Athletic teams at the University of Alabama are known as the Crimson Tide. The school fields teams in 11 varsity sports in the NCAA's Division I and is a member of the competitive Southeastern Conference (Western Division). The school's athletic teams compete at the highest level, often contending for conference and NCAA titles. Athletic facilities on campus include the 83,818-seat Bryant-Denny Stadium, named after legendary football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and former UA President George Denny, and the 15,043-seat Coleman Coliseum.
Alabama maintains athletic rivalries with Auburn University and the University of Tennessee. The rivalry with Auburn is especially heated as it encompasses all sports. The annual Alabama-Auburn game is nicknamed the Iron Bowl and is considered one of the most intense games in all of college football. The Alabama-Auburn basketball game is often called "Iron Ball."
While the rivalry with Tennessee is centered around football for the most part, there is no shortage of acrimony here, especially given the recent history between UT Coach Phil Fulmer and his relationship to the Tide's most recent NCAA probation. There are also rivalries with Louisiana State University (football), Mississippi State University (men's basketball), and the University of Georgia (women's gymnastics).
Football
The Tide's football team, started in 1892, is one of the oldest in the country. The program's tradition is rich; it has won 21 SEC titles and a total of 12 national championships: in 1925, 1926, 1930, 1934, 1941, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1992. There are also five additional years in which the NCAA's official record book recognizes the Crimson Tide as national champion: 1945, 1962, 1966, 1975, and 1977. The team has played in 51 bowl games (29 wins, 19 losses, and 3 ties), has 17 hall-of-famers, and 91 All-Americans honored 101 times. The first All-American from Alabama W.T. "Bully" VandeGraaff who made the team in 1915. He later served as an Alabama assistant coach and head coach at Colorado College.
Notable former Alabama players include Joe Namath who was the MVP of Super Bowl III with the New York Jets, Ken Stabler who was the winning quarterback for the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XI, Bobby Skelton, Pat Trammell, Steve Sloan, Bart Starr who was a two-time MVP with the Green Bay Packers in the Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II, Johnny Musso, and David Bailey, to name a few. The eighties brought Walter Lewis, Van Tiffin, Bobby Humphrey, Derrick Thomas and Cornelius Bennett.
Paul "Bear" Bryant
Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. The name was an inspiration in itself, conjuring images of a man in a houndstooth hat standing by the goal post, coaching his team to yet another victory. Years of experience were etched in his gentle face, but behind the grandfatherly exterior lay what could be described as the right stuff, the stuff that created a legend.
It was December 3, 1958; Bryant had some news for his followers at Texas A&M University. "Gentlemen, I've heard Mama calling," he told them, "and now I'm going home." And home he came, restoring a lost sense of pride and morale to a team that floundered in one of the lowest points in its history. The Tide was soon to turn. From 1978 to 1980, Bryant led the crimson warriors to twenty-eight straight victories, a record that catapulted the University to the top in national college football history. He had other winning streaks of nineteen, seventeen, twelve and eleven games.
Bryant once said, "Winning isn't everything, but it sure beats coming in second." Under his leadership, rarely did the Tide come in second. Bryant understood that there was more to a player than a strong arm or fast legs. The building of character was essential to the building of a winning team. "Intentions over the years were to help the players to be better persons every day, to help themselves, to teach a lesson on and off the field," he said.
They, were lessons not soon forgotten. Kenny "Snake" Stabler, who quarterbacked Bama to a perfect 11-0 season in 1966, recalled when Coach Bryant suspended him during his junior year. "He made me realize what I was throwing away, and he gave me the opportunity to recapture it," Stabler said.
On December 29, 1982, sports history was made and an era ended with Bryant's final game, the Liberty Bowl. It was the same bowl he had taken the Tide to in his first year as head coach. In a last rally of respect for the man who had brought the Tide from mediocre to mighty, the boys defeated Illinois 21-15. With 323 career wins, Bryant was lauded as the winningest coach in college football history. His leadership was the Crimson Tide's cornerstone to 232 wins, six national championships, and 23 straight bowl appearances.
"I'd probably croak in a week if I ever quit coaching," Bryant once said. He not only knew his players; he knew himself. He died 37 days after he coached his last game. It took three churches to hold the multitude that gathered for the funeral service on January 28, 1983.
The five-mile procession slowly rolled down Tenth Street, past the stadium that for 24 years had been filled with fans cheering him on, past Memorial Coliseum where his office was located. Then the somber caravan made its way to I-59, where all traffic stopped to allow its passage. Officials estimated between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people lined the 53 mile stretch to Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham.
Recent History
Following the death of Bear Bryant, the Crimson Tide football progam has had its high points and its low points. Since the retirement of Bryant, the team has seven different head coaches: Ray Perkins, Bill Oliver, Gene Stallings, Mike Dubose, Dennis Franchione, Mike Price, and Mike Shula. The Tide won its last national championship in 1992 against the University of Miami Hurricanes during the Stalling tenure. The Alabama football program has faced difficult times. The program has been disciplined with sanctions from the NCAA twice in the last 10 years, most recently in 2001. The team has had five different head coaches.
Following Gene Stallings' retirement in 1996, defensive coordinator Mike Dubose was named head coach. He proved to be an excellent recruiter of defensive linemen, though as a head coach he wasn't as effective. He benefited tremendously from the leadership of Shaun Alexander and Chris Samuels , winning the SEC championship in 1999. Expectations quickly rose for the Tide, which started the season as high as No. 3 in some polls. The Tide quickly lowered, ending up 3-8 in a season best exemplified by a last-second loss to Central Florida. Dubose was quickly fired and replaced by an up-and-coming coach from TCU, Dennis Franchione.
The media-savvy Franchione gained popularity quickly with his coaching style and media-friendly press conferences. He led Alabama to two winning seasons in 2001 and 2002, going 7-5 and 10-3, respectively. After NCAA sanctions hit in 2001, Franchione was rumored to be interested in other jobs, including the University of Kansas opening. One year later, under much media scrutiny, Franchione left for Texas A&M University. After the well-documented Mike Price fiasco [1], Miami Dolphins quarterbacks coach Mike Shula was hired after a rushed search. It was his first head coaching job at any level. Shula went through many first-year pains, ending up 4-9. Slight improvement during his second season sent the Alabama Crimson Tide to a 6-6 record and the Music City Bowl, its first bowl in three years.
Men's basketball
Alabama's men's basketball program has been overshadowed for most of its history by football. However, as the football program has drifted in relative mediocrity in recent years, the men's basketball program has risen in stature nationally, achieving a No. 1 national ranking briefly in 2002. UA has been become a regular conference power. Under head coach and former point guard Mark Gottfried, the Tide has advanced to postseason play every year for the past six years, culmunating with the team's advancement into the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history in 2004, where the team lost to eventual champion Connecticut in the Phoenix Regional Final.
Women's gymnastics
UA's women's gymnastics team, like the basketball teams, competes in Coleman Coliseum. Coached by Sarah Patterson, the team regularly competes for the NCAA National Championship, having won four, the most recent in 2002.
