M ark Gottfried should take a lesson from Mike Shula’s demise. Many fans lost confidence in Shula not only because of ineptness on the field, but because nobody had confidence Shula could fix what was wrong. In fact, Shula wasn’t even able to diagnose the problems. According to published reports, Shula didn’t even offer serious staff changes when confronted by his superiors. And Shula didn’t even seem to care.
What has Mark Gottfried’s response to the disasterous 2007 basketball season been? First, he was querulous about the team’s lack of attention. That was followed with annoyance at all the critical attention he and the team received as the team tanked. Then, with the season at an end, he gave a lame quote to the press about how everyone would be satisfied with a Western Division Crown.
I guess we’ll never know if he was right, since the team tanked again; instead of sharing the SEC Western Division Crown, Alabama finds itself in fifth place.
Gottfried looks like he can’t fix what’s wrong with the team. Futhermore, Gottfried seems non-chalant about every loss.
Fans hate to lose; Alabama fans hate to lose most of all. This relaxed attitude won’t cut it with fans. Gottfried would do well to show some emotion; he should let fans know he is as frustrated as they are. While Wimp Sanderson shouldn’t be a role model for every coach, he did know how to communicate with fans. When the team lost, nobody was angrier than Sanderson. You could see it in his eyes or his scowl, and come post-game press conference time, he would let the press know if things didn’t change sooner or later he’d quit coaching. That’s how pissed off he’d get.
What irks many fans is we simply don’t know how serious Gottfried takes this.
Does Gottfried care Alabama lost to MSU? Does Gottfried care about any of the other conference losses? If so, he should let the fans know it. Show some fire. Unlike Mike Shula, Gottfried is a good coach. But, he would do himself and the fans a favor by letting us know he hates to lose as much as we do.
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