http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/sports/040721/moore.shtml
Moore: Tide at crossroads
AD looks for better times ahead
TUSCALOOSA It's an interesting time to be at Alabama.
There are a lot of changes. Basketball is surging. Football isn't what
it once was. New buildings are popping up in every direction.
It's a turning point for the university, but a constant Mal Moore is
still here. He's directing construction, guiding the football program
back from the brink and defending the school's reputation against a poor
finish among Southeastern Conference athletics programs in the latest
Director's (formerly Sears) Cup standings.
In many ways, he's still the same football coach standing in paintings
alongside Paul Bear Bryant tough, gruff, determined and committed to
the Crimson Tide logo that dots his temporary office in a construction
trailer outside Coleman Coliseum.
Moore sat down for an interview with DECATUR DAILY sports writer Gentry
Estes last week to discuss the recent changes in the Crimson Tide
athletics department and his plans for the future.
Q: After a successful season ended for men's basketball, ties with coach
Mark Gottfried and Ohio State were brought up. At any point, have y'all
talked about an extension or raise?
A: Six, eight months ago, he signed his contract. He just signed it, and
within that contract are really good bonuses if you go to the NCAAs, if
you win the conference, if you go to Final Four, if you go to this.
Every step of the way, he was rewarded for a good year.
Q: Going into football, what are your feelings as far as confidence in
football coach Mike Shula, his staff and the direction of the program?
A: Well, I have a very good feeling about the situation with Coach Shula
and his staff. The recruiting that took place this past year and the
facilities that are coming online that will support these coaches in the
next years to come. I think a great strength of Coach Shula and his
staff is recruiting, and this will enhance that. At the same time, I
fully recognize we're coming off of penalties of the NCAA that has
damaged the team in numbers. We don't have the numbers, but I think we
have an outstanding group of young men that will compete and will win
their share of the games.
Q: Do you think Coach Shula still has a blank check from the Bama
Nation, or do you think the pressure might kick up a notch from fans
this season?
A: I know this. I feel very strongly about him. I think he will be an
outstanding coach before he leaves Alabama, and he will have an
outstanding career here. He has taken on a job at a very difficult time
in difficult situation. I appreciate him for that, and I hope that our
fans do.
Q: The football schedule has changed a bit in the next couple of years,
but when in the foreseeable future do you see scheduling back a Penn
State or an Oklahoma or a school of that caliber?
A: We have Penn State scheduled in '13-14. I think the 12-game seasons
dictate that a little bit. In 2008 is a 12-game and 2009 is a 12-game,
which would allow a return (visit). That would give us the opportunity
to pick up someone like a Penn State. I've said this many times. My
opinion on playing Penn State or playing Southern Cal or playing Notre
Dame or Oklahoma, we want to play those guys in the Sugar Bowl, the
Orange Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, Rose Bowl. That's when you want to play
those guys.
Q: In terms of your time here, how much longer do you see yourself being
here, doing this?
A: I have said all along that I want to get us through this building
program. We start on the (Coleman) Coliseum in October of this year.
We'll start on the (Bryant-Denny) Stadium in January of this coming
year. I started all that, and I would like to see it through. And then
we'll go from there. I feel good at present. My health could be a
factor. For the university, I feel that I'm contributing right now in
those areas and hopefully, I can finish it out.
Q: A lot was made out of the Sears Cup standings this past year. How
accurate a representation of the athletic department do you think that
really is?
A: No question, it gives you an indication of the success of a program
at that particular time. Even though I think we've had success this
year, particularly with our basketball program going to the Elite Eight
and I think our gymnastics ended third in the nation, the effects of the
NCAA has been a factor in not just football or basketball, it affects
you every now and then across the board. I think this is something that
we're seeing. We're now out of the penalty phase of it where football is
recruiting and we're back eligible to go to bowl game. The facilities
that we're doing, enhancing, it's not that we're going way ahead of
other people. We're just catching up to other people.
Q: The situation with football gained such notoriety, do you feel as
though the program has turned the corner now?
A: I think we're, without
