http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/college_sports/article/0,1651,TCP_1055_2904089,00.html
What if Bobby Bowden had come to Alabama? By SCOTT ADAMSON May 21, 2004 Although baseball season is still in its infancy and the never-ending NBA playoffs continue in their never-ending mode, there is already plenty of football talk to go around - especially here in Alabama. How will Alabama do now that it's free of NCAA probation? Will Tommy Tuberville lead Auburn to new heights thanks to a second chance courtesy of Planegate? Will Alabama-Birmingham finally earn a bowl bid? These are questions that will be answered soon enough. As for me, I'm in a "what if?" state of mind, and my mind is wandering back to 1987. What if Bobby Bowden had become the head coach at Alabama instead of Bill Curry? I started thinking about it when I began looking at some preseason football predictions - predictions that tout Florida State as national title contenders once again. Bowden wanted the job. He's a Birmingham native who spent his freshman year at Bama before transferring to Howard College, now known as Samford. He had already proven himself as one of the nation's best coaches by transforming a former women's school into one whose football team could go on the road to places like Michigan and Nebraska - and win. But, we've all heard the story. Bowden didn't want to audition for the job, and he didn't care for some of the questions he was asked in the interview process. The result? High times and gridiron glory in Tallahassee. Turmoil and scandal in Tuscaloosa. The Bill Curry era was a disaster. I know, I know, a 26-10 record is not disastrous, nor was a 10-victory campaign in 1989. But Curry was a bad fit for Alabama football and that made his three-season reign memorable for all the wrong reasons. He alienated high school coaches in the state, he seemed arrogant at times, and he had absolutely no understanding of the importance of Alabama football to its fans. >From the refusal to go to College Station for the "Hurricane Game" against Texas A&M >to his public outcry over death threats when the Tide went to Auburn for the first >time, Curry at Alabama was like Howard Dean at a Young Republicans meeting - it just >wasn't right. Alabama football was revived under Gene Stallings, who won 62 games and a national championship. But after seven seasons Stallings got tired of dealing with Alabama President Andrew Sorenson and Athletics Director Bob Bockrath, so he opted to head back to Paris, Texas. Despite his success it was under Stallings' watch that Alabama was placed on NCAA probation for the first time, so his era was not without a black mark. Since Stallings' departure, things have been a mess. Mike DuBose proved to be the second coming of J.B. "Ears" Whitworth; Dennis Franchione turned the Tide then turned his back on them after two seasons; and Mike Price - well, a visit to a Skank Factory and getting fired without ever coaching the team to anything other than a spring game is about all that needs to be said on the subject. And now the man in charge is Mike Shula, a nice enough guy who came to Tuscaloosa under the worst possible circumstances. He was selected over Sylvester Croom, which led a lot of folks to think there's a color bar on the school's hiring chart. And he managed just four victories against nine losses, including an embarrassing setback to Hawaii in the season finale. Obviously the verdict is still out on Shula's coaching ability, so it's unfair to judge him at this stage of his career. But that brings us back to the original "What if?" One figures that if Bowden had come to Tuscaloosa, he would currently be gearing up for his 18th season at Alabama. I'm guessing there would be more than one national championship during that run, a few SEC titles, and the school would have the distinction of having hired the two winningest Division 1A coaches of all-time in Paul Bryant and Bowden. Perhaps Bowden wouldn't have quite as many wins because of an SEC schedule, but remember - before FSU joined the Atlantic Coast Conference it played what amounted to a murderer's row year in and year out, and still managed a boatload of top five finishes. Alas, we'll never know. All that's certain is that Bowden has thrived in sunny Florida, while the Crimson Tide is working on their seventh head coach since Bryant retired and is no longer considered a national power. Call the snubbing of Bowden a lost opportunity or a simple twist of fate, but it's obvious who won and who lost in the deal. And it makes a lot of Crimson Tide faithful wonder what if? (Contact Scott Adamson of the Birmingham Post-Herald in Alabama at http://www.postherald.com.) Copyright 2004, TCPalm. All Rights Reserved. ______________________________________________________ RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List "Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup!" To join or leave the list or to make changes to your subscription visit http://listinfo.rolltidefan.net
