Umm...correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Alabama hire Fran away from TCU, while he still had years left on his contract?

Here is the way the Bama Nation see it:

-Bama is about to face NCAA sanctions and hires a new coach (that is actually a huge step up for him) and she commits to being Bama's leader in this tough time.

-She brings much needed discipline and asks players to believe in her as they get through this tough time.

-She tells the Bama Nation over and over again that she is happy in Tuscaloosa, and that she doesn't want to leave.

-the Bama Nation, as well as BOTs, players and University give him their vote of confidence, as they have no other reason to believe she is not a woman of her word.

-the athletic dept. and BOTs ask her over and over what they can do to make her finish his career at Alabama. She states even at last weeks meeting with them that everything is fine.

-The Bama Nation is informed through multiple media sources that Fran has a backdoor deal with A&M, but the coach repeatedly denies it. This "deal" has been in the works for sometime, but Fran denies it again and again, even during our final 2 games.

-She continues to have players believe in her preachings of loyalty, trust, accountability.

-She hops on a plane and never tells her players that she is leaving, while they are 18-20 year old boys who trusted him and bought into his program while he is sipping martinis.

What is wrong with Bama crying foul play?
Who cares what Bear did years ago?
This is about the present!
Speaking of the present, how many Big 12 Championshpips has A&M played?
What is the deal with you people thinking there is more to this story?

Frannie is a good coach, and its possible this is where she will end his career, but in all reality, she is a wormy transvestite who is now coaching at a second tier school that will forever be in Texas's shadows!

Blast Bamas sanctions all you'd like. But the sad truth is Bama is still a superior program. Bama is not second fiddle, like you guys.
Bama was 10-3 this year. A&M was what?
Sure Frannie was the coach, but the players won the game! He was winning with Duboses recruits anyways!

No sour grapes here! You can have your Franvestite!

P.S. What exactly is there to do in College Station besides kick dirt and observe second rate campus buildings?

[This message has been edited by BamJ (edited 12/9/2002 10:43a).]

1 tide, your spelling even sounds like uneducated, backwoods, hill billy Alabama Banter. Thanks for the good laugh, I was rolling after reading your post.

bamaj:

Pathetic.

That's it. Buck up, little bj. Protect that fragile ego.

"Please, someone remind me of how great we were! Please, its hurts too much. We're the great bama! People are supposed to fear us! We aren't second fiddle! Please!!!"

Not second fiddle? What does Auburn say about that?

As for records, what bowl are you going to?

You're desperate, son. Take a pill. Relax. It just a coaching change.

Get over it.

[This message has been edited by Dr. Mephisto (edited 12/9/2002 12:12p).]

the answer to one of the questions ask is this. Bama fans are not mad because Fran left, personally I can't blame him and I would had left too, given the circumstances (ties in Texas, Bama Probation, ect.) The reason bama fans are upset is the way he left. Telling his players, AD, and fans that he would return. Then to top it off, he didn't even tell his players that he was leaving. He says he didn't have time, thats a bunch of bull. He had 4 days before aTm officiall contacted him. He knew he was leaving, and he has had time since accepting the job and he still hasn't given them an answer. Thats why fans are upset and why the National Media is jumping on him. If he don't want to explain to the the fans, thats fine, if he don't want to explain to the AD, thats fine, but the players that bought into him and trusted him deserve to know. Thanks and Good Luck in the upcoming season.

eva, Bear left because he wanted to coach at his
alma mater. We were the TOP school not Tu.

I think the same thing is going on at Alabama that has been going on for 50 years! A previous poster was correct... the Bear did get A&M on probation.... If you read The Junction Boys, he not only knew about the recruiting violations, but encouraged them... When he was at Alabama he was known to have the boosters pay cash for top recruits... His motto was, "just don't get caught!"

After he leaves Bama, Stallings and DuBose get into trouble too.... I think this is another reason Fran left. Even if he ran a clean program, there was only so much control he could have over rogue boosters....!

Bama needs to change the way they do business.... In the old days, you could escape a lot of the NCAA rules, but times are different!

And that's just it with 'Bama - they apparently think the rules that apply to everyone else don't apply to them.

So what if they have such a great football tradition...if it was built on cheating and recruiting outside the rules, then that's a real hollow tradition.

'Bama's on probation because it got caught breaking the rules. They didn't own up to Fran and tell him straight up how bad the situation was...just gave him the siren song about how great a place 'Bama is to coach at. The NCAA is still sniffing around and pawing at the dirt around 'Bama's already tarnished program, and there's a real possibility that 'Bama's program may get really sunk by another round of punitive measures coming out of the wonderful 'Bama traditions exercised by Coaches Stallings and DuBose through their boosters. So long to any kind of real chance to play for the MNC for the next 10 years...

'Bama's so wonderful a place to play at, that it has to break the rules to get the top players to play there?

No wonder Fran left...'Bama's a fair weather friend with a hollow tradition of "greatness"...

ShowStopper,

You did say "your school" which I took as meaning MY school, alabama. You also used Fran and the Bear in the same sentence and I quote "(which Fran didn't do but Bear did)". Since both those coaches have only coached games at alabama, again I thought you meant Alabama. There's no need to flame. You didn't exactly make your point clear and as a result i misunderstood.

As for my thoughts on the Bear leaving A&M, I could really care less. That was over 40 years ago and way before I was ever born.
--------------------------
AnalogyAg and Aggiemon96,

Yes, I believe it would have been better if he would have told our AD in confidence that he was considering another coaching offer. Instead, Fran kept saying that he would sign our contract after the season because he wanted to concentrate on the season and not have any distractions. These rumors came out the week of our rivalry game with Auburn. Before that time Fran had NEVER missed a team meeting. That week he missed all 5 of them because of what he called personal business. Our team was not prepared for Auburn and as a result got our butts beat. If losing to our biggest rival and then almost allowing Hawaii to come back and beat us (we won 21-16) isn't a collapse, then it's definitely an NEAR collapse. Also, if you call recruiting players to go to A&M while working for Alabama is the right thing to do then you obviously have your maroon colored glasses on.
-------------------------------
Tx Ag Bear,

If bama has a hollowed tradition cause we won championships because of cheating...then what does that make A&M with their history of cheating and no championships to show for it?

Fran knew everything about the violations that bama officials and the rest of the country did. This was in the national spotlight for over 2 years! He knew how serious it was. Also, bama officials aren't psychics. They gave him a clear indication of how they thought things would turn out but it didn't happen that way. That doesn't mean they lied to Fran though.

Also, it's merely internet rumor that the NCAA is going to add more sanctions to Alabama. There has been nothing to come out of the Memphis trial that they didn't know already. This might change, but right now it's just rumor.

[This message has been edited by bamajama92 (edited 12/9/2002 9:37p).]

Bamajama...

For the last 14 years, A&M has cleaned up a dirty program resulting from the same kind of mentality that currently haunts 'Bama: build a team to win the NC, no matter what. And to Slocum's credit, he kept that program clean. While we don't have any NC's to boast, we do have several conference championships to our list (SWC and Big XII) we didn't have to break the rules to get. And I'm certain that man of Franchione's talent could have taken those same teams to the NC.

To be truthful, had those improprieties concerning Sherrill's means of obtaining talent never come to light, A&M would likely have won an NC or two in the late 80's/early 90's. But those also would have been hollow - obtained by taking the dishonest short-cut rather than come by it honestly.

By contrast, 'Bama has only 1 NC (under Stallings)and a couple of SEC chapionships since your great football "god" Bear Bryant stepped down, where it's been proven that rules were broken to obtain, over the same time frame.

So please spare me about how "great" a tradition 'Bama has. Until you can demonstrate 'Bama can win it all without having to break the rules, it's just another program that has sold its soul for fleeting glories - yesterday's champions are just that: yesterdays.

And don't simply relegate what's happening in Memphis as mere rumour. 'Bama had best be preparing for the worst possible case scenario, instead of continuing to glibly think nothing more can happen to its program.

Coach Fran never said that he will return to Alabama for the 2003 season. He said that he did not have any DIRECT contact with A&M, which was true. By the way here is an AP article in 1957

quote:

---

From the Associated Press, Nov 16, 1957
HOUSTON -- Paul (Bear) Bryant, Texas A&M football coach, Friday denied reports he would take the head coaching job at the University of Alabama. In a terse statement, he said: "We're fighting for our lives here both tomorrow and on Thanksgiving Day. I have recommended a coach for Alabama and it isn't Paul Bryant."

Bryant, whose Aggies currently are rated the No. 1 college football team in the nation, has seven years left on his contract at A&M at $15,000 a year.

---

Bama fans have no right commenting on honesty and integrity considering the very man that made Alabama obviously did not have any! At least Coach Fran had the decency to wait until the season was over until he accepted the A&M job. Paul Bryant cowardly abandoned his troop in the middle of a national championship season.