Alabama pushes Shula to the top of its list

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Miami Dolphins assistant coach Mike Shula and Carolina Panthers assistant Richard Williamson have emerged as top candidates to replace fired coach Mike Price at Alabama.

Alabama athletic director Mal Moore and president Robert Witt met Sunday with Shula in Miami, and with Williamson in Atlanta on Monday, according to newspaper reports.

"I will admit, I'm an alumni, I had great memories there. I love Alabama, just like everybody else that ever played there and that's really all I have to say," Shula, a former Crimson Tide quarterback, told reporters in Miami on Monday.

Shula, 37, has never been a head coach. Moore said Monday head coaching experience wasn't mandatory for the hire as it was in his previous search five months ago when Dennis Franchione left Alabama for Texas A&M.

"I'm looking for who I think is the best for this situation and who could come in with this very awkward time frame," he said.

Williamson, 62, played at Alabama in the early 1960s and also was an assistant coach under Bear Bryant. He was a finalist for the job when Gene Stallings was hired in 1990.

"I've always said I wanted to return to Alabama and be the head coach," Williamson told the Gaston (N.C.) Gazette. "Right now, it's about the only job I would take. If it happens, it happens. If not, I still have a great job here with the Panthers."

As a civil rights leader urged Alabama to become the first Southeastern Conference school to hire a black as head football coach, Moore flew to Orlando for a meeting of SEC athletic directors. Then he and Witt were bound for more interviews with little time to waste four months before the season.

"The players deserve a quick decision, and I want to deliver," Moore said.

He said he had four candidates in mind for what could be a crucial hire for a program that is on NCAA probation and has been changing coaches about as frequently as it used to win national championships under Bear Bryant.

Moore wouldn't disclose any names or confirm the interview with Shula.

After hiring two "outsiders" for the job -- TCU's Franchione and Washington State's Price -- Moore appears to be mostly focusing on candidates with connections to Bryant. The names include NFL assistants Shula, Williamson and Sylvester Croom of Green Bay.

Former Jacksonville Jaguars and Boston College coach Tom Coughlin and Oklahoma State's Les Miles also are considered potential candidates.

Coughlin said Monday that he hadn't been contacted by any representatives from Alabama. "There's nothing going on," he said.

Miles signed a long-term contract extension at Oklahoma State in December and said he never was contacted about the Alabama job.

Witt fired Price on Saturday after the 57-year-old coach, already warned about his behavior, spent hundreds of dollars at a Pensacola, Fla., topless bar. A woman reportedly ordered about $1,000 in food from room service sent to his hotel room the following morning.

Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt said Moore had called seeking permission to meet with Shula, who expressed interest in the Alabama job.

"I have to wait and hear more about what it might be," Shula, a 15-year NFL assistant, told The Miami Herald on Sunday. He did not return calls Monday from The Associated Press.

A civil rights leader, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, urged Alabama to consider hiring a black coach, such as Croom. The SEC has never had a black head football coach.

"The crisis at the University of Alabama creates an opportunity for them to consider a qualified African-American football coach," Jackson, who didn't suggest any specific candidates, told The Associated Press Monday.

Shula, the youngest son of former NFL coaching great Don Shula, was the Tide's starting quarterback from 1984 to 1986, twice earning All-Southeastern Conference honors.

Croom, a Tuscaloosa native, coached at Alabama from 1977-86 but has been in the NFL ever since. He is currently the Packers' running backs coach.

He started at center for Bear Bryant in 1973 and 1974, helping the Tide to a 22-2 record.

Croom did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press on Monday, but Packers coach Mike Sherman made a pitch for him Sunday.

"There probably isn't a better prospect in all of football, college or pros for that job than Sylvester Croom," Sherman said. "I'd hate to lose him because he's such a quality person and coach. There's no better candidate."

Alabama offensive coordinator Eric Price and quarterbacks coach Aaron Price, sons of the fired head coach, both have told Moore they plan to leave, Moore said.