The University of Alabama enjoys one of the finest football traditions in the history of the game. With a legacy of excellence that stretches more than 100 years, Alabama boasts and prides one of football's greatest coaches, 12 national championships, 20 Southeastern Conference titles, 16 inductees into the College Football Hall of Fame and 95 All-Americas.
E.B. Beaumont was the Tide's first coach, Paul "Bear" Bryant its greatest, and Mike DuBose the latest. Beaumont's tenure lasted four games of which Alabama won two. Bear Bryant was born on the same day as I, just not the same year,lol, September 11, 1913. Bryant coached the Tide for wondeful 25 years, having 232 wins with 46 losses and 9 ties. His record for homecomings was 25-0. He was given the honor of National Coach of the Year three times, as well as 8 SEC Coach of the year titles! Bryant led his teams to six national championships, 13 SEC championships and 24 consecutive bowl appearances. As head coach, Bryant logged 323 wins, 85 losses and17 ties. His winning total is the most by any NCAA Division I coach. DuBose is now in the third season of his tenure as head coach.
Alabama's first national championship came in 1925, under the Coach Wallace Wade. Gene Stallings, the Tide's coach from 1990 to 1996 was the latest Alabama coach to lead the Tide to a national championship. His 1992 team gave a unanimous national championship season with a 34-13 win over Miami.
In early newspaper accounts of Alabama football, the team was simply listed as the "varsity" or the "Crimson White" after the school colors. The first nickname to become popular and used by headline writers was the "Thin Red Line." The nickname was used until 1906. The name "Crimson Tide" is said to have first been used by Hugh Roberts. A former sports editor of the Birmingham Age-Herald. He used "Crimson Tide" in describing the Alabama-Auburn game played in Birmingham in 1907. They did not play again until 1948, which was in a sea of mud and Auburn was a heavy favorite to win. The "Thin Red Line" played a great game in the red mud and held Auburn to a 6-6 tie, giving rise to the name "Crimson Tide."
Alabama became associated with the "elephant" goes back to the 1930 season when Coach Wallace Wade had assembled a great football team. On October 8, 1930, sports writer Everett Strupper of the Atlanta Journal wrote a story of the Alabama-Mississippi game he had witnessed in Tuscaloosa four days earlier. Strupper wrote,"That Alabama team of 1930 is a typical Wade machine, powerful, big, tough, fast, aggressive, well-schooled in fundamentals, and the best blocking team for this early in the season that I have ever seen. When those big brutes hit you I mean you go down and stay down, often for an additional two minutes."
"At the end of the quarter, the earth started to tremble, there was a distant rumble that continued to grow. Some excited fan in the stands bellowed, 'Hold your horses, the elephants are coming,and out stamped this Alabama varsity."
"It was the first time that I had seen it and the size of the entire eleven nearly knocked me cold, men that I had seen play last year looking like they had nearly doubled in size." Strupper and other writers continued to refer to the Alabama linemen as "Red Elephants," the color referring to the crimson jerseys.
The 1930 team posted an overall 10-0 record. It shut out eight opponents and allowed only 13 points all season while scoring 217. The "Red Elephants" rolled over Washington State 24-0 in the Rose Bowl and were declared National Champions.
This page is dedicated to my Father, who has given me everything I've wanted in life!! The #1 Man in my life. Yes, I'm a daddy's girl :) He's spoiled me so much. Thanks Dad for the love you've given me! I Love you!
