Same ole Shula: 'Bama coach steady during high times

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) Mike Shula is preparing for the biggest game of his coaching career, No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 5 LSU. National and Southeastern Conference championships shots are on the line.<br> <br> The man who has guided the Crimson Tide from turbulent times and mediocrity to these heady days isn&#39;t inclined to say ``I told you so&#39;&#39; to the critics who dogged him the previous two years. His players will, though.<br> <br> ``We&#39;ve been telling y&#39;all he&#39;s going to be a great one and he&#39;s building for the future,&#39;&#39; quarterback Brodie Croyle said. ``We told you at the start of the year this was the year that we were going to have a good year and so far so good.<br> <br> ``It&#39;s him. He&#39;s been the rock through the adversity to a No. 3 (BCS) ranking, he&#39;s the exact same guy. Nothing&#39;s changed.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Actually, just about everything&#39;s changed for the 40-year-old former Tide quarterback except for his demeanor.<br> <br> When he took over a proud but troubled program less than four months before the 2003 season, Shula&#39;s obstacles included no head coaching experience, a roster thinned by NCAA sanctions and a fan base restless after two abrupt coaching changes and some mediocre seasons.<br> <br> Now, Alabama is 9-0 with six SEC wins and the inside track to the league&#39;s Western Division title if it beats the Tigers (7-1, 4-1) on Saturday.<br> <br> How far has Shula brought the Tide? Well, it took him 20 games to notch his first nine wins. He won only 10 his first two seasons against 15 losses.<br> <br> And the program that Bear Bryant helped turn into one of college football&#39;s giants has gone from the embarrassments that led to Shula&#39;s hiring to, well, one of college football&#39;s giants at least presently.<br> <br> He got the job after Mike Price was fired after spring practices in 2003 for his off-the-field behavior on a night of drinking at a Pensacola, Fla., strip club. Price got the job only after Dennis Franchione bolted for Texas A the opposite route Bryant took decades before.<br> <br> Enter Shula, a squeaky clean son of a coaching legend Pro Football Hall of Famer Don Shula with a lengthy resume as an NFL assistant. Equally important, he was a former Alabama player.<br> <br> That, athletic director Mal Moore says, was ``the No. 1 thing&#39;&#39; he was looking for in a coach after the embarrassing episodes with outsider coaches.<br> <br> Shula was pilloried for everything from not being Sylvester Croom another popular former &#39;Bama star who was a finalist for the job and is now at Mississippi State to his refusal to fire defensive coordinator Joe Kines after a 4-9 debut season as some fans wanted.<br> <br> Now, Kines has one of the nation&#39;s stingiest defenses. Croom, the SEC&#39;s first black head coach, is still in the early stages of trying to build a program.<br> <br> Asked if he feels vindicated now, Shula merely gave a nod to his players who have been through rocky times, too.<br> <br> ``Probably the best way to answer that is I&#39;m happy for these guys right here that have come here and been through some tough times and are now sitting here answering questions about being 9-0,&#39;&#39; Shula said.<br> <br> Shula has the same pleasant but poker-faced demeanor answering those questions as he did the less gentle ones he faced before this season. Ask for a description of his personality, and the word ``nice&#39;&#39; often comes up.<br> <br> ``He always talks about positive things,&#39;&#39; safety Roman Harper said. ``He brought us together as a team. It&#39;s more of a family type atmosphere. He&#39;s a really nice guy. Very classy.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Former Alabama All-American and Dallas Cowboys star Lee Roy Jordan thinks Shula is ``fabulous&#39;&#39; in dealing with fans. ``I think he&#39;s probably the most personable coach we&#39;ve had. He&#39;s really a pleasure to be around.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> But nice and personable don&#39;t win games. Jordan surveyed Alabama&#39;s practice two springs ago, and figured the Tide had bigger problems than the furor over Shula&#39;s decision which he later reversed to strip Croom&#39;s name from a spring award.<br> <br> ``They don&#39;t have much talent,&#39;&#39; he said at the time. He&#39;s much happier with what he sees now.<br> <br> ``I just believe our guys play harder than a lot of other guys because they want to represent the University of Alabama and the tradition we&#39;ve became accustomed to,&#39;&#39; Jordan said. ``I can certainly see that with this group of guys there now.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Shula led Alabama to a 6-6 finish last season, including a Music City Bowl trip, respectable considering he lost his entire offensive backfield to season-ending injuries. Not good enough to soothe &#39;Bama fans yearning for a return to the good old days, though.<br> <br> Shula hasn&#39;t exactly been swept up in the current excitement. ``BCS&#39;&#39; rarely escapes his lips. His steady refrain when the subject comes up is along the lines of ``we only worry about the things we can control.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> He hasn&#39;t publicly pleaded his team&#39;s case or railed at the system that could shut a 13-0 Alabama team out of the national championship picture as it did Auburn last season.<br> <br> ``If somebody knew him before when we were 4-9 and everybody wanted his head and they talked to him today,&#39;&#39; Croyle said, ``he&#39;d be the exact same person.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> During the offseason, Shula asked Moore for a one-year extension to his $900,000-a-year deal that&#39;s worth less than half of what several of his SEC counterparts make. He only sought a raise for his assistants<br> <br> ``You can&#39;t believe how good that made me feel and how proud I was of Coach Shula,&#39;&#39; said Moore, a former Tide coach and player. ``Winning and what they&#39;ve done, there&#39;s plenty of time for him to enjoy the success. I think he fully recognizes this.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)