Alabama Fires Shula: Wise Move?

I'm not a 'Bama fan by any stretch of the imagination. But I'm not anti-Bama either. I didn't start pulling for Tennessee until the UT-Bama rivalry was already eclipsed by the annual Vol-Gator brawl. But I'm intrigued by the drama coming out of Tuscaloosa. The rumors are flying that a big-name coach (initials S.S.) had already verbally committed before they pulled the plug on Shula.

What do you think about the Shula firing?
A. 'Bout time. Shula was in over his head.
B. It's official: the idiots are in charge in Tuscaloosa.
C. Time will tell. Let's see how this plays out.

Pat Forde from ESPN.com doesn't mince any words when he writes:

"And then there is the cuckoo's nest known as Alabama. Irrational passion and general delusion don't just drive the bus at Alabama. They drive the wheels off it like Dale Earnhardt. The Crimson Tide went from being in love with Mike Shula last year when he went 10-2 to firing him this year after he went 6-6. ...Then again, we probably shouldn't be surprised. This is, after all, Alabama. The unpardonable sin was Shula's 0-4 record against Auburn, but that still doesn't make this the right move at the right time for a program craving stability.

Don't look now, but lordly Alabama has become the single biggest burnout job in college football. The Tide's next coach will be the eighth in the last 25 years and the fifth this century. Nobody -- not even the bottom-feeding, revolving-door, dead-end schools like SMU, UNLV, UTEP, Utah State, San Jose State and so forth -- has gone through five coaches as fast as Alabama.

Since Bear Bryant ascended directly into heaven on a dazzling white cloud, surrounded by a host of angels, the program flux has been ongoing. Only Gene Stallings has coached more than four years in Tuscaloosa without fleeing or being fired. Stallings lasted seven seasons in the 1990s, which now makes him look like Joe Paterno in terms of permanence.

Between the stability of Stallings and the turbulence of today, Alabama has been slammed with NCAA sanctions for buying an overweight, underproductive defensive lineman; scandalized by the indiscretions of first Mike DuBose, then Mike Price; dumped by Dennis Franchione, who convinced his players to "hold the rope" through probation but couldn't wait to drop it himself; and now it has fired the alum who helped drag the program through the toughest part of its penalty phase.

Somebody find the prestige in that recent run."

We can't, Pat, we can't.