The Iron Bowl Matchup: Dream Team Versus Team Still Dreaming Part I

The 2009 University of Alabama football team is composed of some of the finest athletes in the country.

Nick Saban and his staff have taken the raw talent possessed by high school recruits in classes that date from 2004 to 2008 and refined them into some of the best football players on the landscape of the college gridiron.

Getting the Alabama football program back to a position of relevance since the 1992 season has been nothing short of a painful process and near death encounter with the NCAA. Recounting this journey is material for another article at some other time.

Before we take a look at the Alabama Dream Team of 2009, we need to review a few significant facts about the cross-state rival Auburn Tigers.

The Tuberville Era

Tommy Tuberville left Ole Miss and entered the campus of Auburn University as head coach of the football program following the completion of the 1998 regular season. Taking over a declining program from Terry Bowden, a 3-8 (1-7 in the SEC) campaign in 1998, Tuberville's first season finish of 5-6 (2-6 in the SEC) in 1999, didn't show a lot of promise.

But from 2000 through 2007, the Auburn Tigers never suffered a losing season. The pinnacle of Tuberville's tenure as head coach of the War Eagles was in 2004. His team was a perfect 13-0 (8-0) and Sugar Bowl champion.

In 10 years at Auburn, Tuberville established football dominance in the state of Alabama. With excellence in recruiting, punishing defenses, and a power running game, the Tigers were led to 85 wins against 40 losses. This success included an unprecedented six straight wins against in-state rival Alabama.

"Tubby" led the Tigers to four conference division Titles and one conference championship. Each consecutive victory over the Crimson Tide came with a signature "in your face" bitch slap from the man with the largest ears in the college coaching ranks.

The message from Tuberville to in-state recruits was that the Alabama program would not recover from the imposed sanctions of the NCAA. The Bear was dead, and so was the Alabama football program.

Moreover, the coaching turnstile constantly spun in Tuscaloosa. Following the short but effective tenure of Gene Stallings, coaching scandals and NCAA investigations tarnished and debased the reputation of the Alabama football program.

Fallout from the poor state of affairs at the Capstone gave credibility to the statements made by "Tubby" on the recruiting trail across the yellow hammer state. Alabama was an embarrassment in the state and across the nation.

Mike DuBose, Dennis Franchoine, and Mike Price each allowed themselves and the Alabama program to become an easy target for abuse by the Auburn head coach and fans across the state.

In addition, after years of legitimate complaints of having to play the Iron Bowl game in Birmingham, the Auburn boosters won another in-state battle. They convinced the Iron Bowl commission to allow the games to be played as home games at Jordan-Hare and Bryant-Denny Stadiums.

Although the respective Presidents and Athletic Directors on both campuses were in favor of the change in venue, the move was viewed more as a victory for the Auburn program than a common victory for both schools.

In-state talent formerly choosing the Capstone were heading to the plains or moving out of state to develop college football skills. In 2001, Carnell Williams was a huge catch for Coach Tuberville, snatching him out of the grip of Phillip Fulmer and the Volunteer nation.

He filled the roster with out of state, high-grade talent in the form of Jason Campbell and Ronnie Brown. Tuberville raided the surrounding states of quality talent for five consecutive years. The offense and defensive lines were stacked with talented athletes weighing 280 lbs. or more, two and three deep at every position.

The 2002 recruiting class at Auburn included in-state four- and five-star talents such as Brandon Cox, Ben Obomanu, Montae Pitts, and Tommy Jackson. In addition, the out of state recruits were four- and five-star quality as well.

The 2002 Auburn class ranked sixth in the nation. 2003 was another good year for Auburn recruiting but primarily for out of state talent. Brandon Jacobs, Quentin Groves, Stanley McClover, and Tim Duckworth headlined the 11th-ranked class in the nation.

Meanwhile, ranking for the Alabama recruiting classes fell way below par, far below Auburn and well out of the top 20 in the nation. Although not all the quality talent went Auburn's way, the few talented athletes committing at the Capstone were not enough to build on for immediate or downstream success.

Much of what Tuberville was telling recruits and media across the South was coming true right before the very eyes of the faithful Alabama fanbase. Humiliation of the Alabama program was at an all-time high with the debacle of the Mike Price hire and fire before a single game was played.

The Mike Shula Bailout

With nowhere to turn following the most embarrassing incident to befall the Alabama football program, Mal Moore leaned on Mike Shula to return to his alma mater. Shula, with one of the most recognized names in the college and pro ranks alike, returned to the Capstone as head football coach.

He immediately built a respectable coaching staff by calling in favors and leaning on long-term friendships. Former head coaches of other programs, such as Joe Kines and Dave Rader, returned to the Capstone to piece together a quality program.

In addition, his name, his disposition, and his integrity brought back immediate respect to the Alabama program. Despite his "deer in the headlights look" during the announcement ceremony of his hire, he was initially a media darling.

His recruiting efforts were effective. He began to pull talent out of the deep Florida pool and mixed it with quality in-state recruits. High school talent formerly choosing to leave the state for programs such as UGA, LSU, UF, Louisville, and Arkansas were deciding to buy into Shula's philosophy and stay home to play college ball.

The NCAA sanctions and scholarship limits were eliminated during the Shula tenure, and it was parlayed into success for the program's recruiting efforts as well. In 2003, with no input from the Shula staff, Alabama landed 15 quality in-state recruits out of a class of 19 athletes. But the class still ranked lower than the top 25.

2004, 2005 and 2006 were different story lines altogether. In 2004, Alabama broke into the top 20, landing 15th in the nation, six places better than Auburn. 2005 and 2006 recruiting classes also landed top 20 classes, competitive athletes, and class rankings with the in-state rival.

Despite success in recruiting and growing success on the gridiron, there were signs of inconsistent efforts in coaching and play calling. Off the field, players were not disciplined and were often found in violation of public law.

These events led skeptics to question if Shula could keep Alabama out of further trouble with the NCAA while rebuilding the program to a position of prominence. Athletic director Mal Moore had to make more than one visit to the practice field and administrative offices to discuss matters with the young Alabama head coach.

At the end of the 2005 season, Moore decided to make a coaching change.

Back to the In-State Rivalry on the Field of Play

Though Shula had some on-field successes, his record against the Auburn Tigers left much to be desired by the Alabama Nation. During his tenure, he never defeated the in-state rival.

Prior to last year's victory, no player entering the Alabama football program since 2002 had taken part in a victory against the Tigers. That was unacceptable.

Included in the long list of players are some notable standouts such as Brodie Croyle, Roman Harper, Charlie Peprah, Ken Darby, Juwan Simpson, DeMeco Ryans, Derrick Pope, Ramzee Robinson, Matt Caddell, Ray Hudson, Tyrone Prothro, Tim and Simeon Castille, Wallace Gilberry, Le'Ron McClain, Keith Saunders, Keith Brown, Ezekiel Knight, and D.J. Hall.

Despite ultimately failing to lead the program back to national prominence, Mike Shula had his share of success at the University of Alabama during his short tenure. Regardless of what people think of his performance on the field, Coach Shula answered the call when Mama rang the phone.

Part II follows with an assessment of the Saban Era.