Alabama Crimson Tide Fans Show Love For Mike Shula’s Homecoming
South Carolina travels to Alabama to face the Tide on Saturday morning, but a wonderful gesture was sighted in Tuscaloosa. Mike Shula, former Alabama head coach and now staff member for South Carolina, received a welcoming gesture by a Crimson Tide fan as she held up a sign stating, “Welcome home Coach Shula.”
“Welcome Home” Mike Shula signs for the former Tide Qb and Coach. A pretty cool scene today at Shula arrives at the airport as a South Carolina staff member.
Many Tide fans can remember the days of coach Shula before the Saban era. Shula’s best season occurred in 2005, as the Tide produced a 10-2 record, as well as finishing third in the conference and winning the Cotton Bowl against Texas Tech. Shula’s tenure with the Tide overall, however, was one many fans would like to forget. Shula’s record was just 26-23, however with sanctions on textbook-related infractions placed on Alabama after his tenure in 2009, 16 of Shula’s wins were vacated by the NCAA. With these vacated wins, Shula’s official record dropped down to a poor 10-23 record.
However, the reaction on social media from the post has been mostly positive and supportive.
One X user responded: “Regardless of his results on the field the man got us through absolute hell during probation and after all the scandals. I have nothing but respect for Coach Shula.” It seems that even though Shula couldn’t provide anywhere near the success that the likes of Paul “Bear” Bryant or Nick Saban did, he still receives love and support from many Tide fans still.
Alabama hosts South Carolina on Saturday afternoon, hoping to bounce back after a shocking loss to Vanderbilt last week. Shane Beamer’s team enters this game with a 3-2 record, and the Gamecocks have had an up-and-down season. South Carolina earned an upset win over Kentucky and kept things close against LSU, but last week, they lost 27-3 at home to Ole Miss.
The Gamecocks are led by freshman quarterback LaNorris Sellers. At 6’3″ and 242 lbs, Sellers is a dual-threat player with 200 rushing yards and three touchdowns this season. However, he also has three interceptions and two passing touchdowns through four games.
Raheim Sanders leads the team with 347 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns, and he’s a player the Crimson Tide are very familiar with. Sanders finished with 120 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown against Alabama in 2022 as a part of the Arkansas offense.
