Division Western Division Offensive scheme Pro Style | Offensive coordinator David Rader (4th year) | |
Conference Southeastern Conference 2006 record 0–7, 6 wins vacated (0–6 SEC, 2 wins vacated) Head coach Mike Shula (4th year, Games 1–12)
Joe Kines (Interim, bowl game only) | ||
The 2006 Alabama Crimson Tide football team represented the University of Alabama for the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season trying to improve from a 10–2 record in the 2005 season. The Tide was led by head coach Mike Shula entering his fourth year at Alabama. Despite a strong 5–2 start, they finished out the season by losing four of their final five games. The team closed the regular season at 6–6 (4–4, SEC) and lost for a fifth-straight time to rival Auburn. Following the loss Shula was fired as head coach and defensive coordinator Joe Kines served as interim head coach for the bowl game.
Contents
- Before the season
- Returning starters
- Recruiting class
- Schedule
- Coaching staff
- After the season
- Awards
- NCAA sanctions
- References
The Tide were defeated by Oklahoma State in the 2006 Independence Bowl 34–31 to finish the season with a 6–7 (2–6) record. However three years later all six wins of the season were vacated as part of a penalty placed against Alabama by the NCAA for infractions committed during the season. As such, the official record for the 2006 squad is 0–7.
Before the season
Alabama finished their 2005 campaign at with a 13–10 win over Texas Tech in the 2006 Cotton Bowl Classic for a final record of 10–2. Several years later, in June 2009, the NCAA Committee on Infractions sanctioned Alabama for "major violations" of NCAA policies as a result of athletes who received improper benefits in 16 of 19 NCAA sports, including football. As part of the penalties imposed, the football program was forced to vacate all ten victories from the 2005 season making the official 2005 record 0–2.
The 2006 season also marked the first played in Bryant–Denny Stadium after the completion of the north endzone expansion. The $47 million expansion increased its overall capacity to 92,138 (then the 5th largest on-campus stadium), added several new luxury boxes and saw the completion of the Walk of Champions off University Boulevard. The Walk of Champions, at the time, featured statues of the four national championship Alabama head coaches: Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, Bear Bryant and Gene Stallings. At that time a fifth space was left vacant for a future statue, and on April 16, 2011, the University unveiled a statue of Nick Saban for winning the 2009 national championship at that location.
Returning starters
Alabama had 13 returning starters from the previous season, including eight on offense, four on defense and one on special teams. The most notable departures from the previous year were Brodie Croyle and J. B. Closner on offense; Mark Anderson, Rudy Griffin, Freddie Roach, DeMeco Ryans, Anthony Madison, Roman Harper and Charlie Peprah on defense; and Jeremy Schatz, Matt Miller and Drew Lane on special teams.
Recruiting class
Alabama's recruiting class was highlighted by two players from the "ESPN 150": No. 4 Andre Smith (OT) and No. 124 Justin Woodall (S). Alabama signed the No. 11 recruiting class according to Rivals and the No. 18 according to Scout.
Schedule
The Sagarin computer ratings calculated Alabama's strength of schedule to be the 55th most difficult out of the 241 Division I teams. The Cosgrove Computer Rankings calculated it as the 65th most difficult out of the 119 Division I FBS teams in its rankings. It featured four pre-season AP Top 25 teams, four of which made bowl games in 2005.
In accordance with conference rules, Alabama faced all five Western Division opponents: Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss. They also faced three Eastern Division opponents: official SEC rival Tennessee, Florida, and Vanderbilt. Alabama did not play SEC opponents Georgia, Kentucky and South Carolina. Alabama also played four non-conference games. The non-conference schedule included games against Hawaii of the Western Athletic Conference, Duke of the Atlantic Coast Conference and both Louisiana–Monroe and Florida International of the Sun Belt Conference. For the 2006 Independence Bowl, Alabama played Oklahoma State of the Big 12 Conference.
Coaching staff
Following the completion of the 2005 season, Alabama had to replace an assistant coach for the first time during Mike Shula's tenure as head coach when Paul Randolph resigned as defensive line coach to accept a position as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Rice. On February 3, 2006, David Turner was hired from Vanderbilt to serve as defensive ends coach.
After the season
Following the Independence Bowl loss, on January 3, 2007, Alabama announced that Nick Saban was hired from the Miami Dolphins to serve as the programs 27th head coach. In the weeks that followed, Saban worked to fill his staff for the 2007 season. As part of the A-Day celebrations on April 21, 2007, the 2006 team captains Le'Ron McClain and Juwan Simpson were honored at the Walk of Fame ceremony at the base of Denny Chimes.
Awards
Following the SEC Championship Game, the conference named its award winners. Simeon Castille was named to the Coaches' All-SEC First Team. D. J. Hall and Antoine Caldwell were named to the Coaches' All-SEC Second Team. Andre Smith, Prince Hall and punter P. J. Fitzgerald were named to the 2006 Freshman All-SEC Team. Prince Hall was also named the SEC Defensive Freshman of the Year by The Sporting News.
NCAA sanctions
In October 2007, the athletic department discovered a potential NCAA-violations present throughout the athletics program. The violations stemmed from athletes from several sports, including football, receiving improper benefits as a result of a failure in the distribution system of textbooks to student athletes from the university. After a prolonged investigation, in June 2009 the NCAA ruled all athletes that received improper benefits related to the textbook distribution system were deemed ineligible. As such, as part of the penalties imposed on the football program, all victories which those included in the inquiry participated, were officially vacated from the all-time record. The penalty to vacate victories does not result in a loss (or forfeiture) of the affected contests or award a victory to the opponent. As such, all six victories from the 2006 season (Hawaii, Vanderbilt, Louisiana–Monroe, Duke, Ole Miss and Florida International) were vacated making the official record for the season zero wins and seven losses (0–7).