Rolling with the Tide

Former Alabama quarterback Jonathan Richey believes Mike Shula has the Crimson Tide program moving in the right direction.After starring at quarterback for Geraldine, Richey walked on at the Capstone and spent five years (1997-2001) in the Bama football program.On June 17, Richey – who now lives in Northport – returned home to share his knowledge of the game by serving as an instructor in the Bulldog Football Camp.“I think they’ve got the right man for the job,” Richey said. “Coach Shula is a disciplinarian. He doesn’t put up with anything from anybody, and I think that’s been evident if you notice the newspaper in the last year. He runs a tight ship.“One thing he’s brought is stability to the program. You have a lot of good vibes from people. There’s always going to be people who are not happy with something, but if you talk to the people who are inside or just know football in general, they’re happy with what he’s doing.“It kind of reminds them a lot of Coach (Gene) Stallings. You never won by blowing anyone out, but you never were blown out. You always had an opportunity to win the ballgames.“The team last year didn’t turn the ball over much, and that’s Coach Shula’s big thing. From going to some of the practices and just watching, that’s the biggest thing with the program now.”Richey said that based on the Tide’s 2006 schedule, he believes the team “should win some ballgames.” Alabama’s non-SEC opponents are Hawaii, Louisiana-Monroe, Duke and Florida International.“From coming off probation, this probably is supposed to be our worst year, because of just everyone who went through that is gone now,” Richey said. “You have a lot of new starters and a lot of new people, but everything I’ve seen so far has been positive because the coaches haven’t changed. The great thing is the coaching and the stability are still there, whereas if you have a lot of change, then you have a lot of turnover and you have a lot of philosophy change. “These guys right now, even if they’re young, they’ve been there for two years and they know the system.“Three years ago, they said we had the worst defense in the conference. Then they were in the system for two years, and now we have the best defense in the conference. It’s knowing the system and plugging the right players into that system.”Bryant-Denny Stadium is undergoing a $50 million renovation and expansion. Richey said he wished the university had completed the project during his playing days so he could have been a part of it.“You have to upgrade,” Richey said. “It attracts recruits, it’s good for the fans, it’s good for the community and it creates more and more excitement, and that’s what you want around a program.”