The honeybee of irony wedged its stinger in this year’s MSU/Alabama football game.
After Mike Price was fired at Alabama before the 2003 began, two Tide alumists-Mike Shula and Sylvester Croom-emerged as the top two candidates for the job. UA chose Shula as the new coach of its football program over a much more experienced and more qualified Croom, who MSU hired to replace Jackie Sherrill one year later.
Shula, the son of legendary Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula, was fired Sunday night after his team ended the 2006 season on a three-game losing skid, which began with a 24-16 home loss to Croom’s Dawgs.
Croom, whose record is 9-25 in three seasons at State, received a sweet victory beating the man who got his dream job. MSU’s win against UA gave the Bulldogs their first win in Tuscaloosa in 10 years, and it also snapped MSU’s 23-game SEC road losing streak.
Coincidentally, both Croom and Shula took over programs-Mississippi State and Alabama-under NCAA sanctions. The difference, apparently, is that Croom will be given legitimate time to turn around his program, though Alabama’s NCAA penalties were much more severe.
Shula didn’t even get an opportunity to present an end-of-the-season plan to athletic director Mal Moore. Instead Moore canned the fourth-year coach. Shula led the Tide to a 10-2 record last season, which included a Cotton Bowl victory. But he has been criticised for his play-calling since being hired.
The Tide’s season spun out of control after losing a 24-23 overtime game at Arkansas where they missed three field goals and a game-tying extra point. That was followed with a loss at Florida and a scrappy win over 0-12 Duke. The Tide trailed the Blue Devils 14-10 at the half, eventually winning 30-14.
Shula was also criticised for his record against fellow conference foes, especially instate rival Auburn. He was 0-4 against the Tigers and 2-10 vs. LSU, Arkansas and Tennessee.
Alabama is not the first school to fire its coach after losing to Mississippi State. After the Bulldogs knocked off top-ranked Florida in 2004, the Gators fired Ron Zook less than 48 hours after the game.
We’re not saying the only reason the Tide fired Shula was because of Croom’s ironic win over him, but it didn’t help.The Reflector editorial board is made up of opinion editor Jed Pressgrove, news editor C.J. LeMaster, assistant news editor Nathan Gregory, entertainment editor Aaron Burdette, sports editor R.J. Morgan, online editor Sara McAdory, photo editor Jay Webb, managing editor Ross Dellenger and editor in chief Tyler Stewart.