If Miles has good seasons, losing to AU won't be all that problematic for his future, unlike what would happen to Shula if he loses to Auburn 2 more times. There is not near the pressure at LSU associated with one game. As for Tubby, with that new contract, I doubt if he gets fired anytime in the near future.
I said "if", which qualified the statement and I also said "the heat will be on", not "he will be fired". Keep telling yourself things are rosy. You are going to miss Croyle (who I admit was probably hurt after the UT game last year) more than you expect and you are going to miss Roach, Harper and Ryans the most. I can't wait to see how Kines does without those three. Is he still rushing two on third and long?
Bill Curry wished he could backpedal. Put this into your FWIW column.... There was a major shift in how contracts were written in the mid-80's. More of the money was coming from shoe contracts, etc. At that point Hootie Ingram (new AD) put a new contract on Curry's desk that put a good 90% of his money from outside revenue sources...such as Russell's deal with Alabama, radio and TV appearances and so on. It was one of the first contracts like this. Although, today, it is the standard for coaches anywhere. Curry didn't like the new contract...that's why he talked to Kentucky. Ingram hired Stallings.... Curry probably kicks himself in the butt daily because he didn't take the contract. It just goes to show how little he understands/understood about the financial aspect of college football.
I call BS on this. Curry was forced out. You guys can color it anyway you want to, but you are also the only ones who will ever believe that Curry walked out because of a shoe contract.
Good point, but too simple, I think. If Miles, Shula, or Tubberville lose to another West Division contender twice in a row but still manage 9- or 10-win seasons, they will be safe. Tubbervilles recent undefeated season and SEC championship will probably get him a pass on two losses to Bama if he keeps winning. Miles's unexpectedly sucessful rookie season amid crises has bought him some serious respect, too. Also LSU will not fire a coach with a winning record very quickly, no matter who he loses to. A quick trigger would make it difficult to attract top coaches in the future. Les is safe for a few years. LSU certainly isn't going to fire a coach for losing to Tuberville twice in a row. LSU ran off a very successful coach in Cholly Mac because he couldn't beat Bryant. It bought us 20 years of mostly second-rate coaches. LSU will not judge a coach by his record versus some other coach anytime soon. Criteria will be much broader and based mostly on the W/L record and on Division/Conference championships. Honestly, Shula is the coach that has been there a while without a championship run and is the most likely to find a hotseat following consecutive losses to Auburn. Still, if he wins 9 or more each year, he is probably very safe.
I think a lot of people don't realize the uphill battle Coach Shula has had to wage. Each year he has bettered his record, 4-9 to 6-6 to 10-2. Anyone not seeing improvement there is flying blind as a bat with broken radar. Many programs guage their success on beating Alabama. Alabama on the other hand has had to guage its recent success on how much improvement we have made through some of the hardest times our program has had to face. Last year was projected by a lot of people to be the worst year of our santions. The team proved those critics wrong. We won a lot of games ugly but still faced LSU undefeated and lost in overtime to a team that on paper was clearly superior. The only game we completely fell apart in was the Auburn game. After the first quarter of the Iron Bowl it was pretty much over with and all of us were in shock. It isn't like Auburn is blowing us out. 23-28, 13-21, 18-28 are not 0-50 scores. I'm not claiming a moral victory here, a loss is still a loss. But, I'm not fearing the thumb and they still use elephants to hunt tigers. :yelwink2: People who think they can mail in a win over Alabama are the ones who need to worry. Need an example? Ask Urban Meyer. Through our sanctions Auburn probably reaped the largest benefit. Alabama had reduced numbers and Auburn had the advantage of more scholarships to offer. Even with reduced numbers Shula lost only 2 games out of 37 by more than 14 points. He has had to play a season with a third string quarterback and running back, a walkon fullback, a piecemeal offensive line and the loss of his top receivers. He never used that as an excuse for his losses. He has stuck to his plan. Mike Shula is safe for at least two more years at Alabama. I don't think Auburn can beat him two more times in a row. :thumb:
Bayou, a few notes on your post. 1. I think many of us outsiders, even most of us, gave Shula more of a mulligan than Bama fans have on the first 2 years. Almost all of the Bama fans I know in Atlanta didn't want him from the beginning and pointed out every mistake he made as proof w/o considering the situation. 2. You say many expected last year to be the worse year due to the sanctions hitting home the worse, I say it was a few who said that, most thought Bama would have a decent ywear at least with that incredibly easy OOC schedule you had. Again, Shula did lead them to 2 wins most people thought were certain losses and the year tunred out very good, but hardly anyone projected Bama to be bad or have a losing season. 3. AU can beat you guys the next 2 years but the task should be harder than the past few and Shula will have a more level playing field in terms of overall talent and depth. If he loses both, I expect him to be gone unless Bama wins the West at least one of those years.
