Athletic Director Mal Moore sees good things ahead for UA

It’s good to be Mal Moore these days. Take last weekend for example. After spending the better part of a week with colleagues at the Sundestin Beach Hilton for the annual Spring SEC Meetings, family and friends were on hand to see Moore recognized as one of two 2007 Distinguished Alabama Sportsmen at the 39th Annual Alabama Sports Hall of Fame Induction Banquet.

Toping it off, Monday he welcomed a number of fellow football legends at the Crimson Tide Celebrity Golf Classic at the NorthRiver Yacht Club. Due to the time constraints, Moore wasn’t able to tee it up himself, but didn’t let that dampen his sprits any.

Can you blame him for looking like the poster child for the slogan “the cat that ate the canary?"

Although Alabama came close to hiring Rich Rodriguez and Bobby Petrino to be its next football coach, Moore pulled off a huge coup by hiring away Nick Saban from the Miami Dolphins on Jan. 3.

Since then, his detractors, mostly in the Florida and national media, who felt Saban’s average salary of $4 million was excessive, have been drowned out by the Tide faithful, who filled Bryant-Denny Stadium on A-Day and for the first time in years sense potential greatness for the football program, and other teams as well, on the horizon.

Moore, on the verge of starting his 40th year in association with the school, likes what he sees as well.

The improved facilities are in place, the overall expectations are at an all-time high, and soon there will not be any excuse for lack of success.

Before departing from Destin, Moore sat down with The Tuscaloosa News to discuss this past year, along with the present and future of Alabama athletics.

It should also surprise no one the one time his eyes lit up like a child on Christmas morning was the first question specific to Saban:

Obviously we just finished the 2006-07 school year. Was it a good year for Alabama athletics?

“Well, in a lot of ways, we made some progress in areas, but we didn’t win championships like we expect or want to – the coaches expect, the players expect. We came off probation in football and that is a huge leap for us to get past that. We made real strides, I think, during a very difficult time, with the facilities, all of that is in place now. We’re all aware, the coaches are aware, the players are aware, that we’re positioned with this now, the academic center, the weight room, everything.

“We all recognize that we’re now in position that we can compete with anyone in recruiting. I’ve said to coaches, many times when I’m speaking, and when I’m around and about, we should expect, the coaches should, I should, our alumni, our president, everyone should expect positive results from this, and will. I think it’s an exciting time for Alabama, and for the future down the road at Alabama."

Given that, was there a high point and a low point that stands out to you from this past year?

“This was a tough year, making the coaching change, there’s no question that takes away. There were high expectations for our basketball program. We had injury problems there yet the team still won 20 games under those circumstances, and they were very awkward circumstances.

“The softball team won the SEC championship a year ago and made it to the super regional with a young team. I think they only have one senior, so there are positive things down the way. Jim Wells won the SEC championship last year and had kind of a down year for him, but I’m very pleased with their efforts. Sarah Patterson, the gymnastics team is a very young team. I’m very pleased with Billy Pate and men’s tennis. They made the top 16, so that program is on the [rise]. So good things are coming, and will happen."

Because of the coaching change in football, fans in particular seem to be talking about the disappointing finishes in basketball, both men and women. Does that match your feelings?

“I understand that all of our expectations, the coaches too, it was a difficult year for both programs. I feel confident that both coaches, particularly the women’s program there’s a change there and a total kind of rebuilding from scratch. They work at it mighty hard, and I think they’ll make a difference."

Almost six months ago you bought in Nick Saban to run the football program. As you look back, what goes through your mind?

“I’ve always, from afar, watching his teams play, felt they were extremely well coached football teams. He’s won championships, and my following was when he was at LSU. Watching him work at Alabama, recruit, organize and set up, it’s been amazing. The effort that he puts into recruiting, that he puts into every aspect of football is a thoroughly thought-through plan and executed. I’m very pleased with the direction that’s going."

But did Saban’s addition also signal a different way of doing things of sorts on the administrative level, that there would be a single, cohesive voice for the program?

“No question, the head coach of each sport and particularly football, always, their responsibility is to run that program, to hire the coaches, to recruit the athletes, to select the athletes. That is the power strength of that position. It’s the way it should be, the way it’s always been. That’s their expertise, their strength, and I think Coach Saban will be very good at what he does."

What do you say to your critics regarding Saban’s salary, making him the highest-paid coach in college football?

“It is [a lot], but we looked at the market and around the country, what other coaches are making, Oklahoma, Iowa and Notre Dame, all over, and I think it’s within that market range. I think the hire was very crucial at this time in our history and I’m glad that Coach Saban decided to come with us."

I have to ask, so what was it like on A-Day when you saw 92,138 people at Bryant-Denny Stadium?

“Without question it amazed. I was as stunned as anyone else. We normally have 35 to 40,000 people. Just from out and about, speaking and so forth, everyone I bumped into said they were coming to the A-Day game, so I was expecting 55 to 60,000, possibly 70. But I never dreamed that it would go the number that it did, and the number that we turned away was staggering. But I think for our fans, it was an opportunity to say to Coach Saban and his staff and all the players how excited they were and how proud they were that Coach Saban chose to come with us."

Were you tempted at halftime to order a new upper deck for the south end zone?

“[Laughs] you’re always looking four or five years down the way, you try and set your plans for all of that. No question that makes you think. The waiting list for tickets, the Tide Pride tickets, you look at all that. But I think the thing that makes you think stronger is Dr. Witt and the university driving the enrollment to 28,000. He’s broken the enrollment record at the university the last three years in a row.

“When a young lady, a freshman, orders her football tickets and doesn’t get them, her mother calls me. Our future is the students, of course. I think a year ago we added 3,000 additional seats for the students and it continues to grow. Certainly we have to look at that."

Do you think it’s going to happen in the next few years?

“That I don’t know, but the president and I have talked about, I’ll say that."

So what’s next for Mal Moore and for Alabama athletics?

“I’m excited about the university of Alabama in general and particularly the athletic department. There’s an excitement level on our campus that I’ve never seen and I think it will positively affect us in every area. I want to enjoy that a year or two, or three, and there are a lot of things that I still want to do and need to be accomplished and we’re working hard at that. Every day’s a challenge. Without a doubt, there’s a crisis a day, so to speak, and that makes it interesting and exciting and fun for me."

Reach Christopher Walsh at christopher.walsh@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0196.