Let the Tubby Smith to Alabama rumors officially begin

by GopherNation on Jan 26, 2009 5:32 PM CST Comment 25 comments

Mark Gottfried was fired this afternoon. There have been rumors for the last few weeks that Tubby would be a "perfect fit" or even just a candidate for the job in Alabama. If you take a look at the comment section over at Roll 'Bama Roll, Tubby's name comes up in three comments. Some will be for him and others will believe that if he wasn't good enough for Kentucky fans he's not good enough for 'Bama fans. The rumors will persist from now till Tubby publically denies it or Alabama hires someone else.

Personally, I will be shocked if Tubby leaves for a destination like Alabama. Not that the Tide would be a bad job but is it really much better than Minnesota? Even if you feel it is better, they are really in the same tier of basketball jobs.

Ultimately I get a strong feeling that Tubby is no longer in the business of moving from job to job trying to climb the ladder. He's done that and he has been around long enough to know that ultimately what matters is getting in a place you are appreciate and can build a legacy. He might have that at Alabama but he clearly has it here. Maybe leaves in the near future for a top tier job. I would be shocked if that move is to Alabama.

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That is terrible news.

I saw online that Gottfried was paid at least $1 million a year. I know Bama pays Saban an insane amount of money. If their boosters pooled together 2-3 million per year for Tubby, would Tubby go?

Would you (the generic, rhetorical you) go? I think so.

Let’s not forget that Tubby and his family (one son at KU, one son currently at Ole Miss) have been in the SEC for a very long time. Who knows if Tubby would go back there?

by JG2112 on Jan 26, 2009 8:48 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

He Will Not Go There

All 3 of Tubby’s sons played in the SEC. Brian graduated from Ole Miss last year.

Saul played at UK from 1997-2001. GG played at Georgia from 1995-99.

by FortyYearCatFan on Jan 27, 2009 6:06 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

And here are your Top 5 reasons why Tubby would go to Bama

5) Alabama’s sterling record of race relations.
4) Alabama is full of patient, understanding fans.
3) Everyone in Minnesota hates Tubby.
2) Minnesota is a terrible program that’s in decline.
1) Alabama is a basketball school.

by WhiteSpeedReceiver on Jan 27, 2009 9:02 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

I agree with all your points...

…but I’ll give you the true number one reason Tubby would go to Alabama:

(1) A 5-year, $20 million contract with an iron-clad buyout clause, and a “successor” clause that Saul Smith takes over the program at the end of the deal.

by JG2112 on Jan 27, 2009 9:09 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Not sure about that...

I know that Alabama has a lot of boosters—but I don’t think they are going to put that much money towards a basketball coach. Nor do I think any sort of successor clause would ever happen because I don’t think a school would put themselves in that sort of position

by rencito on Jan 27, 2009 9:34 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

You sure about that?

…see Pat Knight at Texas Tech.

And, if Alabama wants Tubby Smith, they’ll pay for Tubby Smith. Alabama wanted Nick Saban, and they got Nick Saban.

by JG2112 on Jan 27, 2009 9:36 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Different Economic Climate

I don’t think the boosters have as much free cash lying around to pour money into a coach for what they consider to be a minor sport in Alabama.

by rencito on Jan 27, 2009 9:38 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Between...

…shoe deals, camps, radio show, use of automobiles, free tickets to football and baseball, “marketing deals” (I’ve learned Tom Crean makes $1.4 million a year at Indiana through a marketing deal), and other sweeteners, Alabama could easily get to $3 million.

by JG2112 on Jan 27, 2009 9:41 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Uh...

…I meant basketball, not baseball.

by JG2112 on Jan 27, 2009 9:41 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Still not buying it

Indiana is a basketball school, Alabama is definitely not.

Also, last I checked that successor thing isn’t working out too well with Texas Tech. I know it is early, but still they are barely in the top 100 RPI. I’m not sure a school wants to hand the reigns over to a rookie coach once a great one retires.

I hear your points, I just don’t think Tubby will seriously consider Alabama at this point in his career. Another school maybe, but not Alabama.

by rencito on Jan 27, 2009 9:50 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Sounds like Minnesota...

..from about two years ago, only with better weather and higher expectations. And I don’t have the statistical backup, but I would hypothesize Bama and Minnesota have comparable basketball pedigrees in the past 10-15-20 years. Especially considering that we had a 0-38 season in 1997. : )

by JG2112 on Jan 27, 2009 11:10 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed, but...

He has an upper echelon job, is paid very well and from everything we hear he really enjoys it here. He also knows he has a stacked young team with another great recruiting class coming in. I just don’t see him starting over.

by GreasyLlama on Jan 27, 2009 11:28 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Let me preface this...

…by saying I’m a Gopher alum.

Minnesota is an upper echelon job?

Okay. I’m happy to hear that. When’s the last time we were in the NCAA tourney again?

by JG2112 on Jan 27, 2009 1:06 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Different Situation

This is a completely different situation than when Tubby came here. He was under intense scrutiny by unruly fans in a place where every little thing he did or said was met with criticism. There was also a lot of talk about UK just plain firing him. If you had a job where you felt like you could be fired any day, wouldn’t you be looking elsewhere, too?

I feel like his move to UM was to escape that situation in Lexington. He had enough of the way fans treated him down there with unreal expectations.

Back to upper echelon—the Gophers have produced more NBA talent than any other Big 10 team aside from Indiana. So we do have some history, unlike Alabama, for what it is worth.

by rencito on Jan 27, 2009 1:43 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Right on.

Your comment:

If you had a job where you felt like you could be fired any day, wouldn’t you be looking elsewhere, too?

My response:

Welcome to corporate America. See 1/26/09 and 1/27/09 – Target, Best Buy, Caterpillar, Pfizer and on and on…..

I agree Minnesota bball has history. I wouldn’t discount Alabama though. Latrell “Feed My Family” Sprewell, James Robinson, Jason Caffey, Antonio McDyess, Gerald Wallace, Big Shot Bob Horry, Derrick McKey.

Bama has 14 all-time first round draft picks. That’s alright.

The Gophers have 18, including Pryzbilla, Humphries, Jacobsen and John Thomas. That’s alright too.

And, most importantly, the Gophers have been in a total of 6 NCAA tournaments. Six. SIX. Well, seven, but that was 1997.

Bama has been there 19 times. Nineteen. NINETEEN. Sweet Sixteen 8 times. Elite Eight Once (2004).

Again I’m a Gopher alum. But, it seems to me Alabama has a better track record in basketball than Minnesota.

by JG2112 on Jan 27, 2009 3:15 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Not sure what you meant by...

…your welcome to corporate America statement. I do work in corporate America—for one of the Twin Cities’ big ones that you didn’t mention above. And yeah, if I knew that I was going to be held to unrealistic standards I would find a place more appreciative of my contributions. Maybe you were agreeing with me, but it seemed facetious.

Good points about Alabama vs Minnesota NCAA appearances. I didn’t know Alabama had been to that many tournaments. I still think Minnesota is in a better place right now. Tubby coached in the SEC for a long time—he was in Georgia before Kentucky. I don’t think he would have taken the UM job had he wanted to stay down there.

Again, I’m not ruling out he can leave, I just think it would be for a better job than Alabama right now. Alabama doesn’t worry me.

by rencito on Jan 27, 2009 3:58 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Upper Echelon

I didn’t mean it to come across that the MN job is in the same category as NC, Duke, UCLA, Indiana, or KY… just that he has a great job. Their are around 1000 college coaching jobs in the NCAA (all 3 divisions combined) and I think its safe to say that he has a top 50 job. While at KY he had a top 5 job, but like Rencito is saying he had to put up with the constant demands of being a top 5 program. Right now he has a program that is on the rise and he can enjoy it more without being overly scrutinized. If he was 40 years old and still wanting to get to the top than I could see him using the Gophers as a stepping stone, but I get the impression that he is content with where he is at now and I would be shocked if he left.

by GreasyLlama on Jan 27, 2009 2:14 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I think the one thing we all underestimate

is the competitive nature of these coaches. I listened to Tubby’s coaches show last night on CCO. He’s so competitive and instills that in his players. But it runs through his veins as well. That’s why I don’t discount that if he were given a significant pay hike, as well as the chance to pave the trail not unlike Sylvester Croom did the past few years at Mississippi State for football, he would take the opportunity.

And I don’t doubt for a minute he’d love to take a team to Rupp Arena and beat the Wildcats. While I’d love for it to be the Gophers, if he coached Alabama he’d get the chance every year.

by JG2112 on Jan 27, 2009 3:21 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Here's another blog article...

…..stating that the boosters would like to see Tubby in Alabama. It’s not going to be the last time we hear this and, again, money won’t be an issue.

http://blog.al.com/kevin-scarbinsky/2009/01/some_tide_basketball_boosters.html

by JG2112 on Jan 27, 2009 9:44 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Money's an issue everywhere.

I don’t see it happening when he’s just starting to get his program in place. I don’t know how his contract is structured here, but I’m assuming he’s poised to grab some incentives if, as it seems they will, the Gophers make the tournament for the next few years. It must be pretty exhausting starting from scratch as well – when he went to Kentucky he had all of Pitino’s guys; at Alabama he’d be starting from a pretty unenviable position. He moved before after only a couple of years but that was for an upper-echelon job. Maybe if Duke or UConn comes calling…but I don’t see it happening for Alabama.

by plinytheelder on Jan 27, 2009 12:04 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm more afraid of Arizona

I really don’t think Alabama is much of a threat to steal Tubby. I do think other schools could tempt him more, such as Arizona. West coast, warmer weather, so on and so forth. As an aside, I still like Minnesota’s weather all around—Arizona is MORE unbearable in the summer than Minnesota is in the winter.

I still hope that if Tubby were to leave that Flip Saunders is the first one in line for the Gophers job.

by rencito on Jan 27, 2009 1:47 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

No way...

..Tony Dungy : ) He could coach my daughter’s swimming classes for all I care. He’s golden. Literally.

I agree with you on the weather. One can always put more clothes on in winter. One, however, can run into decency problems in the summertime.

by JG2112 on Jan 27, 2009 3:18 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Are we so friggin insecure here?

Every opening we will hear: “Tubby might go there.”

He isn’t going anywhere. He has said on more than one occasion that he loves it here.

by Ski U Mah Gopher on Jan 27, 2009 6:13 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

We're insecure because we're Minnesota fans...

…Remember the Gophers, the Vikings, the T-Wolves, the Wild? We’re a bunch of “losers” according to many fans. As much as Kentucky has the mentality that they should always be winners, Gopher fans feel that they are always destined to be losers. Maybe that’s why Tubby likes it here. And maybe, just maybe, he will eventually bring us a winner. (Hope springs eternal.)

by COJOMAY on Jan 30, 2009 3:12 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs