TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ? (AP) ? Alabama has fired coach Mike Shula, whose Tide struggled to a 6-6 regular season finish in his fourth year but enjoyed a 10-2 record the year before, a newspaper reported.

 

Shula told his assistant coaches late Sunday night that Alabama athletic director Mal Moore had dismissed him, The Tuscaloosa News reported on its Web site.

 

Reached at home, Moore declined comment Monday morning but said he would hold a news conference later in the day.

 

Trustee Peter L. Lowe declined comment on whether Shula was out, but he said President Robert Witt was "heavily involved in what's transpiring'' in the football program.

 

The Crimson Tide went 6-6 this season, finishing with three straight losses.

 

Shula, 41, a former Alabama quarterback, was winless in four tries against Auburn, his team's biggest rival. The Tigers beat the Crimson Tide 22-15 on Nov. 18, leaving Shula to answer questions about his job security.

 

"I haven't even thought about all that stuff,'' Shula said after the game. He had received a vote of confidence from Moore several weeks earlier.

 

Shula took over the proud but troubled program less than four months before the 2003 season after Mike Price was fired following spring practice for his off-the-field behavior ? specifically a night of drinking at a Pensacola, Fla., strip club. Price got the job after Dennis Franchione bolted for Texas A&M.

 

The firing of Shula would mean Alabama is looking for a head coach for the fourth time since 2000. The Tide has had seven coaches in the 24 years since legendary coach Paul "Bear'' Bryant's last season in 1982. Bryant had directed the Alabama program for 25 years.

 

Shula, son of Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Don Shula, spent 15 years as an NFL assistant before he took the Alabama job, but had no experience as a head coach or on a college staff.

 

He received a new six-year contract in May worth $1.55 million per year. The deal extended his contract two years through early 2012, with a raise of $650,000 plus a $200,000 signing bonus.

 

Shula led Alabama to a 10-2 record and a Cotton Bowl victory in his third season. He has a 26-23 record in four seasons with the Crimson Tide.

I thought they would have given him one more year.

 

I wonder who they will go after.

i heard Saban but then Saban had a press confrence and stated hes not intrested so who knows

Theyre probably going hard after Petrino, I would guess. Why not promote DC Joe Kines? Maybe Spurrier?

 

'Bama could be the most high profile coaching job in the country outside of maybe Michigan or OSU. The Bear cast a pretty big shadow on the position.

Theyre probably going hard after Petrino, I would guess. Why not promote DC Joe Kines? Maybe Spurrier?

 

'Bama could be the most high profile coaching job in the country outside of maybe Michigan or OSU. The Bear cast a pretty big shadow on the position.

I don't know about that.

 

Only 1 out of the 7 coaches who succeeded Bear Bryant went on to become an NFL head coach after his stint in 'Bama, and he (Ray Perkins) had prior NFL head coaching experience.

 

Compare that to the UM head coaches who succeeded Schnell over the same time period:

 

Jimmy Johnson

Dennis Erickson

Butch Davis.

 

All were relatively low-profile before they landed their gigs at UM.

 

Admin Coker, the fourth on the list, is the only one of them who won't be sniffing the greener pastures of the NFL in a head-coaching capacity.

college coaching job, as opposed to pro stepping stone, is what I meant by that.

 

Miami is definitely a quick stop on the way to the NFL, no doubt about that.