There’s been a lot of talk in the college football world lately about Texas A&M’s newly vacated head coaching spot, and how that relates to ‘Bama’s current head coach Dennis Franchione. The TideFans.com message boards have been going crazy, some folks praying that he stays, others saying “screw him” for even considering the A&M job. Most people don’t particularly care, but here’s my take on the situation.
I hope he stays. He’s a good coach, a coach with a proven track record, and he’s obviously done good things with our program. He’s on the way up. Tide fans are just sick over it, and the Aggies are salivating to get their hands on coachings hottest commodity. There are a lot of different angles to this situation that need addressing, however, it’s not just a cut and dried issue of trust, loyalty, or anything else.
College football has become a business. Really, it always has been… but business has changed, and football has changed with it. Company loyalty is virtually extinct most places, and it’s difficult to find employees who are more concerned about the company than themselves. Head coaching is no different. You can’t expect more loyalty out of the coaches than you can out of any other university employee. You can’t expect your employees to make personal sacrifices simply to stay at your company. If there’s someone else making a better offer, they’re going to leave, and this isn’t just about money. There are lots of intangibles, but when it comes down to it, everyone has to do what’s best for them. Coaching Division 1 college football is not a charity, its a business, and the same practices that make companies attractive to employees have to be used to make Universities attractive to Coaches.
There are a number of things that Fran’s trip to College Station could mean. Reports now say that they’ll be offering him $10 million for five years. Bama’s offering $15 million for ten years. Regardless of whether you think it should be or not, money is an issue. Granted, the practical difference between $1.5mil and $2mil is not as great as, say, $500k and $1mil, it’s still a difference. It’s also possible that Coach Fran is trying to get more money out of UA. Going to visit A&M, getting a contract set, and handing the last swing over to Bama. It’s good a negotiation practice. This practice will, undoubtedly, lose him some fans… but he has plenty to lose, he’s one of the most popular coaches here in several years. Bama fans want results and want them NOW, and Fran came and gave that to them.
If he leaves, however, I think the key if for Bama fans and UA Officials to not shrug it off and say “Well, that’s fine, this is Alabama… if he doesn’t want to coach here, that’s his loss.” This, my friends, is the way companies die. Paul Finebaum made the comment that he hopes that Fran doesn’t think he’s bigger than Alabama Football Tradition, I hope not too, but as great as our tradition is (and I tend to think that it’s one of the greatest), tradition does not a champion make. If Fran leaves we need to try to find out why it is that he left. Why is A&M more attractive to him than Alabama? Do they have better facilities? More supportive Faculty? More supportive University Officials? Was it really just “all about the Benjamins, baby”? Who knows… but sitting around cursing Coach Fran is not going to make Alabama a more attractive place to coach.
There are a few things about Alabama fans that simply cannot be helpful to recruiting and keeping a quality coach. Face it, as a group, we’re very fickle. More fickle than the fans of most collegiate sports. You can go from hero to zero in 60 minutes of a football game. The Auburn Game was a prime example. It was simply amazing to see how many folks turned on him after the loss. Not everyone, of course, but far far too many people.
Secondly, the attitude that the University of Alabama is the mecca of college football, and is inherently perfect and good has got to go. Pride is good, it’s important, but we’ve also got to be realistic. There are other schools who can offer their coaches and players more than we can. Sure, you don’t have the Bama tradition… but, at the same time, if you have superior facilities and more money in your pocket you may look at the opportunity to BUILD a tradition as more beneficial than always living in the shadow of [The Bear].
I’m not saying that Alabama isn’t a great place to coach. I’m not saying that all Alabama fans are bad fans. I’m not saying that Fran should leave. All I’m saying is that if he does, we need to look at how we can make ourselves better. Look at ways that we can improve and be more attractive so that the next stellar coach to take the helm wants to stay, and wants to stay for a long, long time.
At the end of the day, though, Alabama Football was here and winning championships before Coach Fran was born, and it’ll continue to be around after he’s passed away. He doesn’t make or break us and, in the immortal words of Aretha Franklin, we will survive. Roll Tide.
