as bad nor as powerful as what we see at Texas or even Texas A&M.

What hurt the football program more than anything back in those days were the disastrous hires and tenures of president Andrew Sorenson and AD Bob Bockrath. Hiring Robert Witt as president stabilized things, and Mal Moore was able to hit a homerun with Coach Saban. Even the fRAN/Price/Shula debacle has its roots in the Bockrath/Sorenson era.

I'm not saying we did not have booster issues. I'm not glossing over what happened during the DuBose era that had us "staring down the barrel of a gun." I am saying that was pennies compared to what has gone on in Texas for many decades.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

I have to admit I thought of this on the day when the news hit that CNS was retiring. The boosters back then might have been as bad as the Texas boosters we have heard about.

FWIW, I'm told by a source close to the Texas program that a big part of the reason for Sark's success is that over time (since the departure of Dodds and the death of McCombs and bankruptcy of Hicks Sports Group), the pull those guys have has been significantly diminished AND Sark is following the Saban example to keep them at arm's length or more like another zip code's length. He can get away with it as long as they win.

 

[CrimSonami]

With the current landscape of CFB and needing NIL contributions to attract and keep a roster who really knows? It's a free agency free-for-all right now and Byrne will have to delicately balance it all if overbearing supporters/contributors get involved. Until effective guardrails are implemented nationally the haves will always rise above the have-nots.

 

[GrayTide]

Good question, but time will tell.

 

[davefrat]

Speaking of good old boys, whatever happened to the poster who a few weeks ago claimed to be a billionaire in a discussion about NIL?

 

[22Musso22]

Speaking of good old boys, whatever happened to the poster who a few weeks ago claimed to be a billionaire in a discussion about NIL?

He sent me a selfie:

 

[dtgreg]

There were issues but I do not believe this was the case. They were not nearly as bad nor as powerful as what we see at Texas or even Texas A&M.

What hurt the football program more than anything back in those days were the disastrous hires and tenures of president Andrew Sorenson and AD Bob Bockrath. Hiring Robert Witt as president stabilized things, and Mal Moore was able to hit a homerun with Coach Saban. Even the fRAN/Price/Shula debacle has its roots in the Bockrath/Sorenson era.

I'm not saying we did not have booster issues. I'm not glossing over what happened during the DuBose era that had us "staring down the barrel of a gun." I am saying that was pennies compared to what has gone on in Texas for many decades.

Witt was great but Mal Moore was our savior. Along with Paul Bryant, Jr., who was sickened watching his father's life's work being destroyed.

 

[The Ols]

Everyone realizes that Coach Saban was the benevolent director over the football program, dare I say the athletic department/University, BUT not anymore. Thus will there be a power vacuum now that Coach Saban isn't there to keep meddling hands away, who is the gate keeper now? Does Byrne have the clout now to be that person? Or has enough time passed so those types of problems are not present any longer? With the news of Eli Gold being canned, it may have been the right decision, but the optics are bad and gives me pause that other are trying to flex their power and make changes.

CNS hasn’t entirely left the building…there are reasons.

 

[LCN]

Everyone realizes that Coach Saban was the benevolent director over the football program, dare I say the athletic department/University, BUT not anymore. Thus will there be a power vacuum now that Coach Saban isn't there to keep meddling hands away, who is the gate keeper now? Does Byrne have the clout now to be that person? Or has enough time passed so those types of problems are not present any longer? With the news of Eli Gold being canned, it may have been the right decision, but the optics are bad and gives me pause that other are trying to flex their power and make changes.

Correct , most are now deceased and the rest were put in their place 17 years ago . I know I'm not concerned with a return to those times .

On Eli .... He was never viewed as being any sort of permanent fixture when he was hired , but two things happened .
1 - "Days of Thunder" came out in 1991 and the popularity of Nascar exploded into the mainstream .
2 - Then Alabama won the National Championship in 1992 .

At that point we were stuck with him , even though he was still learning on the job - literally . He was also still working for Alabama on Saturday and Tennessee on Sunday while the Vols were trying their best to destroy the Alabama football program . Eli was far less loyal to Alabama than Alabama could've ever been to him .

 

[TideEngineer08]

Witt was great but Mal Moore was our savior. Along with Paul Bryant, Jr., who was sickened watching his father's life's work being destroyed.

Witt had the good sense to realize the football program could grow the University as a whole.

 

[64 Grad]

I have followed the Alabama football program for many years. I do not think the power broker boosters have been a problem over all. I do think they have been a sleep at the switch a few times. I think this happened because they did not want to excessively stick their noses into the program, which I think has been for the good overall. The two glaring times that the University went astray was in the late fifties just prior to hiring Coach Bryant and when Bill Curry was hired instead of Bobby Bowden. It would have been better if the powers to be has reacted sooner in both those cases. The two probations really hurt with the first on being a vendetta by the leadership of the NCAA at the time. The last one I am not sure about but the guy in Memphis that put the money up traveled with the radio broadcast crew during the Bryant era. Overall I am happy with the way Alabama has managed the football program. I hope the future is similar.

 

[BearFoot]

Sometimes I think we worry about things just to have something to worry about.

“We” don’t at all…..but “Some” sure do a lot of it