Coach Franchione GETS SHITCANNED FROM BAMA 12/5/02 - Dennis Franchione druidcityonline.com your guide to Tuscaloosa, Alabama and the Deep South
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Druid City Online's unique coverage of Alabama football brings you up close and personal with players and coaches. Read these comments that followed the announcement of former head coach Dennis Franchione's decision to leave Alabama to coach at Texas A&M ...

Dennis Franchione (head coach Texas A&M University)

After a mediocre 6-6 season, the Texas A&M Aggies fired a legend, and bought themselves a new athletic director and new head coach.

Athletic Director Bill Byrne was hired away from the University of Nebraska. Head coach Dennis Franchione was SHITCANNED from the University of Alabama. Franchione's FIRING was taken hard by players, fans, and school trustees at the Capstone. Especially since he had promised to try and be worth and damn to stay with the troubled Alabama program, and he was delivered the bad word, not face-to-face, but over the telephone.

On December 6, 2002 at 8:30 am, a day after he signed a 5 year contract worth a reported 11 million, Franchione delivered his first pubic comments ...

selected quotes from Athletic Director Bill Byrne ...

Bill Byrne - "This is really going to be an exciting era for Texas A&M University. And one of the things that makes it exciting, is that we have the chance to hire a new football coach. When you talk about hiring coaches, one of the things you always look for is someone who has the same philosophy. Someone who wants to teach students the right way. Someone who wants to stretch students, not only athletically, but spiritually. You want to make sure that students have a great experience when they are undergraduates competing for a great university."

These comments came during the press conference announcing Dennis Franchione as the new head coach of Texas A&M ...

Dennis Franchione - "Howdy." much of the press pool responds with a "Howdy!"

"Let me just say thank you to everyone that's connected with Texas A&M and Aggie football for making today possible. It's a very exciting day. I want to thank everyone in attendance today, especially the 12th Man representatives from the student body. I thank everyone for the warm reception and the show of support here. It makes me feel very good and very special. It's great to be back here in the great state of Texas, where football is so important at all levels. I have had a deep passion for the high school football and the high school coaches in this state. It's second to none. They're such a professional group, and such a great group that lead those programs and certainly helps our opportunity to have great programs at the university level. So I look forward to be back working with the Texas high school coaches. It's an exciting time to be here. It's exciting in many ways because of the commitment we have to compete at the highest level. Starting with the regents we met and the conversations that we had. To Doctor Gates and the comments and the things that he shared with me. To the hiring of one of the nation's premier athletic directors in Bill Byrne. To the facilities that are already in place, and the new ones that are nearing completion. To the academic center and the impact we know it can have on student athletes."

"I'm coming here for a lot of reasons. Tradition and history is certainly part of that. It's been 21 years I think, since Texas A&M has had a losing season. That's exciting to me because it's my first time that I take one over that has a foundation in place or isn't coming off a losing season. And after 30 years of coaching, that's a nice way to get started and I'm certainly ready for that. I've had a chance to take a short glance at the 2002 team. Just to see that they were a few plays away from a good season. I believe there were about four games that were decided by a touchdown or less, so they weren't too far away. Let me just say this too. Much of that foundation and closeness to having a good season ... a great deal credit and respect should go to RC Slocum. I have tremendous respect for him and the kind of person he is, and the way he's gone about his job, and the integrity that he's brought to this university. We certainly hope to continue that in a manner like RC has done. He's an outstanding coach and an outstanding man, a guy that's been a friend of mine for a long time. I've felt very fortunate to be able to call him my friend."

"Hope hit the ground running. Our goals are relatively simple. We want to play for a Big 12 South title, which gets us into the Big 12 Championship game. And if you can win the Big 12 Championship, you'll have an opportunity to compete for the national championship with the strength of this league. I grew up in Big 12 county ... Big 8 country. And I know there are a lot of conferences in this nation that can claim to be the best, but the Big 12 has just as much claim to that statement as anyone. Texas A&M has always been a place that's been on a short list for me that places, that if I could end up there, that would be great. Part of my beliefs in coaching, and how I do my job in dealing with student athletes, in building a team, in creating work ethics, accountability, discipline ... As I always say, discipline is what you do to somebody, it's what you do for somebody ... mental toughness, creating a football family, creating loyalty. A great part of that concept is already deeply ingrained here at the university. There's a foundation of these principles in place. So I felt that many of the things that are important to me and I believed in, matched up well with what people here believed in. I look forward to being part of all the Aggie traditions. I love traditions and I love the history. I look forward to the games at Kyle Field. I know ESPN Gameday called it one of their five favorite places. Kim and I look forward to midnight yell practice. Especially, when they cut the lights out. (laughs) And let me introduce my wife and you can see why I look forward to those moments. This is my wife Kim.

"I look forward to the rivalries, and we certainly have plenty of those on our schedule. I look forward to seeing the passion in the stands of Aggie football. I hope the offense keeps the co-ed busy with chapped lips all the time. I look forward to seeing ... I understand there's been a maroon out here ... so I look forward to seeing those sort of things. And seeing the Corps Cadets ... they are certainly the backbone of Aggie spirit and the foundation for how that started. I look forward a great deal to hearing the Fightin' Texas Aggie band, I understand they have never lost a halftime. I look forward to hearing them play the Aggie War Hymn. That's always been one of my favorites and I look forward to that a great deal."

"In regard to history, it's Hall of Fame weekend in New York. You look at Texas A&M, from people like Dana Bible, who is in there as a player and a coach, to Paul "Bear" Bryant, whose shadow I know a little bit about. In a few day, we're going to get to see The Junction Boys. I look forward to that a great deal. We'll get to see guys like Jack Pardee and Gene Stallings. Also, what happens close to Hall of Fame weekend is the Heisman Trophy. I don't know if John David Crow made it to Junction, but he certainly won the Heisman Trophy. I'm certainly excited about seeing him"

"Kim and I are at the point in our lives, where we would like this to be our final coaching job. (applause) The age that I'm at at my career ... 30 years of coaching ... we love the state of Texas .... we're exciting to get going here in Aggieland, let me say that. With that, if you have some questions, I'd be glad to answer them.

These are selected questions and quotes from the press pool ...

Fran, the NCAA cloud at Alabama ... what's already gone, and what might come ... how big a role did that play in you leaving?

It played a major role. And I'll talk to you more about that when we get back together. I want to focus on what's ahead now.

Coach you mentioned this was the first non-losing program that you've taken over. How much pressure is there to win big and win in a hurry coming in here?

You guys are going to give me at least until tomorrow right? I think if you understand coaches, you know they put enough pressure on themselves to do that so we're not going to shy away from high expectations. We'll have high expectations. I believe the players will. That's fine. It takes a time of transition to mesh your players and coaches together sometimes, but being at a place with high expectations has never been a thing that's bothered me.

Coach, this is being broadcast live to Alabama, and so I need to ask you about some of the stances you took the past couple of weeks saying "Be patient. The contract will get done at Alabama" What exactly happened and why didn't the contract get done?

Well, we dealt with that in good faith. And early this week this opportunity came up and put me in a position, I needed to decide which fork in the road I needed to take as I finished up the rest of my career. The Alabama people were great to me though, and I certainly want to commend Mal Moore and all those people.

Fran? (I'm) Gene Duffy ... When you came from TCU to Alabama you brought much of your staff with you. Do you anticipate bringing quite a few of your Alabama staff here?

I think they'll be some of them come. We certainly want to interview the coaches that are here, and evaluate how they would fit into the puzzle, and try to put together the best staff that we possibly can. I know a number of the guys on the coaching staff, and know that they're fine coaches. There are some guys on my staff that are candidates for other head jobs, and I certainly want to help them and give them an opportunity to achieve those kinds of professional goals. It'll take a few days to iron all that out.

Moderator asks the press pool to identify itself before it asks a question.

I'm Gina Miller with ABC in Dallas. You mentioned how you want to stay here and settle here, but I guess you can understand some of the concerns with you having left early on your contract with Alabama. I think a similar situation at TCU. What sort of guarantees or commitments do you have here now?

As you go through a coaching career, you are presented with opportunities that may be too good to pass up. Kim and I have always gone every place with the thought that it would be the last place. But Kim has made it very clear to me that this is the last place (laughs). I might move, but she's not, so I think I'm staying.

Cameron Long, Channel Five, San Antonio ... Coach, can you talk about the difficulties of taking over for a coach like RC.

There are far more positives than difficulties because of the kind of program he ran, and the character and integrity that he's brought to this school, the ambassadorship he has done with Texas A&M across this state, the door he's opened. I've never looked at that situation as a negative. Plus, I have so much respect for him. RC is ... when I was a nobody, he spoke to me. I always remembered that, admired him and felt good about that. I've always felt really good about him, and I felt for him as he went through the last part of his season.

Stewart Sheehan, NBC Huntsville ... You mentioned a short list that Texas A&M was on as being places you wanted to go. Was Alabama ever on that list?

You know, Alabama would be on a lot of lists you would certainly say. (exhales hard) I didn't know if I would ever be identified as a guy who could go into the SEC or the South not having many ties back there. But when Alabama calls, you get excited there's no doubt about that.

But as far as a place that you wanted to stay and make your final home?

I would have ... I went there with that thought in mind.

Coach, Al Carter with the Dallas Morning News ... Could you give us some account of how this week went, what you were told, what you learned, when you made your decision and some of the events leading up to today.

I landed in Tuscaloosa at 8:30 Monday morning after flying all night, not getting much sleep. Obviously, there's been a lot of rumors, but I think I received my first official contact late Tuesday or early Wednesday. So that's when I knew that this was ... um, could possibly happen and that there was an interest. In a matter of 36 to 48 hours, it all came to be yesterday at around 2 o-clock.

Coach, Derrick Castile with KXAS in Dallas ... I know you didn't get a chance to say a lot of goodbyes to the folks in Alabama. What would you tell some of the fans and your former players now that you're the head coach here at Texas A&M?

First off, that could be a long answer. But we loved it there, and we certainly loved those players. They were very special to us, and it's very difficult. The hardest thing when you leave any job is to leave the players. It is by far the most difficult hump you have to get over to make the decision to do what is best for your family. If there's anybody that could have tugged on me, it would have been them. You can't always handle the situation like you would like to. The way this goes, and the way you all help push this along in some regards ... I would just hope they would understand and remember the good things we did and what we gave to them., and what we gave the university of Alabama in turning that program back in a good direction with the foundation we laid.

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Dennis Franchione (head coach Texas A&M University)

Tyler Watts (#14 Sr. QB, 6-3 220 lbs. Pelham, AL - Pelham High School)

Ahmaad Galloway (#29 Sr. TB, 6-1 220 lbs. Millington, TN - Millington High School)