New coach search...

An AD doesn't make humiliating public comments to a longstanding basketball coach unless he wants him gone. Patterson could have been planning his moves for weeks. Even if Texas is a couple of steps behind us -- and I'm not sure it is -- Bevo clearly wants to eliminate the stagger.

Oh I agree he is gone but it isn't official yet so they still have a head coach which limits them somewhat with what they can do. We could have Marshall wrapped up before they are able to make any kind of move. Timing is everything.
 
and in 28 seasons as head coach 3 reg season championships and 1 conference tourney champ.. thanks but no thanks
If we don't get Marshall, I would have no problem in getting Rick Barnes. He was an assistant under Wimp back in the day at Alabama. He has been a head coach for 28 seasons (George Mason - 1 year, Providence - 6 years, Clemson - 4 years, & Texas - 17 years). He has taken teams to 22 NCAA tourneys and only has two losing seasons. He would be my 2nd choice.
 
If we don't get Marshall, I would have no problem in getting Rick Barnes. He was an assistant under Wimp back in the day at Alabama. He has been a head coach for 28 seasons (George Mason - 1 year, Providence - 6 years, Clemson - 4 years, & Texas - 17 years). He has taken teams to 22 NCAA tourneys and only has two losing seasons. He would be my 2nd choice.

I don't know this for a fact but I have read that he made some very negative comments (racial) about UA to some recruits many years ago which is why he has never been seriously considering for any opening that we've had.
 
You are Marshall. You know School A is forcing out their coach who has made the tourney almost every year since his hiring. He is not the AD's guy so you force him out. You will have donors there thinking they own you and your program. School B gave their last coach 6 years to succeed. Which choice do you make?
 
I don't know this for a fact but I have read that he made some very negative comments (racial) about UA to some recruits many years ago which is why he has never been seriously considering for any opening that we've had.

I believe this to be true. It was when he was head coach at Providence and Hobbs was head coach at Alabama. I heard this from someone close to Hobbs. When we played them in the first round of the NCAA tournament, they were very happy that Bama knocked Providence out of the tournament because of this. Also, Barnes was only an assistant at UA for one year. I don't think that Wimp was sad when he left.
 
Oh I agree he is gone but it isn't official yet so they still have a head coach which limits them somewhat with what they can do. We could have Marshall wrapped up before they are able to make any kind of move. Timing is everything.


They could already have been talking.
 
Might be grasping for straws here, but look at the flight tracker for N175TP (registered to Crimson Excel, LLC). It flew to Wichita from Tuscaloosa last Friday and returned to Tuscaloosa on Tuesday. Marshall and WSU would have gotten to the game site on Wednesday.

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Someone mentioned on Twitter "If you Google that company name, it has 2 hits when Saban was hired too."
 
All this stuff going on with other schools is one reason why I hated the win against Kansas so much. It does complicate matters, however, it still seems to me that Alabama is the best fit for Marshall and vice versa. Texas has higher expectations, they're not going to give a coach 6 years to figure it out, and Tennessee doesn't have the resources available that Alabama does.

Unfortunately though, there's enough going on that Marshall can drag his feet all he wants. It does push Alabama into more of a Marshall or bust position, Ben Howland is out of the mix, a couple of coaches have signed extensions, Tennessee can nip at Alabama's heels in the coaching search, and then you have Texas. One can only hope Texas becomes fixated on another coach, like Shaka Smart, but either way if Alabama doesn't get Marshall things could get messy.

Gulp!!!! Now that is swallowing hard...
That does sound... well crazy, but Alabama could pay that entire contract off with profit from the athletic department in one year. But... I really, really don't see Alabama paying a basketball coach 5 million per year. That's Pitino/Calipari money, it makes it almost impossible to not overpay going forward. I could see them approaching Izzo or Donovan money (3.9). For the record, Texas was paying 2.6 and Alabama was paying 1.8 I think? Gottfried is making 2, so I think we all agree Alabama should pay more than 2, heh...
 
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I lived in Knoxville 1994-2002 and from listening to talk shows, I can tell you there are a lot of huge men's basketball fans there. And this was during the Peyton and national championship years, so it's not like they were hurting elsewhere.

They had two coaches while I was there. They had just come off firing Allan Houston's dad and hired Kevin O'Neil. He was a total jerk, ran off everyone he recruited (ran off an entire class by the end of first semester of their sophomore year), never had a winning season and their only postseason was one and done in the NIT. His offense made Anthony Grant's look like Loyola Marymount's glory years. But for some reason everyone was mad when he left in the dead of night for Northwestern.

Then they had Jerry Green. They never seemed to like him for some reason. He won 20 games every year but always lost in the first round of the NCAA. He also was rumored to have a drinking problem and his teams were undisciplined.

From hearing talk show callers, they longed for the days of Ray Mears and nobody seemed to like Don DeVoe.
The fans seemed to think they were only a shade behind Kentucky in basketball stature. (It always amused me how excited they got over beating them in football). They built a huge arena they have zero chance of filling on a regular basis. I was back up there for a visit last summer and everyone was mad the barn got Bruce Pearl instead of them.

I'm sure they'll all want Marshall, mainly to keep us from getting him. But the next coach will be the Vols third coach in the five seasons since Pearl left. Also, their athletic department is a dumpster fire right now, getting a quality coach might be hard.
 
Might be grasping for straws here, but look at the flight tracker for N175TP (registered to Crimson Excel, LLC). It flew to Wichita from Tuscaloosa last Friday and returned to Tuscaloosa on Tuesday. Marshall and WSU would have gotten to the game site on Wednesday.

It's due back in Tuscaloosa this evening at 7:40. Maybe it's needed there so it can be ready to fly to Wichita, KS in the morning. :-)
 
I told you folks we'd reset the bar for basketball coaches pay the way we did in football. Still, a little surprised at that number. Go big or go home, I guess.

At this point, if that is what it takes, I think it is an investment more than anything. I makes me feel like basketball is important.
 
I told you folks we'd reset the bar for basketball coaches pay the way we did in football. Still, a little surprised at that number. Go big or go home, I guess.

At this point, if that is what it takes, I think it is an investment more than anything. I makes me feel like basketball is important.
If Alabama pays their next coach 3.5 million+, they both can afford it and are saying without a doubt that basketball matters. The act in and of itself should yield better results, by increasing exposure, and essentially letting it be known nationwide that Alabama is a player in the basketball world.
 
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