COLLEGE FOOTBALL Alabama works to replace Price

This would be a crucial hire for an unsettled program.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -- Miami Dolphins assistant coach Mike Shula and Carolina Panthers assistant Richard Williamson have emerged as top candidates to replace fired coach Mike Price at Alabama.
Alabama athletic director Mal Moore and president Robert Witt met Sunday with Shula in Miami, and with Williamson in Atlanta on Monday, according to newspaper reports.
"I will admit, I'm an alumni, I had great memories there. I love Alabama, just like everybody else that ever played there," Shula, a former Crimson Tide quarterback, told reporters in Miami on Monday.
Seeking a replacement
Shula, 37, has never been a head coach. Moore said Monday head coaching experience wasn't mandatory for the hire as it was in his previous search five months ago when Dennis Franchione left Alabama for Texas A & amp;M.
"I'm looking for who I think is the best for this situation and who could come in with this very awkward time frame," he said.
Williamson, 62, played at Alabama in the early 1960s and also was an assistant coach under Bear Bryant. He was a finalist for the job when Gene Stallings was hired in 1990.
"I've always said I wanted to return to Alabama and be the head coach," Williamson told the Gaston (N.C.) Gazette. "Right now, it's about the only job I would take."
As a civil rights leader urged Alabama to become the first Southeastern Conference school to hire a black as head football coach, Moore flew to Orlando for a meeting of SEC athletic directors. Then he and Witt were bound for more interviews with little time to waste four months before the season.
"The players deserve a quick decision, and I want to deliver," Moore said.
In the running
He said he had four candidates in mind for what could be a crucial hire for a program that is on NCAA probation and has been changing coaches about as frequently as it used to win national championships under Bear Bryant.
Moore wouldn't disclose any names or confirm the interview with Shula.
After hiring two "outsiders" for the job -- TCU's Franchione and Washington State's Price -- Moore appears to be mostly focusing on candidates with connections to Bryant. The names include NFL assistants Shula, Williamson and Sylvester Croom of Green Bay.
Former Jacksonville Jaguars and Boston College coach Tom Coughlin and Oklahoma State's Les Miles also are considered potential candidates.
Coughlin said Monday that he hadn't been contacted by any representatives from Alabama. "There's nothing going on," he said.
Miles signed a long-term contract extension at Oklahoma State in December and said he never was contacted about the Alabama job.