The most important part of the season is being played right now...
There are two things I'm not clear on regarding Gregg Marshall and Alabama. The "report" is the 'Bama will pay Marshall 3.0 million dollars to come and be the new head coach. I'm not sure that's enough money to get Marshall to leave his current job. If you look at Marshall's career he has been very loyal to his current employer. In fact, he actually took a job once, and then the next day said he wanted to stay where was coaching. Loyalty is one of intangibles that are difficult to factor in a decision. It really makes it difficult to speculate. I'd bet Marshall's incentives and sure to come new raise, will not be all that far from 3.0 million dollars. I'm not also sure that 'Bama would actually pay that amount or more. For the sake of discussion, let's say that they will? The difference might end up being far less than people think it would be. And then that pesky loyalty factor raises its highly virtuous presence.
Bill Battle has made a big deal in saying he wants Alabama basketball to return to former greatness. This hire is a big deal. This is as important to basketball as Nick Saban was to football. I'm not sure that some people understand that coming to Alabama isn't something you'd leave your dog and pick-up truck to do. The truth is that Alabama is a better than average job, but not a great job. We were lucky that Bryant made a commitment. Coach Newton got things going. Wimp elevated it. Both coaches were a part of what Bryant started. Mark Gottfried was part of that lineage. The two times that Alabama stepped outside the family progression it ended in failure.
Neither of those two coaches were failures. Each had winning records. Neither live up to Wimp or C.M. The success that Sanderson and Newton had were proof that making the commitment works. Hootie Ingram made a bad decision and the Tide has not be the same since that decision. Bama has had some success here and there. An Elite Eight and a one week number one ranking were highlights. There were some NCAA games, and more NIT games. You can't call those failures. I think they were accomplishments that just did not live up to expectations.
I hope in few days Alabama will be lucky enough to hire Gregg Marshall. We need a great coach, but don't misunderstand that Bama needs Marshall more than Marshall needs Alabama. All if these statements about how lucky Marshall would be get a job at Alabama just aren't true. Bama doesn't hold the whip hand in this one. When your ace in the hole is money it means you're falling short in other areas. This situation didn't start quickly and it will not end quickly either. I think that for us fans a good place to start is to understand exactly what the problems are and work hard to eliminate them. Can we get back to where we once were? Sure, we can. We have the history and money which means a lot. Do we have the inclination to sustain an effort? That's the real question that is going to answered. If we get into a bidding war with another school for Marshall we better man up and win. Otherwise, it could be interpreted as another hollow effort. We gave Saban what he needed and he is now underpaid. His success gives the Capstone the chance to pay for a similar hire. Let's not squander the change out of vanity or pride.
Whatever Marshall wants he should know we'll give it to him. He won't ask for some pie in the sky number unless he just wants Alabama to go away. If he thinks we need a better facility we should promise him one. If he wants to pay top money to top assistants we should do it. If he needs additional funds for recruiting we have to do it. We aren't doing Gregg Marshall a favor by asking him to come to Alabama. He would be coming to a place that thinks football is more important than life. It's a place where basketball hasn't really been given enough support. Alabama is not a dream job for Marshall. We are offering him a potential nightmare. He's not going to a better program. He'd be leaving one that is at the top of its game. I've got my fingers crossed that he will take the challenge and accept the risk to come to Alabama. If not Marshall, then we need someone who is as close to Marshall as we can get. I hope that Battle has the same persuasiveness that Mal Moore had with Saban. Remember that Coach Saban wanted out of the NFL, and Moore signed a check to make that happen. Battle needs to be flexible enough to understand the exact state of our program, and offer accordingly. This is bigger than C.M. Newton in many ways. Battle can't afford to lose this recruiting battle. That assumes that Marshall wants to get an offer. I'm not sure he does. It will be tough decision.
The problem with not getting Marshall is the perception that anyone else is a second fiddle. That may not be true, but if Battle allows something to happen to keep Marshall from coming it will be bad. I hope so. If not, the sun will come up and things might be be just fine. I don't think that's what our fans believe now.
UPDATE: Just spoke to one of closest friends who works at WSU in Wichita. He says that WSU is very fearful of losing Marshall. He said that WSU is ready to match Alabama's offer from a money standpoint.
He thinks Marshall is ready to pull the trigger, IF, and this is a big if. Can Alabama convince him that they will put the same effort in basketball as they do football. Seriously. I know it is easy to say we will. He wants a private jet for recruit transportation (I don't know if that means a new Jet, or just access to school jet or booster jets). He wants a new facility to be announced and built within five seasons. He wants reconfigured seating to get students involved and closer to the floor (this is going to be a tough thing for Battle to do because you have lifelong fans who have worked hard to support program and get moved closer to the floor) This will not be a problem when a new buildding is constructed however. Apparently, Marshall wants an announced time frame for construction. This is going to come down to one thing. Can Alabama convince Marshall they will really treat the program like football. That will never happen from a fan perspective, but he wants promises from the AD about the things above. He has talked with past coaches about the lack of involvment of support staff and AD office to building basketball into a first class sport. He also wants his staff (at all levels) to come with him. I say do it. It has long been my belief that some of the support staff needs replacing to bring in a new view. I'll update all day long as I learn more. One last thing. He said that boosters want to have a meeting with Coach Marshall. He is very loyal. All he is asking from Alabama is that the school shows the same loyalty to him as he would to the University.I do know one thing and the SEC will know this as well. If Alabama hires Marshall and makes him those promises, Tide basketball is ready to make a momumental jump forward.
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| From all accounts Battle is fighting hard for UA |
Bill Battle has made a big deal in saying he wants Alabama basketball to return to former greatness. This hire is a big deal. This is as important to basketball as Nick Saban was to football. I'm not sure that some people understand that coming to Alabama isn't something you'd leave your dog and pick-up truck to do. The truth is that Alabama is a better than average job, but not a great job. We were lucky that Bryant made a commitment. Coach Newton got things going. Wimp elevated it. Both coaches were a part of what Bryant started. Mark Gottfried was part of that lineage. The two times that Alabama stepped outside the family progression it ended in failure.
Neither of those two coaches were failures. Each had winning records. Neither live up to Wimp or C.M. The success that Sanderson and Newton had were proof that making the commitment works. Hootie Ingram made a bad decision and the Tide has not be the same since that decision. Bama has had some success here and there. An Elite Eight and a one week number one ranking were highlights. There were some NCAA games, and more NIT games. You can't call those failures. I think they were accomplishments that just did not live up to expectations.
I hope in few days Alabama will be lucky enough to hire Gregg Marshall. We need a great coach, but don't misunderstand that Bama needs Marshall more than Marshall needs Alabama. All if these statements about how lucky Marshall would be get a job at Alabama just aren't true. Bama doesn't hold the whip hand in this one. When your ace in the hole is money it means you're falling short in other areas. This situation didn't start quickly and it will not end quickly either. I think that for us fans a good place to start is to understand exactly what the problems are and work hard to eliminate them. Can we get back to where we once were? Sure, we can. We have the history and money which means a lot. Do we have the inclination to sustain an effort? That's the real question that is going to answered. If we get into a bidding war with another school for Marshall we better man up and win. Otherwise, it could be interpreted as another hollow effort. We gave Saban what he needed and he is now underpaid. His success gives the Capstone the chance to pay for a similar hire. Let's not squander the change out of vanity or pride.
Whatever Marshall wants he should know we'll give it to him. He won't ask for some pie in the sky number unless he just wants Alabama to go away. If he thinks we need a better facility we should promise him one. If he wants to pay top money to top assistants we should do it. If he needs additional funds for recruiting we have to do it. We aren't doing Gregg Marshall a favor by asking him to come to Alabama. He would be coming to a place that thinks football is more important than life. It's a place where basketball hasn't really been given enough support. Alabama is not a dream job for Marshall. We are offering him a potential nightmare. He's not going to a better program. He'd be leaving one that is at the top of its game. I've got my fingers crossed that he will take the challenge and accept the risk to come to Alabama. If not Marshall, then we need someone who is as close to Marshall as we can get. I hope that Battle has the same persuasiveness that Mal Moore had with Saban. Remember that Coach Saban wanted out of the NFL, and Moore signed a check to make that happen. Battle needs to be flexible enough to understand the exact state of our program, and offer accordingly. This is bigger than C.M. Newton in many ways. Battle can't afford to lose this recruiting battle. That assumes that Marshall wants to get an offer. I'm not sure he does. It will be tough decision.
The problem with not getting Marshall is the perception that anyone else is a second fiddle. That may not be true, but if Battle allows something to happen to keep Marshall from coming it will be bad. I hope so. If not, the sun will come up and things might be be just fine. I don't think that's what our fans believe now.
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| Source tells me that Bama is close |
UPDATE: Just spoke to one of closest friends who works at WSU in Wichita. He says that WSU is very fearful of losing Marshall. He said that WSU is ready to match Alabama's offer from a money standpoint.
He thinks Marshall is ready to pull the trigger, IF, and this is a big if. Can Alabama convince him that they will put the same effort in basketball as they do football. Seriously. I know it is easy to say we will. He wants a private jet for recruit transportation (I don't know if that means a new Jet, or just access to school jet or booster jets). He wants a new facility to be announced and built within five seasons. He wants reconfigured seating to get students involved and closer to the floor (this is going to be a tough thing for Battle to do because you have lifelong fans who have worked hard to support program and get moved closer to the floor) This will not be a problem when a new buildding is constructed however. Apparently, Marshall wants an announced time frame for construction. This is going to come down to one thing. Can Alabama convince Marshall they will really treat the program like football. That will never happen from a fan perspective, but he wants promises from the AD about the things above. He has talked with past coaches about the lack of involvment of support staff and AD office to building basketball into a first class sport. He also wants his staff (at all levels) to come with him. I say do it. It has long been my belief that some of the support staff needs replacing to bring in a new view. I'll update all day long as I learn more. One last thing. He said that boosters want to have a meeting with Coach Marshall. He is very loyal. All he is asking from Alabama is that the school shows the same loyalty to him as he would to the University.I do know one thing and the SEC will know this as well. If Alabama hires Marshall and makes him those promises, Tide basketball is ready to make a momumental jump forward.
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