| FTBL Fran left Bama in large part because...

[Guest]

He was afraid that he could not win here. We got hammered by the NCAA in February of 2002 and he knew that the probation was going to hurt us.

What is really interesting is that since he went to TAMU where there was no NCAA probation and great recruiting grounds (TAMU has ranked higher in recruiting than us), TAMU has won 31 games.

We are on our 3rd coach since he left, suffered NCAA probation and had recruiting that ranked in the bottom half of the SEC, and over that same period we have won 32 games.

Fran at TAMU with no problems = 31 wins

Bama with a horror story = 32 wins.

It is my opinion that Fran was hurt badly by the way he left here. He lost something...maybe it was his fire or his drive...I don't know...but I believe when he ran from the challenge, he lost confidence in himself and ceased to be a great or even good coach.

Some people think he was never that good...I disagree. His offense was tops in the SEC and his defense with Torbush in 2002 was one of the best in the nation (I think we finished the season #2 or #3 in the nation giving up ~ 15ppg). Bad coaches don't produce that level of performance even one season.

I do believe that Fran was a very good coach when he was at Bama...and he is worse than mediocre now. Something definitely happened. Maybe the pressure to perform at that level consistently was too great for him given his methodology...

What are your thoughts on the Franchione collapse?

 

[Colin]

What is really interesting is that since he went to TAMU where there was no NCAA probation and great recruiting grounds (TAMU has ranked higher in recruiting than us), TAMU has won 31 games.

Has ranked higher than us ? Yes. Is ranked higher than us? No. (not defending fran, just trying to defend our recruiting rank)

 

[Guest]

I think that it was a character issue. aTm collapsed in his first seasom there because their guys saw him for the phony that he is. It is hard to lay it all on the line for a coach that you don't respect.

 

[SpecThis]

Fran was a coward....and i really can't help but to wish him the worst at every school he coaches.

 

[Kanjweld]

It was the curse! People think those LSWho cajuns have the voo Doo power but dat some powerful stuff da Bama folks put on dat slimy Fran-chone when he left.

 

[Kirk Van de Graaff]

He was afraid that he could not win here. We got hammered by the NCAA in February of 2002 and he knew that the probation was going to hurt us.

What is really interesting is that since he went to TAMU where there was no NCAA probation and great recruiting grounds (TAMU has ranked higher in recruiting than us), TAMU has won 31 games.

We are on our 3rd coach since he left, suffered NCAA probation and had recruiting that ranked in the bottom half of the SEC, and over that same period we have won 32 games.

Fran at TAMU with no problems = 31 wins

Bama with a horror story = 32 wins.

It is my opinion that Fran was hurt badly by the way he left here. He lost something...maybe it was his fire or his drive...I don't know...but I believe when he ran from the challenge, he lost confidence in himself and ceased to be a great or even good coach.

Some people think he was never that good...I disagree. His offense was tops in the SEC and his defense with Torbush in 2002 was one of the best in the nation (I think we finished the season #2 or #3 in the nation giving up ~ 15ppg). Bad coaches don't produce that level of performance even one season.

I do believe that Fran was a very good coach when he was at Bama...and he is worse than mediocre now. Something definitely happened. Maybe the pressure to perform at that level consistently was too great for him given his methodology...

What are your thoughts on the Franchione collapse?

Respect from his peers.

 

[BigAl]

fRan was/is a snake oil salesman when people dont practice what they preach it dont take long for the congregation to fall apart. Hold The Rope.

 

[pimpsahoy]

I wonder if he was really honest with himself if he would admit that leaving Alabama was a terrible decision.

IMO he made a huge miscalculation in leaving. Had he in fact not been able to win after his 4th or 5th season and been fired, he would have easily landed a job on par with A&M. He could have used the probation as a valid excuse for his failures and somebody would have bought it and hired him.

In the end he made a few million more in the short run but I think he cost himself a lot more over the course of his career.

He doesn't seem like the type to admit that he made a huge mistake but he did.

(BTW he inherited a ton of talent at Bama, most of it paid for, but there were some great college players on those teams. He never proved anywhere that he could recruit at a NC level and sustain a program in the long run. He was a partially unproven coach who was a little overrated and now he's been exposed.)