Mark Gottfried Resigns From Alabama

Mark Gottfried resigned as head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide basketball team today, a move that will certainly draw plenty of discussion as to whether he resigned or "resigned."

Under Gottfried, the Tide made the NCAA Tournament for five consecutive years but have struggled recently. Word on the street is that Phillip Pearson will take over the squad as the university conducts a full search for a coach.

Gottfried received plenty of criticism in recent years -- even more so since he was allegedly part of the reason Ronald Steele left the school.

The former coach played at Alabama as well, which apparently resulted in a pretty emotional exit.

"He just told us that he really loved us and that we were like one of his children and to just continue to play hard and make the best of this season," freshman JaMychal Green said. "It was emotional. Coach Gottfried shed some tears and hugged every one of the players.

"He basically was saying that Alabama means a lot to him and that even though he's not coaching, he's still going to be there to support us and cheer us on while we're playing," he said.

Gottfried compiled a pretty impressive record at Alabama, but as has become abundantly clear in recent months, college coaching is very much a "What have you done for me lately?" environment, and, lately, Gottfried hasn't produced. It's odd that he resigned, of course, but it seems entirely likely that he faced some sort of ultimatum and instead simply decided to walk away.