Alabama Fires Greg Goff After Just One Year On The Job

Alabama fired Greg Goff on Wednesday after just one season as head coach.

Goff’s year in Tuscaloosa was marked by tumult on and off the field, which ultimately led to his dismissal. Alabama went 19-34-1 this season and finished last in the Southeastern Conference, missing the tournament. It was the Crimson Tide’s fewest wins since 1980.

Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne, who was hired from Arizona in January and did not hire Goff last summer, initially expressed support for Goff after the disappointing season. But following a report Tuesday from The Tuscaloosa News that Goff told players in their exit interviews that their scholarships would be cut, a violation of the NCAA rules that govern the Power Five conferences, Byrne acted quickly.

Goff was hired at Alabama following the resignation of Mitch Gaspard at the end of last season. He signed a five-year contract worth $450,000 annually.

Prior to Alabama, Goff was the head coach at Louisiana Tech and Campbell. He led Campbell to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2014 and then took Louisiana Tech to a regional final in 2016 in its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1987.

Alabama is the second SEC program with a coaching opening this season, joining Tennessee. Byrne has already made two high-impact baseball coaching hires in his career, as he hired John Cohen at Mississippi State in 2008 and Jay Johnson at Arizona in 2015. Both previous hires could weigh heavily in his decision this time. Johnson led the Wildcats to the College World Series finals last year and has won 85 games in his first two seasons. He likely will be one of the candidates Byrne considers in his latest search. Cohen, meanwhile, was promoted to Mississippi State’s athletic director last fall, but his coaching tree has come to dominate the SEC. Auburn coach Butch Thompson and Kentucky coach Nick Mingione were both assistant coaches for Cohen. Auburn assistant coach Brad Bohannon, the 2015 Assistant Coach of the Year, would fit that mold as well.

In addition, potential candidates could include South Alabama coach Mark Calvi, East Carolina coach Cliff Godwin (who was a finalist in last year’s search before pulling out), South Florida coach Mark Kingston and Clemson assistant coach Bradley LeCroy.

2017 COACHING CHANGES
School	Departures	Arrivals
Alabama	Greg Goff
Cincinnati	Ty Neal
Dayton	Tony Vittorio
La Salle	Mike Lake
Massachusetts	Mike Stone
Stanford	Mark Marquess (retiring after season)
Tennessee	Dave Serrano
Towson	Mike Gottlieb
Virginia Tech	Patrick Mason