So tell me...what does an Elite 8 finish bring for job security?
Ask John Brady, former LSU head coach, who, not even two full seasons ago, led his team to the Final Four. His team has been dreadful this season, going 8-13, because of youth and injuries. However, that apparently didn't stop Skip Bertman from pulling the trigger and firing Brady last night.
But you know what the biggest indicator is that it's time for a change?
Lack of interest.
Seriously, even though it was signing day, how many of you even knew that Alabama was playing at Mississippi State on Wednesday night? How many of you cared? Do you know what the score was?
Well, to start off with, we lost by 7...again. We cut the lead to 2 with under 3:30...again. We missed almost half of our free throws...again. We failed to execute down the stretch...again. It's the same old thing, and we've gotten to the point now that we just don't even care. RollBamaRoll.com and myself didn't even think to post blogs about it. I mean absolutely no coverage at all. Why? Because nobody cares.
The biggest indicator will be the last three home games this season. We have Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Vanderbilt. All are conference rivals. Usually those types of games, even on Wednesday nights, are nearly sell-outs. The only sellout this season that I know of was against LSU last Saturday, and that's because it was Junior day. Even though it was a sell-out, it sure didn't look like it. I could've bought a cheap ticket and gone and sat right behind either bench with ease.
So...as much I like Mark Gottfried, and thank him for coming back to the Capstone from Murray State when he was such a hot commodity, I do believe that it is time to make a change and instill some new blood. Last year, I didn't feel that way, because I thought he would notice his downfalls and go out and hire a defensive minded assistant coach, but this year it is very obvious that something needs to be done. And this may be the only thing that CAN be done. It is looking very much like when Shula was roaming the sidelines at Bryant Denny.
"We're this close...we just need to keep working hard and good things will come."
