By Scott Wright

As a graduate of the University of Alabama and avid fan of the Crimson Tide football, I wanted to like Mike Shula -- really, I did.

I was hoping the young man (he's only a half-dozen years older than me!) would turn the flagging football team around and keep the job as head coach at the Capstone as long as he wanted it. And it seemed like he really wanted it, too. Maybe enough to stay at Alabama for the rest of his coaching career. He sure looked the part, standing on the sidelines every Saturday.

I really, really wanted him to keep standing there for decades. A lot of Alabama fans did.

Bad part was, though, that nearly as much as he was growing on Alabama fans, Shula was beginning to grow on a lot of Auburn fans, as well. And LSU fans. And Razorback fans. And (gag!) Tennessee fans.

Mike Shula's record against the school's big-time Southeastern Conference opponents was horrible -- seven loses for every win. After a forgivable 4-9 season in 2003, Shula's admittedly undermatched Crimson Tide managed a 6-6 record in '04 and a promising 10-2 record and No. 8 ranking in 2005. Mostly though, looking back, Shula mostly won the games he was supposed to win, and few others.

Athletics Director Mal Moore designed those schedules with the knowledge that the Tide would be fighting with one arm tied behind their backs for a couple seasons because of NCAA sanctions. The Tide were supposed to reach the 10-win plateau in their third year and they did, right on schedule.

Then they got to 2006. This year's schedule was supposed to be the easiest of all. Prognosticators and pigskin pundits had the Tide figured for at least an eight-win season, maybe nine if a few balls bounced their way. Instead, the team regressed again, for whatever reasons. Missed field goals, blown red zone opportunities, squandered time outs, and the inability to go the distance were as evident and eviscerating to fans as ever under Shula.

After four years, there was no progress. Sure, Shula stayed out of the headlines in the off season. He didn't diddle his secretary or jump ship for his dream job. After all, being the head coach at Alabama was Shula's dream job.

I mean, he'd already proven he couldn't cut it in the NFL. During his time as the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the offense was anemic, near the bottom of the league in rushing and passing yardage every year. Yes, the Bucs did win a Super Bowl while Shula was there, but they mostly did it with defense.

In Tuscaloosa, Shula's offense seemed suited for the quarterback he inherited. Brodie Croyle was a classic drop-back passer who's currently backing up Trent Green in Kansas City on Sundays. Shula, a quarterback himself, deserves a lot of credit for teaching Croyle what he needed to know to earn that job.

But there are 10 other guys on offense who all needed to be taught how to play football by their head coach. Whatever Shula taught Croyle and current quarterback John Parker Wilson either went through the ears of the Tide's offensive linemen or, more likely, went unsaid from the beginning. Poor performance and lackluster effort from several Tide linemen went uncorrected for weeks at a time. Running backs who became enamored with themselves and eager to add to career statistics spent more time in the backfield than other, equally talented guys who just wanted to win.

For whatever reason, Shula did too little to correct the problems until the press castigated him after the Tide's loathsome loss to Mississippi State on Nov. 4. The next week, convinced he needed to show that vanilla wasn't the only flavor in his ice cream cart, Shula's offense was imaginative and exciting, despite the 28-14 loss to the Bayou Bengals. Several Tide fans I watched that game with were simply glad the team was able to keep the final score respectable.

"Respectable" doesn't cut it at the Capstone. After the season, Shula refused to make coaching changes that could have saved his job, so Mal Moore took it away from him.

Was Shula stubborn? Maybe. Could he have grown into the job if he'd had more time? Perhaps. But I didn't see anything in four years that would lead me to draw that conclusion. Hell, maybe he realized he was in over his head and purposely outlined a plan to Moore that he knew would get him canned.

I feel badly for Mike Shula that he was not up to the task of coaching the Crimson Tide. For whatever reason, though, he couldn't relay his knowledge of the game onto the field or into his players' heads.

Now, Bama fans are left to hope Mal Moore won't hire the wrong guy -- again.