IS IT TO EARLY TO TALK ABOUT A REPLACEMENT FOR ANTHONY GRANT?

IT SEEMS TO ME...

       Let me say this - I think Anthony Grant will be back at Alabama next season barring an absolute collapse in the SEC season. Not making the NCAA or NIT will not be enough to sack Grant. So is it too early to talk about who might replace Grant if he is fired this season or not? Well, we are Americans and we do enjoy the freedom of speech. Is it disloyal to talk about a current coach? I have mixed feelings about suggesting a head coach be replaced. But at this time I feel it is merited.

       Many of you will recall the numerous radio appearances I did a few years ago talking about it was time for Mark Gottfried to be replaced. I never felt good about doing so, but my loyalty is to the University or Alabama and not to a particular coach. I think all of you remember my hope that Anthony Grant would be named head coach. What I wouldn't do was talk about the character of Coach Gottfried. I concentrated only on his basketball coaching. That still was tough. I got dozens of telephone calls from fairly influential people commending me for doing so. I asked others to make their feelings known as well. I knew there was a bridge crossed that could never repaired. Most radio stations gave me a private number to call. Generally there was a set time for the appearance. One thing I remember was the large numbers  of people who listened to those shows. The phones were on fire.  Alabama love winning. They love effort. They had lost confidence in Coach Gottfried. If the conversation got off point I'd simply say that knew nothing about the private life of the man. It wasn't any of my business then and it isn't  now. 

        Another thing I remember was that there was not a single caller who defended Coach. The closest I recall was one caller who said he thought Gottfried was doing a good job. My reply was something like - so you are satisfied with a program that was only at .500 in the league?  The caller said he didn't know that. I gave him that stats. He then said, "hells bells, that won't  work at Alabama." A lot of the posters today are probably to young to recall all that. Honestly, after attending over a thousand Alabama games I felt like it was something I could fairly address with the public. Public discourse is rarely a bad idea. I lost a friend and felt horrible about the whole thing.  But my love for Alabama basketball just wouldn't allow me to stay quiet. The first controversial thing I said about Mark Gottfried was that our program was about to fall on some hard times. The commitment from our coach was, in my opinion, already slipping. Keep in mind that I made that statement right after we made the Elite Eight. That was a great run. What I also remember what our record was that season. Do you remember what our regular season record was? How about our conference record? Try 17-12 and 8-8. We had all that talent and lost 12 games when losing 4 or 5 wasn't a stretch.

       The truth was that we drew some teams in the NCAA that were seeded incorrectly and we got on a hot shooting streak. So basically you can either believe making the Elite Eight was because of great play and we had a great team or that we had a team that underachieved and got hot at just the right time. There is nothing wrong with catching fire. In fact, you hope to do just that. My basic concern was this - we had enough to sustain one more good season but after that we were going to have problems.  That is exactly what happened. Saying that didn't make me smart. It was just common sense observation. Common sense observation is under rated.

        So employing that same common sense observation what have I learned about Anthony Grant's tenure at Alabama?

1. He is a much better tactical coach than Gottfried. He isn't on the Wimp Sanderson level but few coaches are; and,

2. Grant isn't a great recruiter. If we had better players plus his coaching we'd be force. Every game we  have lost this season was by less than ten. We fatigued at the end because of real depth.

3.  Grant appears to have the personality of cardboard. That might not be true. My dealings with him have been limited. He may be Chris Rock  at home but I doubt it. His players like him. His players are playing hard. A lot of teams would have cashed in their chips already. Coach Saban isn't Mr. Warm and Fuzzy but he wins and you can sense he's a good guy. With Grant his reservation to show any personality and get the fans engaged have severely hurt him. Here's the deal. He has never made me feel he is one of us. More importantly, he doesn't seem to care enough to  try. 

4.  Regardless of his talent level he is still competitive. Alabama almost wins more games than any  team I've ever seen. The offense he coaches is all he can do - honestly. You can't coach what you don't have. What Grant does have is a scrappy bunch that gets after it on defense. None of that matters. Close is only important in horse shoes or nuclear war. Close will never be enough at the Capstone. Regardless, the point is the coaching is fine. The recruiting is horrible.  Last recruiting season we did better. We are going to have to be a lot more than just better.

5.  The talent base in the State of Alabama hasn't been good lately. That's true, but Grant cannot afford to lose any in state players. He has. I have no idea why Grant can't get a couple of big men. Heck, they'd almost be guaranteed a starting job. It's not like Auburn is stealing anyone either. If Auburn was doing better Grant would be in serious trouble already
  

     I've done all I can do to defend Grant. I'm a Grant man so to speak. But sure, I'm concerned about where we are and where we are going. Next season might be better. At least we have quality inside man on the roster. We have to replace Releford. That is just impossible to do experience wise. But there is a kid coming who is the most talented point guard I've ever seen. Will Battle give Coach Grant another year? I believe he will. If next season doesn't produce an NCAA Tournament team I will have seen and had enough. I am stunned at our going backwards in the last couple of years. 

       The vast majority of fans are voting with their feet. That's the quickest way to lose your job. That might end up being the gun that kills Grant

 

P.S.  Last night I went down to UCLA to watch the Bruins host Arizona. We have one player who might start for either team. We have only two other players who might make the rosters of either of those teams.