FIRE the Athletic Director!!!

Don't forget that LSU.

From 1980 to 2000

Jerry Stoval (22-21-2)
Bill Arnsparger (26-8-2)
Mike Archer (27-18-1)
Curley Hallman (16-28)
Gerry DiNardo (32-24-1)

Heck Nick Saban's record was relatively inconsistent at LSU
8-4
10-3
8-5
13-1
9-3

In SEC play he was 26-12

I'm not convinced that Nick would have the success he had without the Alabama brand and system behind him.

Can you imagine what SOS would have done as the coach of Alabama.
It's common knowledge that Steve did not like to recruit. At BAMA he would not have had to recruit.
He, backed by the BAMA brand and backed by the BAMA system would have had a top-five class yearly without even trying.

Pre-2004 LSU was not IMO an elite HC job. Since 2004 came three NC's and the job is now considered one of the premier HC jobs in all of college football.

 

They used to send the gator football yearbook magazine to boosters. In the back of it you will find the range of contributions given by boosters. I believe the highest was 5 or 10 mil down to $500 / yr. My name is always on the last page. Lol.

 

This.

To this day, I am pissed about Pell being fired. Firing him did nothing to stop the NCAA from bitch slapping us. We should have kept him, given the finger to the NCAA, and kept on trucking, because he was winner.

He was a hell of a coach and recruiter. Pell is the guy that built the foundation for Spurrier and Meyer. For instance, there were no statewide Gator clubs prior to Charley. I could go on about all that he did, but he was the guy that put us on the map.

For those of you that don't know Pell's history, he played at Alabama, and was a grad assistant there under Bear. He also testified for the Gumps and Bear as a player on the '61 or '62 Gump team that was accused of fixing the game with the leghumpers. There was considerable evidence that Wally Butts, UGA's AD at the time (and who was buddies with Bear) gave Bear UGA's playbook prior to their game, in order to wager. The Saturday Evening Post broke the story, and was sued for slander. The Post lost.

My point: Pell knew exactly what was going on in the SEC in recruiting and otherwise. He did absolutely nothing that all of them hadn't been doing for decades. Herschel Walker showed up in Athens with a new trans am. Pell knew how it worked.

 

True very true.

The same year Robert "Speedy" Neil (RIP my friend) was another Parade All-American (along with Herschel) out of Key West High School. Like Herschel EVERY school and I mean every school recruited Speedy. I grew up with Speedy and played with and against this man-child. Speedy's father, worked with my mother for numerous years.

Ohio State flew a private jet into KW to transport Speedy to his visit. Michigan had hookers waiting in his hotel room. His UF visit was relatively unremarkable. Everyone knew Speedy wanted to play as close to home as possible. He took the UF visit just for kicks. He said if he didn't select UM he'd was going to OSU or Michigan. The University of Miami bought him a Cutlass Supreme to close the deal. I know this personally. But everyone in KW knew.

Speedy was never red-shirted and started all four seasons culminating with the 83 NC.

Despite being a naturally gifted athlete Speedy (big 6'3" and 245) he really didn't like football.
His first love was baseball. He regretted not focusing on baseball.

 

Lived in Miami at the time and remember him well. Big and fast RB who died young.