Not surprisingly, the glory of Samford Football exists only 146 miles away in Auburn. Head Coach Pat Sullivan was the winner of the 1971 Heisman Trophy as the War Eagle quarterback, somehow a cause for excitement among Bulldog fans. He had a six-year NFL career that was unextraordinary, followed by bursts of excitement and disappointment as a college coach. His coaching career began at his alma mater under Pat Dye, where he was quarterbacks coach for six years before taking over a "probation project" at TCU, leading to the Horned Frogs to their first back-to-back winning seasons in decades and winning a share of the demoralized SWC in 1994. He came within an angel's breath of becoming the head coach at LSU after that season, but the Bengals couldn't negotiate a sweet enough deal and hired Gerry DiNardo, instead, which turned out well.
But Sullivan and TCU would fall on hard times, he would resign (replaced by the man who rode Ladanian Tomlinson to stardom - Dennis Franchione) and spend a few seasons at UAB before getting the opportunity of a lifetime - Samford, where you can keep on losing for decades and no one will care. It's like retirement without all the hassles.
But, who am I to judge. His team is 2-0, and Samford fans are probably excited about the direction of their program. So, good for them.
Next up: Sophomore RB Chris Evans.
1 comments:
I spent my freshman year at TCU watching Pat's Horned Frogs (Riff Ram!! Go Frogs!!) We had a pretty good year, went to a bowl game for the first time in years (SWC football dissolved shortly there after).
Played Virginia in the Indepencence Bowl. It rained, we lost. While being interviewed on ESPN, our quarterback, Max Knacke (wow, I thought I had killed those brain cells) said our sluggish play probably had something to do with the nightlife and casinos in the Shreveport/Bossier City area (I couldn't make this shit up- he actually said- "You get a bunch of young guys, put them in a town where the bars don't close that has casinos......." ON NATIONAL TV!! IN THE POST-GAME INTERVIEW!!).
I transferred to Ole Miss the next year and vowed never to spend New Year's Eve in Shreveport EVER again. No matter who played.
In hindsight, I made the right decision. There's no question that Shreveport looks much better on teevee than in person.
What an unpleasant stroll down memory lane....back to the brown likker I go.....
Post a Comment