The anti-Shula bails out as a greasy, dishonorable coward

I rarely find myself agreeing with LeBaturd, but he's spot on in his analysis of Nick Satan.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/columnists/dan_le_batard/16378669.htm

BY DAN LE BATARD
dlebatard@MiamiHerald.com

Angry and embarrassed, Don Shula descended from the high ground where he almost always resides, the king shamed by the slick court jester who had soiled his throne.

''He has run away from the challenge,'' Shula said of Nick Saban.

A liar?

''It's unbelievable,'' Shula said. ``There were four or five direct statements that were blatant lies. That tells you a little bit about the guy.''

Quitter?

''That's obvious,'' Shula said. ``He quit. He left.''

Huizenga was satisfied that Saban made an honorable exit. Dolphins fans should follow his example and not make themselves look whiny.

Personally, I could give a shit that he's gone. In his heart, he probably knew that he had failed in the NFL and got out before his value as a coach diminished. Huizenga is a lot classier than I would have been.

My hunch is that Alabama knew they could lure Saban before they undeservedly fired Mike Shula back in December.

Shula's firing was not undeserved. I don't know if you follow the SEC, but losing to Mississippi State is big. He was asked how he would right the ship, and basically said he would make no significant changes and would not give up play-calling (which he was doing a very poor job of). If that situation continued in 2007, we'd end up worse than 6-7. I like Shula as a person, and I certainly supported him as coach, but he deserved the firing.

I don't get the Dolphins fans trying to have it both ways: "I'm mad that he's leaving" and "He's not a good coach and I'm glad he's gone." He was looking at long odds of making the playoffs next year, and possibly being fired (Alabama isn't the only high-pressure employer) from a job his heart wasn't in anyway. I've seen video of the so-called "lies." It looks like a guy who is being badgered by reporters at a press conference that is supposed to be about the game and the players and preparations trying to tell them something to get them to move on, while letting them know he was just saying it for that reason. Because of the context, I sure as heck didn't take it something he meant seriously, and the false outrage coming from these reporters now is silly.

Saban would not have been fired even if he flopped in 2007. Huizenga is very loyal, believed in Saban, and would have allowed Saban to finish his 5 year contract.

In the NFL it was hardly high odds that Miami could return to the playoffs in 2007. The talent levels are extremely balanced and improvement to 10-6 range not a long shot at all. It all depended on the passing game. Saban had an atrocious 6 yards per attempt from his QBs in both '05 and '06. Get that up to 7 or slightly below and the playoffs are a distinct possibility.

Saban is a decent coach who is extremely overrated as a personnel evaluator. He made remarkable blunders with the Dolphins, and didn't upgrade any of the foundational areas of the team, namely QB or offensive line. He also allowed the defense to age with ridiculous decisions to keep marginal backup linemen like Jeff Zgonina. No way you do that when the core starters are ancient.

I was desperate for Saban to leave and have posted that many times. I don't like the guy, period. In 38 years of following the team he is easily the least likable person who ever held a major position with the Dolphins. I may have screamed at Wannstedt and Spielman for personnel idiocy, and there have been several defensive coordinators who were obviously in over their head, but Miami always had decent people running the show and a fan-friendly approach. That changed 180 when Saban took over. He is an insecure flawed little man who loves to make bold simplistic pronouncements and is outraged when anyone questions any of his decisions. He is absolutely petrified of the media and treats them with overflowing animosity. That is hardly a new bitter revelation. I've posted it on many sites for over a year. I stopped posting on the major Dolphins site Finheaven.com in September because I was likely to be banned if I even threatened to post my full opinion of Saban as a human being. Only in recent days has he revealed his true self to the sporting public but I handicapped him correctly very early in his Dolphin tenure. It's not fair to compare anyone to George Bush but Saban is about as close as I can come in many regards.

Give me a break regarding the recent lies. I watched every press conference and all the coaches shows. Saban basically insulted anyone who brought up the Alabama job, time and again. It's the standard and familiar how-dare-you approach, accompanied by the tortured facial expressions and smug comments. When Wayne Huizenga asked the Miami media for suggestions after announcing Saban would depart, that was a make-good with the local press, an immediate hint that the situation with the media would change regardless of who the next coach is. Saban ruined the bond the Dolphins had with the community through his desperate efforts to muzzle his players, assistants and other members of the organization. It was pathetic paranoia. He belongs in a small market like Tuscaloosa where the media will be minor league and intimidated and gushing over his presence. The softball questions from the Bama reporters on Thursday were hysterical, and just what Saban yearns to return to. Notice he only called on one Miami reporter. One question earlier, only Miami reporters had their hands up and Saban desperately scanned the room for several terrified seconds like a deer in headlights before a friendly Bama hand went up.

I think this column was a catalyst in Mike Shula's firing. It was written by Cecil Hurt, columnist for the Tuscaloosa News, and probably the most informed person on the planet about Alabama football. And he had been a pro-Shula guy until the truth became painfully obvious.

Here's the beginning. But click the link to read the whole thing. It's a damning indictment of Mike Shula as a head football coach.


http://www.tidesports.com/article/20061021/NEWS/61021003/1067/SPORTS0106

There was a wink wink going on with Saban and Bama before Shula was fired...

Truth is--Bama fired a good man for a classless scumbag liar.

And it was more than winking. The story going around is that Saban's agent was talking to Alabama months ago.

I don't doubt for a second that Mike Shula is a nice man.

But he made a lousy head football coach. Have you even watched an Alabama game this year? Shula is very indecisive, and when he finally makes a decision it's almost always the wrong one.

I hear that Shula is in contention to coach QB's for the Jaguars. I hope that he gets the job, and I think he would do well in that position.

Do you think it would have been better if Saban had admitted that he had interest in the Alabama job before the Dolphins' season was over? Would that have contributed to their success?

Let's be truthful. I'm defending Nick Saban because he's a great coach, and he has signed on to lead my favorite team in the world. You're dissing him because he's a great coach and he left your team. That's all this is. And if Saban leaves us for USC when Pete Carroll goes back to the NFL, I might be cussing him like you are now. But I hope not.

Sure, if he had brought a Super Bowl to Miami by now, I'd be singing his praises as well. In the sports world, negative personality flaws only matter when the team is doing poorly.

My biggest beef with Saban was his hostility towards the media. I'm a Journalism major and I think he's incredibly arrogant with the press. If it weren't for the press and the fans who care about the teams, Saban wouldn't be making the $32 million he's scheduled to earn at Alabama. Saban treated the media like they were a bunch of idiots.

Overall, I think Saban is a hypocrite of the highest order. His philosophy is that players need to be mentally tough in order to succeed. I think he even wrote a book about success. But when he realized that he screwed things up in Miami (although not as bad as Spielman and Wanny), he decided to take the easy way out.

I don't doubt that Saban can turn the UA into a power in the SEC. Just understand that Saban is the type of guy that's always going to be looking for a better job and will be deceitful about his motives.

I can't say that I can judge Coach Saban's character, because I really just started paying attention to him. Of course I knew he was a hell of a coach from his stint with LSU, but that was about all I knew about him.

This "coach-speak" thing isn't brand new. Hell, a few years ago we thought we had found a decent coach in Dennis Franchione. There were persistent rumors that he had accepted the job at Texas A&M. Coach Fran denied the rumors vehemently and often. And then he bolted for College Station. Same thing with Tommy Tuberville when he was at Ole Miss. He said that "the only way I'm leaving Oxford is in a pine box." The very next day he signed with Auburn.

Alabama fans are hungry. Maybe we got spoiled. But we are hungry now. It's been seven years since we won the SEC. And it's been 14 years since we won a national championship. And we've lost to Auburn five times in a row. As far as we are concerned, that has to change. Looks like Nick is the guy to do it.

I wish that coaches would respect reporters. (I wish, even more, that politicians would respect reporters, at least the ones that deserve respect.) But there's a long history of antagonism between coaches and journalists. There's a famous anecdote concerning one pretty famous coach that seems relevant. I don't really remember the details, but, paraphrased, it goes like this (short version).

A well-known, longtime sports journalist, who in his later years had fallen upon hard times, had just died. His colleagues were taking up a collection to cover his funeral expenses. Somebody asked Bear Bryant if he could contribute ten dollars to the fund. Bryant reached into his pocket and fetched a $20 bill. He handed it over, and said "See if you can bury two of them."

By the way, I was a journalism major too, but my current work is not related to journalism in any way. I became disenchanted with that business, because I think journalism ain't what it used to be. It's been co-opted and perverted by big business. I hope you are one to help reverse that trend. Good luck in that. :)

and soul into, so it was a double whammy for the shula fan.

personally, i hope saban falls on his face.

<snip>

"In the wake of Don Shula's comments, Jimmy Johnson on Friday became the latest former Dolphins coach to criticize Nick Saban.

"Nick Saban is going to be condescending," Johnson told 790 The Ticket's Sid Rosenberg. "He's going to talk down to people like they don't have any sense. Nick talks to people like we're all idiots and I don't think it's that way.

"He's fine with me. But I don't like the way he treats people that are working for a living. I'm talking about some of the folks that are working for $30,000, $40,000 that are helping him be a star, that are helping him have success.

"Yet he belittles those people. . . . That's what turned me off on him right off the bat when he came to the Dolphins."

Johnson said he "doesn't blame" Saban for going to Alabama but, 'obviously, he lied. He's playing word games with the media. His agent, Jimmy Sexton, was negotiating with Alabama. He knew that. He comes back and says, `I have not talked to Alabama.' No he hasn't, but Jimmy Sexton has done all the talking."

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16396905.htm

LSU and Bama aren't necessarily the friendliest of rivals.