College Football fans: What do you think of Alabama's program?
Honest  question - have you heard of Alabama, do you think they're the best  program in the country, do you think they're a laughingstock. I want an  honest answer from college football fans around the country. Thank you. 
Football (American) - 11 Answers
People's Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
Answer 1 :
I  think they were good last year (2005) and will be good in the future.  Unless you are a powerhouse in the SEC, it is tough to stand out.
Answer 2 :
I don't know about Alabama's program, but I LOVE NEBRASKA'S!!!!!  GO HUSKERS!!!
Answer 3 :
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.
Answer 4 :
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.
Answer 5 :
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.
Answer 6 :
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.
Answer 7 :
Alabama's quarterback is a star in the making. Since they play in the SEC they'll be a developing team.
Answer 8 :
I'd say they once were great, now they're average and trying to climb their way back.
Answer 9 :
Good school, good program. They're not a laughingstock but they're not the best program in the country either.
Answer 10 :
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
Answer 11 :
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.
  
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