RIP Mal Moore

Effective immediately, citing health concerns (he had a major heart scare last week). Will become a special adviser to the university president.

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/03/alabama_athletics_director_mal.html

As someone who has followed Alabama football closely for 30-some years, I can tell you Mal was viewed as a bumbling boob for most of his assistant-coaching and AD career. Then he hired Nick Saban, and that totally changed his legacy.

 

Re: Alabama AD Mal Moore stepping down

And he did spearhead the fundraising campaign to rehabilitate UA's facilities. Another feather in his cap.

 

Re: Alabama AD Mal Moore stepping down

The view from across the state line about Bama sports is that football will be fairly low maintenance for the new AD, as long as Saban is the coach. Therefore, the new AD's immediate concern is to assess whether Anthony Grant and Mitch Gaspard are keepers with men's basketball and baseball, respectively.

IMO, the Tide underachieved on the court this season, and even an NIT championship might not quiet the restless natives. Gaspard took Bama to back-to-back regionals in his first two years (and the super-regional in 2010), with Jim Wells' recruits, but they're trending downward the last year-plus: 21-34 last year and 13-9 so far this year.

Although they are way behind football in importance to the average Tide fans, they do take those sports seriously, and will not long tolerate losing in either one. Bama also takes a fair amount of pride in some of its highly successful minor sports (gymnastics, track, etc.) and the new AD will be expected to maintain that level of success.

That should keep him or her busy until it's time for the really big decision that will make or break him/her: hiring Saban's replacement.

 

Re: Alabama AD Mal Moore stepping down

Why was Malfeasance so special? He made one good hire, but had two major flukes along the way.
1) If Mike Price doesn't fuck up, goes 52-14 in his five years at Alabama without a national title, Malfeasance doesn't get the chance to hire Nick Saban -- who goes elsewhere because he's still got the itch to get out of the NFL -- but Bama's locked into a coach who probably goes 29-6 in the Mike Shula era.
2) If Rita Rodriguez doesn't get her panties in a wad over mall hair and other talk radio trash, DickRod is the coach at Bama thru 2009 if not now.
3) Still think he raises all those funds without three national titles? With Mike Price and DickRod as his coaches? If football sucks, do you think the trickledown feelgood goes to Foster Auditorium or Coleman Coliseum?

And Malfeasance is a super genius? Nope. He was an average AD who won two flips of the coin with fate.

 

Re: Alabama AD Mal Moore stepping down

Ten football championship rings, mostly on blind luck.

Ladies and gentleman, meet Forrest Gump.

 

Re: Alabama AD Mal Moore stepping down

I don't deal in hypotheticals, but one you forgot was Tim Tebow. Mike Shula lands the big fish from Florida and there's no Nick Saban. Miami signs Drew Brees instead of Daunte Culpepper and there's no Nick Saban. A planet of hot women kidnaps Nick Saban to use his brain to replace their computer, which controls their planet's functions. And there's no Nick Saban.

He was flawed. Mike DuBose didn't deserve the head coaching gig and shouldn't have gotten a second chance. As a result of hiring DuBose, the NCAA probation has to be part of Mal's legacy too. He should've done his due diligence with Mike Price, who was a drunk the moment he arrived on campus. He had no choice with Mike Shula. Sly Croom would've been about the same.

He held onto to Mark Gottfried too long. The Mitch Gaspard hire is turning out to look like a failure. The jury is still out on Anthony Grant, but I think once he gets a shooter or two in the lineup, they'll be more competitive.

But Mal was still better than Bockrath. He's the last of the "old coach" ADs that once populated college athletics like Skip Bertman or Vince Dooley. It's a multi-million dollar business and they need a CEO to run it properly.

 

Re: Alabama AD Mal Moore stepping down

When is Alabama gonna' get rid of that dump of a basketball arena? Pitt, Maryland, USC, aTm, Miami and Missouri all get new buildings in the past decade and Bama still plays in a place that looked like a volunteer fire hall when Wimp Sanderson was coach.

 

Re: Alabama AD Mal Moore stepping down

It's been extensively renovated in the past few years and is actually quite nice. When I was in school there, it was a dump for sure.

 

Re: Alabama AD Mal Moore stepping down

Former UT coach Bill Battle getting the job? Really?

 

Re: Alabama AD Mal Moore stepping down

Yep. He played at Alabama in the early 60s, but more importantly, he's managed a multi-million-dollar company. Battle founded Collegiate Licensing Company, which is responsible for those little hologram tags on all "officially licensed" college apparel.

 

Re: Alabama AD Mal Moore stepping down

I didn't remember Battle for being that great a coach at Tennessee, but now I see that he went 59-22-2 in seven seasons. Good record, and especially back in that era of Bama dominance and Vols being nothing special as a program.