Bama Should Be Careful When Hiring the Next Basketball Coach

Article Written by rtr2006 of http://www.bamanation.net

Mal Moore has been publicly criticized for some of his hires in the past.  Some of the best years of Alabama athletics have occurred while Moore has been athletic director.  He's been a part of seven national championships, and he's been coached by none other than Bear Bryant. 

But some of the worst times in Alabama athletics have occurred while Moore was overseeing day-to-day operations.  The Albert Means debacle, the Mike Dubose scandal, and the Mike Shula firing, all happened while Moore was steering our ship.

Right before Mike Shula was fired, Moore's approval rating couldn't have been higher than President Bush's before he left the White House.  With the Nick Saban hiring, Moore has salvaged, and put an exclamation point, on his legacy at the University of Alabama. 

But there's one move left that Moore must make.  I know that Moore handed over day-to-day operations to Dave Hart in February, but I don't believe that Mal Moore isn't having his say, and way, in the hiring of the new basketball coach.

This hire will most likely be the last of Moore's career, and here are three things I think Mal Moore should keep in mind when making this hire:


1) We have to stay out of trouble with the NCAA

After the NCAA threw us the penalty of five years probation, 21 scholarships lost, and a two-year postseason ban for the football scandal, they also made it real clear that we need to stay out of trouble. 

Another serious offense by any Alabama sports program could prove to be disastrous, not just for football, but for the entire athletics department.  Don't hire a coach who has even had questionable recruiting techniques.  It's not worth it.

I know that basketball is an important complement to football, but you must remember that football pays for basketball in every way, and without football, there'll be no basketball.  Be smart; hire a candidate who's as clean as Mr. Clean.


2) It doesn't matter who you hire, basketball will still be second fiddle.

Mal Moore should remember that football is king at Alabama and always will be.  If you're really going to spend $2 million dollars a year on a coach, don't think that we're going to be bringing in millions and millions of dollars a year through the basketball program. 

It takes too many years to bring a program that kind of elite status.  Forbe's 2008 most valuable college basketball program was North Carolina.  They brought in $16.4 million dollars last year in operating income.

That's the University of North Carolina, four-time NCAA Champion, and home to one of the best programs in all of college basketball, bringing in slightly less than $17 million.  Meanwhile, Alabama's football program is closing in on $50 million dollars a year. 

In a lot of cases, you have to spend money to make money, but this isn't one of them.  Be smart with your hire; you can get a high quality coach for less than $2 million a year.  And remember, when you tell people what you're willing to spend, it's hard to get them to settle on anything less.  You've already played your card, nice one.


3) Don't prolong this process.

Our players and our fans deserve to have the coach you select for us to have.  Please don't start some huge search where we ask Coach X if he wants to come, and he turns us down, so we move on.  It's embarrassing. 

The same thing happened before we hired Mike Shula.  Our program was down, and coach after coach said he didn't want to come to Alabama.

So do your best to keep the coaching search on the low-low, and if a coach turns us down, move on.  We don't need an extremely prolonged coaching search; it's just not worth it.


You've been a great ambassador for the University of Alabama, but this is your last move; make it a good one.

Article Written by rtr2006 of http://www.bamanation.net