What would Coach Fran have to say?
06/21/03
Once again, like so many times before, Dennis Franchione has artfully dodged the subject.
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While Alabama's baseball team was in College Station for the NCAA tournament, a small group of sportswriters met with Franchione to discuss his departure for Texas A&M. The deal was simple: It would be general conversation and none of the details would be published.
What did Jack Nicholson say in the movie "A Few Good Men?" "You can't handle the truth." Well, one has to wonder if the Alabama Nation could handle the truth from Franchione.
For now, it's easier to attack his name and smash the bobblehead dolls bearing his likeness than give him credit for making the most out of a vile situation. Unfortunately, most of that goodwill disintegrated when he left the program high and dry.
So many are left to imagine what Franchione would say if he spoke publicly about his bitter farewell.
Based on numerous conversations with various people involved with his departure, my guess is that Franchione's comments would be sharp, stinging and highly controversial, and Alabama's fresh wound caused by the last few months would only grow deeper.
I greatly suspect Franchione would say he was misled on a number of issues by school officials -- notably the NCAA, contract issues and the failure to implement needed and requested changes within the athletic department.
One major subject would undoubtedly concern Mal Moore, the Tide's beleaguered athletics director.
While the two were believed to have a warm personal relationship, there is a sense Franchione felt deep down that Moore was woefully ill-equipped and completely out of touch in his efforts to run a $40 million business on a daily basis. Many believe Moore was a great listener and offered a friendly shoulder to cry on during times of trouble. However, in terms of keeping the trains running on time, he was (and remains) a disaster.
Whether Alabama -- under Moore's leadership -- has the most dysfunctional athletic department in big-time college football is indeterminate. However, most likely, it's going to be posing for the group picture if they ever round up the leading candidates.
The odds are good that among the people Franchione would target would be Gene Marsh, the school's outgoing faculty rep, and Marie Robbins, who was the school's compliance officer.
There are strong indications Franchione felt blindsided (like everyone else) after the NCAA sanctions came down. It is also widely believed this caused a serious arroyo between Franchione and Marsh as well as Robbins.
The common belief is that Franchione felt a major blunder occurred when the school chose not to take a self-imposed bowl ban in 2001 (when the Tide went to the Independence Bowl). The combination of the failed appeal and the potential of looming problems in Memphis created more headaches and disquiet for the future.
It's unclear what Franchione would say in terms of his contentious contract negotiations with the school. Obviously, someone either with the administration or the pitiable Board of Trustees (probably both) became extremely difficult to deal with in the process. Remember, they tried to get Franchione to essentially agree to a non-compete clause for several years -- something most reasonable people believed was outrageous. It is be lieved the school tried to tag him with a ludicrous multi-million buyout clause -- way beyond today's orthodox of $1 million for top-flight coaches.
On the other hand, it would be interesting to see if Franchione would be candid about his difficulty of dealing with life in the fishbowl. Clearly, he didn't like the constant bright shining light of the media.
I suspect, if he gave a frank and open interview, Franchione would shoulder some of the blame and responsibility. He would probably admit it was a grave mistake not coming back to say farewell to his team. However, it's likely he would say the reason was because of death threats from anonymous fans and concern for the safety of his family.
In the end, there is plenty of blame to go around for Franchione's shameful departure. Some would accurately say it is water under the bridge. While Franchione shares responsibility, he is no longer the issue. He is long gone. Regrettably, many of the reasons for Alabama losing its most capable coach in years remain intact.
(Paul Finebaum's column appears Tuesday and Saturday in the Mobile Register. Contact him at [EMAIL PROTECTED])
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