Alabama Football: The 25 Years After the Bear

Weeks earlier, Bryant had coached his last football game of his career, a 21-15 Liberty Bowl victory over Illinois, giving him 323 career victories. At the time it was the most in Division-I history, and now sits at No. 3 on the all-time list. 

Bryant is remembered constantly for his dominant Crimson Tide teams that won six National Championships, 13 SEC Championships, and went to 24 consecutive bowl games in 25 years while he was head coach. Oh yeah, and his houndstooth hat. 

As glorious as those 25 years under Bryant were for Alabama, the 25 following his death have been some of the worst in the history of the school, with very few bright spots—namely one national title, three SEC titles, and nine 10-win seasons.

For most programs those are respectable numbers...but this is Alabama. This is a school that boasts 12 National Championships, 21 SEC Championships, and 30 10-win seasons. Mediocrity is not accepted.

However, as respectable as those numbers are, there is no denying the hard times that have fallen on the football program after the retirement of Coach Bryant. Ever since the Bear stepped down, the Crimson Tide have had a continuous search for “the next coach Bryant.” The school keeps looking for that coach who can step in and put the team where it belongs in the fan's eyes—at the top. The Alabama faithful want championships, wins, and glory.

Gene Stallings was able to do that for Alabama. During his seven years as coach, the team was consistently in the top 15 in the country. His stay also included the only National Title since the death of Coach Bryant and one of the three SEC titles.

Coaches in Tuscaloosa have not returned for various reasons. Ray Perkins wasn’t offered a new contract. Bill Curry and Mike Shula couldn’t beat Auburn. Mike Dubose and Mike Price were just a bit unfaithful. Coach Dennis Franchoine bolted for Texas A&M, a reverse of a path taken by both Bryant and Stallings. 

Even Stallings left on bad terms with the operations office. He was more or less forced out by then-Athletic Director Hootie Ingram.

Not only have the coaches faltered, the school has too. Alabama has been placed on probation twice since their last National Championship. The actions by Alabama in the second case were considered so bad that the program almost received the death penalty. The school was eventually given the second harshest penalty in NCAA history. 

As Alabama now closes a book on their worst quarter-century of football in their history, things are beginning to look up for the Tide.

A court case has surfaced concerning the severity of the violations committed by Alabama in their second round of probation, and it was discovered that they were over punished by the NCAA.

On the field, the Tide now have who they believe is really “the next Bear” in head coach Nick Saban. They believe Saban will bring back the hard practices of the Bear and also be the same sort of mentor to this new crop of players that Bryant was to his own players.