College Football fans: What do you think of Alabama's program?

Alabama has a great history of playing football. as of late the program has fallen on hard times I know they have a hard time letting go of Bear Bryant and they want people who coached under him or played for him sometimes that works out in Alabama's case it has not it,s time to move on and get someone in there that want,s to be there and someone who can recruit players because when you go into a players house now and you say your from Alabama it does not carry as much weight as it did in the good old days . Sorry I don,t see any help for Alabama in a long time

I don't know about Alabama's program, but I LOVE NEBRASKA'S!!!!! GO HUSKERS!!!

Alabama's quarterback is a star in the making. Since they play in the SEC they'll be a developing team.

It's a storied program. Much like many in the country. A rich winning tradition with a list as long as your arm of great players who have gone through that program. They are not a laughingstock, they are just going through one of those transitional periods. Look, every school, sooner or later goes through it. Take a look at Penn State a couple of years ago. Everyone was putting Joe Pa out to pasture but he and the Lions program seems to be doing okay. It will take time to build it up as it once was. The same with Alabama. As far as the best program in the country, who's to say. There are about 25 big time division 1A programs that can lay claim to that statement. But one thing is for sure, Alabama is among those 25. They'll be back.

No, they're not the best program in the country, or their own conference for that matter (maybe not even in their own state). The rest of the SEC has caught up to them since Bear's days. Gene Stallings seems like he would have returned them to continual dominance after winning the national title, but since he's gone the program has really become mediocre. The Franchione fiasco really hurt their reputation.

The problem with a program like Alabama (and this includes Miami, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Notre Dame and several others) is that fan expectations are too high to permit coaching stability. Without that, you can't get quality recruits, and you know what that ultimately means, especially today when more programs are competitive and top notch recruits have more legitimate choices than ever.

The funny thing is that for most of the programs I named the glory years were not just a couple years ago. 'Bama's had ALOT of coaching turnover in the twenty years or so since Bear Bryant left. Notre Dame would not only like the Lou Holtz years back, they'd like the Ara Parseghian years to return. Oklahoma is still expecting the Barry Switzer years to return; heck, they're still wishing for the teams that went undefeated for four years in the 50's (that's back in the day when the university president said he wanted a school the football team could be proud of).

It doesn't help that some of these schools have made questionable hires on the heels of legendary coaches. Gerry Faust and Notre Dame are the poster boys here but they're definitely not the only ones. Of course its hard to hire top notch coaches to fill a spot just vacated by a legend... and rabid and overzealous fans are to blame for a lot of this.

Until the fans in these programs can provide an environment where a coach can come in and take a few years to fill the shoes of his predecessors, these programs are going to have a hard time, Alabama included.

Well here it goes. I grew up in Alabama, and from the time I was old enough to understand football and watch it ( about 7 years old ) I have been an Auburn fan. However Alabama has always been of great interest as well because of Bear Bryant, and their program of tradition. Are they the best? I don't know. I doubt it. But the point can be argued. Right now they are considered a risk for coaches and a reality check for fans and alumni around the country. They are hurting. The players are losing confidence in a program that is too PROUD to admit it has a problem. One man cannot change a program when he is never allowed to be more than a puppet in the first place, and Bear Bryant is dead. I don't think it is any more right to compare a coach to other coaches than it is to compare a significant other or spouse to those in ones past. We are all unique and different. Also it can be argued that four year is not long enough or too long for a coach to rebuild, but again the program is really run behind the scenes by the alumni and Mal Moore. They control how good Alabama will ever be as long as they interfere. Look how many coaches they have had in the last 12 years... 6. Some have been good and some bad, but all were manipulated by the alumni and the school. As an Auburn fan it is nice to see them lose to Auburn, but also it is pathetic to have to face a half team. If they beat Auburn on the feild I can live with it easily. Football is a game and nothing more. I don't understand where Alabama fans and alumni forgot that part? They act like so many little league and pee wee football parents these days sticking their collective noses in things they think they understand and screwing it up royally.

Good school, good program. They're not a laughingstock but they're not the best program in the country either.

They are a good team, but get overshadowed by the dominating SEC teams, like Florida, Auburn, LSU, and Georgia. In order to gain respect Alabama is gonna have to beat those guys, much like Arkansas did this year.

I'd say they once were great, now they're average and trying to climb their way back.