⚾ 🥎 Greg Goff fired as Alabama baseball coach

I don't know about you all, but I like the decisiveness of our AD. Based on his observations, he was behind him. Based on his observations, he made a tough decision to cut him and continually pay him for possibly four more years.

Saban better produce or he could be on the block. :rolf:
 
OldPlayer said:
I don't know about you all, but I like the decisiveness of our AD.
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I was reminded of something Jeremy Foley said some 15 years ago when he fired Ron Zook. It was along the lines of knowing what needed to happen eventually, but it was/should be done immediately. I know Foley usurped Kissinger with the statement to the media that day, but the quote is attributed to him moreso than Kissinger.
 
12gage said:
What follows is the text of the letter I sent to Athletic Director Greg Byrne. I have only edited out my personal contact information. I am by no means anonymous, but let’s not make it too easy, eh?




Dear Mr. Byrne,

Let me begin by first telling you that the Alabama community absolutely understands the impossible situation in which you have been placed. In athletics, as with many professions, new management is very often saddled with underperforming personnel, administrators, coaches, and programs for which they had no input and bear little love. Nevertheless, as professionals, we forge ahead, mindful of that fact that our personal feelings on an antecedent hire still affects scores of people’s livelihoods, and, in your case, the well-being of young adults, their educations, and their families. Few competent professionals in the public sector want to make their initial impact felt by cleaning house or making a highly-publicized firing. Yours is a risk-averse profession in a field where too many irrational, mercurial voices urge you to imprudence.

Keeping those things in mind, Alabama baseball coach Greg Goff must be terminated, and he must be terminated immediately.

I say this not as fan of the program or the sport, although I am that. I say that as an alum, a father of a college student, a Tuscaloosan, and as someone who loves the University — every blade of grass, every brick — more than almost anything on this earth. And, I say this as someone with a louder voice than most.


In his short tenure, Coach Goff has managed to take a competent-but-underperforming baseball program and reduce it to cinders. The ashes come not just from the execrable product he has put on the field, but from the bridges that he has burned, interpersonally and professionally, in less than a year.


—

Bear in mind, I speak only from first-hand experience: I am not merely repeating innuendo, nor engaging in vicious rumor-mongering:

He has managed to alienate first-round caliber draft picks; he has lost the faith (and allegiance) of several committed recruits with his caustic personality and inflexibility. I have heard from high school coaches in this state where he has damaged the ability of Alabama to recruit, including one memorable instance where he and his staff have been labeled persona non grata and shall be told they are no longer welcome should the occasion arise.


He has shorted alums of the programs, seeming to go out of the way to ignore or actively offend those who would be program ambassadors. He not integrated himself into the university community (and has made no attempt to do so.) There is never a question, even in other non-revenue sports, that the coaches see themselves as an integral part of the university and athletic community — they are, to use a Catholic analogy, known by their works.

And, it is Goff’s works that trouble me profoundly.

Pick a coach at random, any one of them: Coach Avery Johnson, Coach Jay Sewell, Coach Dana Duckworth, Coach Nick Saban, and listen to their words, watch their deeds. They see themselves rightly as important mentors and parental surrogates to their student-athletes.


In addition to honing athletic acumen, that mentorship has civic and moral dimensions. Part of that mentorship is valuing and encouraging the educational development of their charges. Go back to any Greg Goff interview over the past 11 months and see if you can find one holistic mention of these student-athletes as more than players; as persons, as students, as growing professionals. You won’t.

You will, however, find countless instances — most of which have been televised, where this man has been nothing less than a petit tyrant; worse, has been a tyrant with poor judgment.

—

It is a pattern and practice of very loudly denigrating, cursing at, and otherwise exploding towards teenagers, even when they succeed. Not one person on this team deserves the personal insults hurled at them from a profane supposed-adult. Embarrassingly for the University, and in what surely must be a first, he directed a profane tirade at SEC officials after a game sufficient to earn a suspension for the following game. In any competitive venture, tempers flare and harsh words are spoken. I know that. But when they are the corpus of your persona they reflect not just poorly upon yourself, but upon everyone associated with the program.

It is the random team meetings following a loss where he threatens scholarships because “they are messing with his money.” It is the team meetings demanding what amounts to a loyalty oath.

It is withholding, mislaying, or misappropriating meager travel per diem for reasons known only to Goff. I, among others, would be very curious to see an accurate accounting of the program revenue.


It is the cutting corners, mislaying, withholding or misappropriating equipment for the team, such that bats must be shared and other apparel or equipment becomes a scarcity, when it even appears. Why? We simply do not know.

It is imposing travel hardships upon students based upon his preferences, fears, or a wish to horde cold, hard cash. Why? We simply do not know.

It is the plummeting fan attendance and season ticket sales. It is not that Alabama fans are not interested in baseball; to the contrary, we want a program to believe in and to cheer for. At the same time, we have voted with our wallets and our attendance: it is a cast-ballot that shall grow louder as we stay away in droves and revenue becomes increasingly scarce.

It is not heeding the growing bodies in which he has charge over: it is the exorbitant pitch counts on 18- and 19-year old kids (and 100+ pitch bullpen “warmups); it is ignoring their voices as to what they physically can and cannot do. Injuries can and do happen; so too can they be mitigated. He has failed to do the latter, and that represents significant potential liability to the University. Why has he done so? A divining rod would be of equal use as his press conferences.

It is micromanaging students’ existence with petty rules to the point where their development as kids is ignored, their relationships suffer, and they become little more than homunculi dancing upon the string of a weak man.


It is the association with NCAA rules violations, particularly with respect to ensuring academic eligibility of junior college transfers. There was a pending NCAA case against Campbell University when he was hired. As a result of that investigation, last August the Committee on Infractions vacated all wins Goff’s baseball program accrued between 2010-2014. Alabama, needless to say, is one of the most scrutinized athletics programs in the country, and is a repeated monitored for missteps, real or perceived. Knowing that, how this man, who already did not have the coaching pedigree for an SEC program, was allowed to have a job at Alabama (of all places) being associated with a program with pending NCAA violations is simply mind-blowing. Moreover, how this has not triggered a for-cause termination is staggering.

Last, and perhaps worst, it is the constant threat of revoking scholarships (or actually doing so soon) based upon performance or caprice in favor of, and because of, overcommitment to recruits and junior college prospects — “his guys”: A practice as flatly prohibited as it is morally repugnant. Bearing that, keep an eye on the program over the coming days. See how many dread “violations of team rules” you see come down the pipe, and how many of these will be Mitch Gaspard recruits, despite there being no documented academic or misconduct suspensions preceding them — players like Chandler Taylor, Jake Walters, Chandler Avant. None of these students will go on record as yet. They hold out hope, perhaps vainly, that this man will do the right thing.

So, too, should you keep that in mind when people in the program or administrators who had an input on this hire, try and sell you the “we’re close” mantra. I need hardly tell you that releasing five-of-six scholarship performers, including an all-SEC player, would hardly show a commitment to winning those games. It would be a purge. And this purge would arise because Goff, in his small-minded insecurity, would be selling one set of prospects a bill of goods, while simultaneously destroying the educational opportunities of persons who have made this institution their home — those players who just so happen to both be the best performers and ones that preceded his arrival. For someone who has displayed so little concern for education and the well-being of student-athletes, that he would impose that hardship and disruption upon they and their family should hardly come as a surprise.

None of these are tough love; they are not coaching: they are part of a campaign of terror. Worse, in an era where the zeitgeist increasingly favors a balancing of student-program obligations and rights, it is a throwback to a darker time where student-athletes were little more than pawns for abusive, duplicitous adults who wish to win at any cost. These are not the values that anyone in the University should celebrate, foster, or compensate.

Keep an eye on the program; keep an ear to the ground; keep your office open — people want to speak about these and many more issues, and will do so if invited.


—

Your phone, in-box, and in-tray will be undoubtedly crammed over the coming days and weeks as you evaluate the state of the baseball program with correspondence from boosters, ticket holders, students and other stakeholders in and around the program. That correspondence will surely address the whyfors of how Goff is not a suitable coach. Incidentally, they will mostly be correct — he is simply not a good enough game manager, developmental coach, or recruiter to have a job in the nation’s premiere baseball conference.

The mere fact that he is not a good coach is not enough, however. It is that he is not a role model, a mentor, an ambassador for Alabama or the sport. I would not send my child to Alabama to participate in this program, and that is about the damning indictment I can make.

The University of Alabama can handle the losses; we’ve gotten through bad times before. But, what the program cannot survive is the destruction of goodwill in the baseball community, the exposure to liability he represents, the damage to recruiting pipelines, the alienation of alumni, the loss of donations from boosters, the support of students, and the hard-earned money of fans. The program cannot survive season-after-season of a beautifully-renovated $42 million dollar facility that has become little more than a mausoleum, a sad-but-hopeful monument to what could be. In short, what the program cannot survive is the loss of its credibility, credibility I fear that is already evaporating.

Again, you bear no fault for any of these things, Mr. Byrne. A change was required in the baseball program. However, Coach Battle was dealing with his own issues and likely (and understandably) had one foot out the door to a well-earned retirement after faithfully serving the University. To that, he also received terrible counsel from those within the administration: no “baseball person” had Goff on their radar for this job, for a reason. So, we do not personally fault him either: thus it is as ever the king’s court, and not the king.

However, the baseball program does now become your responsibility.


There is not a single contingent of Alabama fans, students, alums, boosters and if polled, even players, that will fault you for making the hard decision that you must. In fact, you will earn inestimable goodwill by doing so and by then carefully, patiently making an appropriate hire, one that should have been made a year ago. Your reputation as an aggressive, savvy athletic director precedes you. We hope to see that reputation borne out in the coming days.

I thank you in advance for your time and consideration, and am available to speak with you should you wish. Please know that the criticisms I lay come not from malice but from love for my alma mater and my concern for these students, who -- like you -- have done nothing to earn their present lot.

I am,

Very truly yours,



Erik Evans, ‘98, ‘00

EDITORIAL: An open letter to Alabama Athletic Director Greg Byrne: Greg Goff has to go.
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Damn.........you got more pull than the rubber in a fat girls underwear.
 
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The plan was for Greg Byrne to have a full year on the job before making a definitive call on UA baseball coach Greg Goff.

The plan was for Greg Byrne, the freshly-minted director of athletics at the University of Alabama, to have a full year on the job before making a definitive call on UA baseball coach Greg Goff, who just wrapped up a debut campaign that saw the Crimson Tide post a 5-24-1 mark in SEC play that wasn't on the right side of history.

The process accelerated by a year on Wednesday, however, when Byrne relieved Goff of his duties, citing the "right thing for the longterm health of the program" as the reason for the change.

All of this, of course, reached a tipping point after Goff attempted to rescind scholarship money from multiple players on the current roster, a group that included three draft-eligible position starters and a draft-eligible weekend starting pitcher.

While there were other issues in play with Goff, a no-nonsense coach who didn't seem overly concerned about the personal touch the job requires these days, his most recent attempt at roster management becoming public via a Tuscaloosa News report ultimately led to his dismissal.

First, some background as it relates to the aforementioned roster management.

Tending to the roster in machete-like fashion was allowed as recently as 2014. Since 2015, however, it's been outlawed among Power Five programs, per the NCAA.

In an effort to eliminate the sausage making aspect of roster attrition in college baseball, the sport's governing body offered four-year scholarship protection to student-athletes who were previously subjected to having their aid either reduced or rescinded entirely on annual basis.

One is left to wonder if Goff, who wasn't limited by the new rule during his time at Louisiana Tech, or UA (or both) didn't get the memo or, if he/they did, he/they didn't act accordingly when concerns about scholarship revocation first started. On that I'm not clear, although it was interesting to note that Goff walked away from Alabama with the remaining base salary on a contract that was $1.06 million away from being completed.

Here's guessing that going the legal route to fire Goff with cause -- and owe him nothing in the process -- was deemed a no-win by UA. With that, avoid sanctions that might have come for both parties in a cause-related firing and send Goff on his way with $1.51 million for 11 months work.

Regardless, between the potential for a rules infraction and a parental uprising that would test even Morris Buttermaker, Byrne determined that it was time for Goff to go.

So here Alabama baseball is once again, in the market for a new coach less than a year after Goff was introduced by former director of athletics Bill Battle at a press conference inside Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

What should UA fans expect from Byrne's first coaching search on the job? While at Mississippi State, Byrne was able to lure Tuscaloosa native John Cohen, now the director of athletics at State, to Starkville from Kentucky. During his stint at Arizona, Byrne hired former Nevada coach Jay Johnson, who led the Wildcats to a 49-24 mark and runner-up finish in the 2016 College World Series during his first season the job.

While Byrne outlined scenarios involving assistant coaches advancing to head jobs during his Wednesday news conference, his hires at State and Arizona should have Alabama fans optimistic about the kind of hire he is capable of pulling off.

Realistically speaking, a list of candidates similar to what produced Goff in 2016 would be a good bet. That means top Power Five assistants, Group of Five and mid-major head coaches and perhaps even a Power Five head guy or two.

Last year, it came down to Goff, East Carolina coach Cliff Godwin and then-Tulane coach David Pierce. I was told that Godwin didn't exactly win the interview. Meanwhile, Pierce, who eventually moved on to Texas, seemed intent on slow playing UA. With that, Goff got the green light after wowing Battle during the interview process.

Similar to a year ago, the question for any viable candidate will almost certainly be, given the current restrictions confronting the Alabama baseball program, what exactly is the ceiling for the Crimson Tide on the diamond? That question has everything to do with a recruiting stream that is all but limited to the 11.7 scholarships allowed by the NCAA and the restrictive nature of the new rule eliminating scholarship manipulation.

Investing $40 million into Sewell-Thomas Stadium was money well spent by Alabama (well, other than the fact that it might not see much in the way of postseason work). In addition to being attractive to the fanbase, candidates will no doubt love what The Joe has to offer to prospective recruits.

That said, that hard 11.7 scholarship number, one that isn't offset by the kind of institutional and lottery-based aid that many SEC program benefit from, doesn't appear to be going away anytime soon. Combine that with the inability to make roster adjustments in the wake of recruiting misses and coaches at Alabama and Auburn are walking a tightrope in recruiting unlike any other coaches in the SEC.

And that's why the junior college-heavy recruiting approach being taken by AU coach Butch Thompson is likely the right one to employ at Alabama. Ironically, it's the same one Goff was trying to implement at UA and a big reason why the Crimson Tide was over-extended as far as scholarships go for 2018.

In an era when programs are offering scholarships to ninth graders, the Tide and Tigers don't have the luxury of being wrong on a kid who may or may not be SEC-caliber by the time he hits campus. Miss on more than a few of those at Alabama and Auburn and there's no getting that money back for four years.

Instead, it's wiser for the duo to concede the vast majority of those kids to the likes of Florida, LSU and South Carolina, all of whom benefit from additional forms of aid outside the 11.7. In other words, player development is a more sensible approach for those who are essentially working with a good bit more scholarship-caliber talent. For every kid who needs time to develop at UF and LSU, each has another who is ready to make an impact right now.

As Thompson has done at AU, the junior college ranks make more sense for the state's two SEC programs. Yes, the Major League Baseball Draft makes it somewhat of a risky proposition. But not as much as putting 50 percent of a ride into 15-year-old who may very well max out in high school.

This isn't to say going JUCO heavy will once again make College World Series appearances a regular thing at Alabama. Hell, given the current setup, which makes it extremely difficult for UA to add and subtract personnel as needed, I'm not sure Omaha once every decade is a realistic goal, regardless of the approach.

Winning 35-plus games and qualifying for the SEC Tournament is doable, though. That would be good enough to keep UA regional relevant on a regular basis -- and it should be enough to keep the next guy employed.

For an Alabama program that got a good glimpse of the floor in 2017, just being in the mix for regional play seems as high as a cathedral ceiling. On a positive note, some of the pieces needed to make it happen are already in place.

It's the access to multiple recruiting streams that take a program from a regional to a Super Regional and beyond that are currently missing -- and unlikely to be available in the foreseeable future. While UA could make some changes at the institutional level (out-of-state waivers) to help the program, most of the deficits it is working with in baseball can't be fixed with money and mortar.

Instead, whether it's junior college or high school prospects are some combination of both, the Crimson Tide will have to choose very wisely. None will be bigger than Byrne's first hire at Alabama.

Alabama Crimson Tide baseball Greg Byrne Greg Goff
 
16Champs said:
Last year, it came down to Goff, East Carolina coach Cliff Godwin and then-Tulane coach David Pierce. I was told that Godwin didn't exactly win the interview. Meanwhile, Pierce, who eventually moved on to Texas, seemed intent on slow playing UA. With that, Goff got the green light after wowing Battle during the interview process.
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This statement doesn't sit well with me. It only tells a small portion of the story and I don't understand why it would be worded in this fashion.

Look. It was Battle's final call as Athletic Director. So, the proverbial buck does stop with him. But, this interview process isn't being told correctly as I understand the story.

For one, Goff was hired in June which was a couple of days before Battle took a leave of absence to undergo stem cell transplantation. While Battle did oversee the Athletic Department, the interview process(es) went through people below him in the department--people like Almond.

Seriously, consider this from a logic standpoint. How involved was Battle with the interviews when he was dealing with cancer at the time? Very little, to say the least. While the final decision was his, one has to take into account the pool of candidates that were submitted.
 
OldPlayer said:
I don't know about you all, but I like the decisiveness of our AD. Based on his observations, he was behind him. Based on his observations, he made a tough decision to cut him and continually pay him for possibly four more years.

Saban better produce or he could be on the block. :rolf:
Click to expand...

If he was doing something in violation of NCAA regulations (like reneging on scholarships), that could be a basis to forgo the balance of his contract.
 
It Takes Eleven said:
If he was doing something in violation of NCAA regulations (like reneging on scholarships), that could be a basis to forgo the balance of his contract.
Click to expand...

From the article: "Byrne said Alabama is dismissing Goff without cause and that the university is on the hook for the remaining portion of the contract, which lasts for four more years."
 

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