How Many Thought Coach Stallings Was A Bad Choice?

[123Bama]

All coaches don't have to be a proven winner to be successful at UA but it helps. When Coach Stallings was annouced as UA HC, how many was excited about that particular choice?

 

[TENNTIDE1]

I admitted the other day that I was not overjoyed when Coach Stallings was hired, but I learned to love him shortly afterward.

In the same post I admitted that I was very pleased when Fran was hired and even today I have no respect for the man because of the way he left the program and especially the way he treated the players when he left.

Don't ask me to hire a coach because I will admit I don't have a clue.

 

[Jack Bourbon]

@ OP

That's a good point, I agree with it.

/raises hand on the GS thing

embarassingly

It doesn't take a mastermind to win at Alabama. Let's hope that rule still applies.

 

[TideFan in AU]

My dad, a life-long dyed in the wool Alabama fan like myself, was furious when he was hired. His records at A&M and the Cards was less than spectacular. By the end of the 1990 season, my dad's opinion had totally changed. Even though the record was not as good as Curry's in '89, It was obvious to my dad that we was a good coach.

 

[Bama Reb]

And as GS has said on numerous occasions, "If the University of Alabama were to want me to come back and coach there, all they have to do is pick up the phone."

 

[BamaTider4Life]

Maybe fans thought he was a bad choice but....

Mike Shula's Record at Alabama
Year W L Bowl Result
2003 4 9 None
2004 6 6 Music City: L 20-16 vs. Minnesota
2005 10 2 Cotton: W 13-10 vs. Texas Tech
2006 6 6 TBA
Totals 26 23 1-1

2-6 This Year vs SEC
0-4 Against Auburn Career
2-14 Ark, Tenn, Lsu, & Aub Career


"Alabama hasn't hired anyone remotely similar to the right guy since Stallings came in 1990. That's Gene Stallings, who had a losing record at Texas A&M and a losing record with the St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals. He returned to Alabama, won the 1992 national championship and four of the first five SEC West championships and retired with a 70-16-1 record in seven seasons..."
-Ivan Maisel

Need anything else be said? Proof is in the pudding. Bama fans that think firing Shula was a "Classless" , "Premature", or "Stupid Decision" need to take off the crimson colored glasses and jump on the "Get the Right Guy This Time...Mal" bandwagon. Geez.

Our next coach may be a "Group B" Gene Stallings, who the hell knows?

 

[exiledNms]

I was not overjoyed when Coach Stallings was hired

<snip>

Don't ask me to hire a coach because I will admit I don't have a clue.

(a) I wasn't thrilled w/ the GS hire either. I recall thinking, "well, he's never had the resources & talent he'll have here..." As TT said, I got on board pretty quickly.

(b) There are a lot of things I don't know about (insert your own punch line here), and running an athletic dept/hiring a football coach is right up there toward the top of that list.

 

[TENNTIDE1]

If you think about it, we have had some less than stellar coaches that enjoyed success at Alabama that they never had anywhere else.

I don't know if Perkins had any ten win seasons, but Curry, Stallings, Dubose, Fran and Shula have all had ten win seasons. I'm not implying that none of these coaches were never any good, because CGS was an outstanding coach.

I don't recall Perkins, Curry, Fran or Dubose doing much after leaving Alabama.

I could be wrong, but I don't think so.

 

[BamaTider4Life]

If you think about it, we have had some less than stellar coaches that enjoyed success at Alabama that they never had anywhere else.

I don't know if Perkins had any ten win seasons, but Curry, Stallings, Dubose, Fran and Shula have all had ten win seasons. I'm not implying that none of these coaches were never any good, because CGS was an outstanding coach.

I don't recall Perkins, Curry, Fran or Dubose doing much after leaving Alabama.

I could be wrong, but I don't think so.

Almost all of the 10 win seasons the above coaches had were lead by all american defenses. :wink:

 

[CrimsonChuck]

I remember thinking that it wasn't the best choice, but I didn't think that it was a bad one. The big thing that made me realize that he would be a decent coach was when he got fired from the Cardinals midseason. The Cardinals were almost .500 when he was coaching them, and they completely tanked after he left.

 

[TiderMan]

In the same post I admitted that I was very pleased when Fran was hired and even today I have no respect for the man because of the way he left the program and especially the way he treated the players when he left.

I think it is very funny that everyone got upset at the way Fran left. Everyone criticized him for not addressing the team or telling the team that he was leaving. Now Shula was fired and he was not even given the opportunity to address the team before after he was fired. I just find it curious that Fran was raked over the coals for that decision and now the administration is doing the same thing to Shula.

 

[SoldierForTide]

All coaches don't have to be a proven winner to be successful at UA but it helps. When Coach Stallings was annouced as UA HC, how many was excited about that particular choice?

We are in a much different situation. That's all that should be said. BEfore Stalling we didn't suck for 10 years.

 

[bamabake]

My dad, a life-long dyed in the wool Alabama fan like myself, was furious when he was hired. His records at A&M and the Cards was less than spectacular. By the end of the 1990 season, my dad's opinion had totally changed. Even though the record was not as good as Curry's in '89, It was obvious to my dad that we was a good coach.

That is the same way peeps will feel when they hire Spurrier except the feelings will be more visceral in their origins.. If they hire him.

 

[thunderz7]

I thought Stallings was a bad hire then;
still think stallings was a bad hire now.

Loosing record everywhere he had been before Bama,
never knew jack about Offense, still doesn't,
wouldn't even use Homer Smith when Hootie hired Homer.
Hootie hired the D-staff and some of the O-staff before he even hired Stallings.
Hootie ran the Show not Gene.
First probation and scholorship losses came under their watch.
1 NC for the trouble since = not worth it.

 

[TommyMac]

Coach Stallings had Coach Bryant's recommendation. That was plenty good enough for me. Coach Bryant would have never recommended entrusting his beloved program to someone not qualified.

 

[OreBama]

I wasn't happy with Gene Stallings' hiring at the time. I really liked Curry and cried when he was fired. I also should point out that I was 8 when this happened and Curry was the only Bama coach I knew of 'cept that really old guy who wore the weird hat, but that seemed like centuries to me at the time.

 

[Braveheart]

Thunder, you are either too young to really remember what all happened with Coach Stallings or you're having a "senior moment". Coach Stallings was a great coach. He had Coach Bryant's blessing and was THE coach that Coach Bryant recommended to be his successor but for a variety of reasons didn't work out at the time.

Yes, he had a losing record at the time he was hired but holy cow, look where he coached at:

TAMU-at the time admitted only men, which makes it tough to recruit to and it's out in the middle of nowhere AND at the time, they were Univ. of Texas whipping boy.

Arizona Cardinals-maybe the sorriest NFL franchise in the league, grossly mismanaged.

All he did when he came to Alabama was unite a badly fractured family, instilled some discipline, recruited well, played no nonsense, hard nosed football and averaged 10 wins per season and won a NC.

Also, to blame the probation on him is completely INACCURATE and displays a lack of knowledge of the situation.

 

[JPT4Bama]

Coach Stallings had Coach Bryant's recommendation. That was plenty good enough for me. Coach Bryant would have never recommended entrusting his beloved program to someone not qualified.

Very true!

Coach Stallings was not a very popular hire at the time and then proceeded to lose his first three games!

But his team got better each week and most importantly stopped the aub win streak at 4!!!

Sure he had great defenses but if you'll remember he also had great special teams and a hard nose offense that could run on anybody and QB's who didn't make the sort of mistakes that get you beat!

I admit I went to that first game against a recovering (from off season surgery) Brett Favre led Southern MS team, watched us do everything possible to lose and did. I'll never forget seeing a fan with a t-shirt advertising "A comedy of errors" production and thinking how apropos..

I was heartbroken when he resigned as no finer man has ever led the Crimson Tide or loved it more! :BigA:

 

[NashvilleTider]

Add me to the "Wasn't thrilled with Stallings hire" group. His record as a head coach was not pretty.

After hearing that voice that reminded me of Coach Bryant and seeing the teams he put on the field, I had to admit I was wrong.

 

[Mr. Extreme]

I was very skeptical when they hired Stallings and then he lost his first 3 games and I was in shock but after that I think it turned out pretty well.