Imagine for a moment you're
Mal Moore. You have just stood in front of the bright lights and flashing cameras again,posing in your best Mount Rushmore gape,to discuss the University of Alabama's penalties from the NCAA.
As you walk back to your vast corner office, friends and co-workers pat you on the back, telling you to hang in there, to keep on keeping on.
You sit back in your easy chair, kick your feet up on the desk, and somewhere in the back of you mind, that mock-Latin aphorism must be resonating...Illegitimi non carborundum. Don't let the b*st*rds grind you down.
But can you survive? Is it really worth fighting the good fight?
The answer to the first question is easy. Your best friend is Paul Bryant Jr. Until Nick Saban achieved celestial status, Bryant had the best name in town and was the Crown Prince of Alabama football. He still matters, and he has let it be known Mal Moore will not be pushed out.
University of Alabama Athletic Director Mal Moore was at the helm during Mike DuBose's tenure, the Albert Means NCAA scandal, the hiring and bizarre resignation of Dennis Franchione, the Mike Price/strip club escapades and the badly bungled hiring and mismanagement of Mike Shula. And those are just football issues.The second question is not so simple. Is there really upside in continuing to do a job in which you have never really been comfortable?
Moore was never supposed to be the athletic director at Alabama. The former Tide quarterback turned top Bear Bryant offensive assistant was supposed to be the head football coach.
Moore thought he had the job, too, when Bryant stepped down in December of 1982. However, Ray Perkins was hired and the first person he fired was Moore.
Moore returned to Alabama seven years later after working at Notre Dame and in the NFL for a last hurrah under Gene Stallings. Eventually, he moved into administration and incredibly, was passed over for AD in favor of Bob Bockrath in 1996 (following another nasty brush with the NCAA).
Finally, after Bockrath crashed and burned in 1999, Moore was brought in and has overseen the fall of Mike DuBose, the Albert Means NCAA scandal, the hiring and bizarre resignation of Dennis Franchione, the Mike Price/strip club escapades and the badly bungled hiring and mismanagement of Mike Shula. And these are just football issues.
It appeared Moore was done on a cold December day in 2006 when Rich Rodriquez shocked Alabama officials by turning down an offer. However, Moore's standing among the faithful quickly rose like the Phoenix from the ashes three weeks later when he brought home Saban from South Florida.
It was the final cherry on Moore's career. The man often referred to as "Malfunction" could do no wrong. Three months later, Moore was honored when the school dedicated the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility.
Instead of being given a ceremonial role and quietly heading off to the wilderness, Moore remained as athletic director (with a new contract and raise to$425,000 annually), doing good work as a fund-raiser and being a beloved figure in Alabama folklore.
With another blood red circle on his resume, even longtime Alabama fans are wondering if Moore's time is up. Certainly,
Alabama can ill afford more problems with the
NCAA. As cataclysmic as it would be, can you imagine how much worse it would be if Moore was still the athletic director?
This November, Moore will celebrate his
10th anniversary as Alabama's athletic director. His work in fund-raising and capital improvement to facilities, such as Bryant-Denny Stadium, is exemplary. On Dec. 19, Moore will celebrate his 70th birthday.
If you're Mal Moore, wouldn't that seem like the right time to exit with your back straight and your head held high? Contact Paul Finebaum at finebaumnet@yahoo.com His column appears Tuesdays in the Press-Register.)
