Tide players in shock, vow to move forward

TUSCALOOSA | The University of Alabama football team’s world literally changed overnight.

The Crimson Tide gathered Sunday evening for what turned out to be the last time with Mike Shula as head coach. Before dawn on Monday, the news had already broken that Shula had been fired.

Sophomore quarterback John Parker Wilson found out late Sunday night from offensive coordinator Dave Rader.

“It was kind of a surprise because we weren’t expecting this when we found out,” Wilson said. “I talked to Coach Rader and he told me before anybody knew.

“It’s a tough situation for us, but we’ve just got to come together as a team. It’s an important time for our team right now, but I think it will help us come together.”

Shula met with Alabama players Sunday night to inform them of preparation and practice plans for a possible bowl game. They got assignments for returning to the weight room and were told they would return to practice Saturday for the first time since a Nov. 18 loss to Auburn to end the regular season.

By the time they were officially informed by UA Director of Athletics Mal Moore around noon Monday at the Paul W. Bryant Academic Center, most players were aware that Shula’s status had changed dramatically.

“Before the meeting I think most guys knew,” Wilson said. “I’m pretty sure 100 percent of the guys didn’t know. Some of them learned coming into the meeting.”

Most Alabama football players apparently never saw it coming. Even with a 6-6 season that ended with Shula’s fourth straight loss to archrival Auburn, the rising angst of Tide fans had not alarmed the team.

“I just feel like Coach Shula had complete, 100 percent control of the football team,” sophomore offensive lineman Antoine Caldwell said. “Maybe I’m kind of stupid. It’s almost like we didn’t go 10-2 last year and were No. 3 in the country at one point, but I thought he had the program going in the right direction.”

Said junior defensive end Wallace Gilberry, “I was shocked, quite devastated, for the simple fact that me and Coach Shula were friends on and off the field. I wouldn’t say I kind of sensed it.

“I was definitely surprised by the fact that Coach Shula won’t be our coach anymore, but life goes on. You move on. It’s a business. You’ve got to take the good with the bad.”

The UA program is going through its fifth coaching search in the last 10 years, its fourth since the end of the 2000 season and its third since the end of the 2002 season. The players realize this is a time of turmoil.

“As I recall, there’s been four new coaches in the last five years,” Gilberry said, “so it shouldn’t be a surprise. Right now, that’s what Alabama is known for, but I’m sure somebody will come along and be the right fit.

“I wish it had been Coach Shula, but it wasn’t.”

For now, Gilberry concedes the program can’t be considered stable.

“How could you?” he said. “We don’t have a boss right now.”

Interim coach Joe Kines, Alabama’s defensive coordinator for the last four seasons, has been charged with keeping the team together. He will lead the Tide to a bowl game, if Alabama receives a bid, and work to keep players on track academically and in the weight room.

“The only thing we know right know is Coach Kines is the interim coach right now and he’s going to take us through the bowl,” Wilson said.

The possibility of a bowl game will play an important part in keeping players focused during the coaching search.

“We’re hoping for a bowl and the chance to keep practicing,” Wilson said. “We’re just worried about the players right now and the team and keeping everybody together.”

The players believe returning to the practice field by the weekend will be good therapy.

“I just feel like the more this team can be around each other, the more unified we’ll be,” Caldwell said. “Coach Shula would probably like nothing more than for us to win the bowl game and get back on track.”

Wilson is sure that the shock of Monday’s announcement will wear off soon.

“Everybody is a little emotional right now,” he said. “We’ve just got to concentrate on moving forward.”

Gilberry believes that the future will be bright no matter who is hired as Alabama’s next coach.

“I feel confident with the guys in our locker room right now that we can go out next year and win big,” he said.

Reach Tommy Deas at tommy.deas@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0224.