Self doubt could lead to bad head coach

One of the worst things for your blood pressure is to read Internet message boards. And I'm not talking about the Auburn or Tennessee boards where opposing fans are critical of Alabama. The most depressing message boards have Alabama fans who either can find 100 reasons to be critical of a coaching candidate or can find 100 reasons to hire Joe Kines or you might even find the more panic-induced pleas to hire "someone...Anyone" now to salvage recruiting.

With no real news on the Alabama coaching search, some Alabama fans have taken their frustrations out on message boards. One of the most irritating things to do is to read message board posts bashing coaching candidates. These posts run from the expected Johnson's offense at Navy won't work in the SEC to the more idiotic, Saban sucks and we don't want him.

There are legitimate positives and negatives to every coaching candidate. And that's a fact Which some fans fail to realize. Does Saban have some drawbacks? Sure, but his positives--winning at MSU and LSU, 2 SEC crowns and 1 national championship in five years at LSU are big pluses. The most common criticism of Saban involves his short stays at every school.

Here is a trivia question: How long was Bryant at Maryland, Kentucky and Texas A&M?

Answer, Bryant was at Maryland one season, at Kentucky eight seasons and at Texas A&M four years.

My point? Good coaches job hop moving up the chain.

And sometimes they make lateral or puzzling moves, but saying Saban doesn't stay a place long enough is a very bad reason not to hire him.

The same could be said of someone like Navy's Johnson. He's won everywhere he's been and he knows how to make his schemes fit his talent. Coaching at the service academies is a difficult thing to do. Those schools aren't talent rich like the SEC or other programs, but he still has won.

Are their drawbacks to hiring someone like Johnson? Absolutely, his lack of name recognition would probably hurt recruiting the first year. But the discipline he would bring and experience he possesses would be a big improvement over the Shula and Dubose years.

The recruiting fears are a consistent posting of a small, but vocal minority of Alabama fans. Some want to hold out for a marquee name (probably the wisest course of action) and a subset of this group who wants "someone, anyone" right now to staunch the bleeding. The worst thing Alabama could do would be hire a lower-tier coach just to keep this year's recruiting class intact.

A solid hire will keep the class together. And judging on a conversation I had, most of the Alabama prospects haven't wavered in their commitments. There are some big name recruits at risk, but a good hire prevents their defection or could bring them back into the fold. A bad hire not only sets back this year's class, but could harm several seasons.

The growing sound of fans asking for Joe Kines as head coach isn't a testament to a faith in Kines, but rather exasperation with the hiring process. First, the firing of Shula lingered a week, so we ended up with Shula-fatigue and after about three weeks of coaching gossip fans are now weary of the coaching search. This fatigue combined with some fans sensitivity to national media criticism makes a Joe Kines for head coach movement possible. While I have nothing against Kines, in fact I believe he would make a good head coach and should have been hired instead of Shula following the Price fiasco, right now Kines is not the man for the job.

If you fans want a PR nightmare, name Kines.

But the PR aspects of this coaching search shouldn't be our main concern. The blowhards on ESPN will have their laugh, but with patience and the right hire we can end up laughing for years to come.

What the news is: It is now clear Alabama is waiting on Nick Saban. Whether Saban ends up the coach or not, nobody knows. But there is a clear effort on the part of the University to pursue the NFL option. Moore could have about a dozen second or third-tier college coaches, but he hasn't rushed to fill the slot; therefore, he is waiting on his first choice to finish the season. There is sufficient evidence from the NFL and other sources indicating Saban could consider bolting. The potential sale of the Dolphins is a rumor which shows the NFL team could lack stability. Futhermore, Saban wants to feel needed. His personality needs to feel important and the fans at the University would shower him with the desired reverence. Predicting anything in this circus is not wise. But we can say with certainty Alabama is looking at the NFL and looking at Saban.

For some of the interesting stories:
CECIL HURT: No early Christmas gift for UA

UAB hires Callaway
What a horrible move for UAB. They shouldn't have gone after Fisher or anyone but Rush Propst. Propst would have brought excitement to UAB and gotten fans in the Birmingham area interested in what was happening. It is probably better for Propst he didn't go into such a horrible situation. If UAB's search committee wouldn't even consider interviewing Propst you know the UAB administration has real problems.