For a refresher on how Coach Alexander made his way to LaCucaracha and found himself as the Armadillos offensive coordinator please see the TCR special investigative report here.
With 5:12 remaining in the first half of Friday night’s much anticipated annual showdown with Sintown, offensive coordinator, Shaun Alexander, was abruptly fired on the sidelines by Coach Bryant for what he called “insubordination.” If you know Alexander’s story, you might have called it “brilliant.” If you are a fan of football, you might call it the worst offensive game plan, play calling and execution in the history of football – with the possible exception of the 1976 Tampa Bay Bucs.
After winning the toss and electing to receive the ball, the Armadillos came out in the now familiar power ‘I’ formation. However, Alexander had the linemen and receivers space themselves equidistant apart across the entire width of Jackie Sherill Field. Sure, Texas Tech employs some pretty wide splits, but this was ridiculous. Each player was literally 6.25 yards from each other. Sintown players were initially confused, but upon the first snap they simply ran through the gaps unabated and slaughtered LaCucaracha QB, Luke “Sky” Walker. Walker fumbled, and the ball was scooped up by Sintown for a touchdown. Coach Bryant asked Alexander about the formation and was told that Alexander was “trying to spread the field.”
The next five times LaCucaracha got the ball, Alexander ordered back up QB (Walker was taken off the field on a stretcher after the first play), Bobby Atlas, to punt the ball on first down.
After the Diablos raced to a 42-0 lead, Bryant had finally had enough, and fired Alexander on the spot. Witnesses on the sideline said that Alexander simply smiled and asked Bryant, “Does that mean I can go?”
Alexander was apparently already packed and ready to go and left LaCucaracha from the stadium. Sheriff Welch was so incensed by the episode on the field he arranged a police escort to get Alexander out of town as quickly as possible.
There was no miraculous comeback for the Dillos, so Sintown took the district championship and the number one seed for the upcoming prep playoffs. Hopefully we’ll get another shot at them later on down the road. It should be noted that the rumors of Sintown’s size and speed were not exaggerated (see related story). They also seemed impervious to pain. At one point Sintown linebacker, Jack Hegman, forgot to put his helmet on but still made three tackles on that LaCucaracha possession. Hegman didn’t seem to notice he was using his nose as a facemask.
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