Alabama's Ex-Defensive Coodinator Joe Kines Pulls into His Last Stop

Larry Burton (Panama City Beach, Fla.): Like an old boxcar, similar to one he was born in on a hot day in July 1944, Joe has bounced around from town to town.

Yes, his mother gave birth in that hot boxcar in July while it was en route from Cedartown, Ga., to Piedmont, Ala. There was little hope at that time that this infant would go on to earn two collegiate bachelor's degrees and a master's degree as well.

There was also little to evidence the influence he would have over so many with a storied personality as a great college coach.

But like that old boxcar, he's finally reached his last stop where he can enjoy his retirement years, and that stop is his beloved town of Tuscaloosa, where he enjoyed his favorite years of coaching.

"It never failed to amaze me how he could yell from opening kickoff to the final whistle with that gravelly voice and not lose it," said Mike Shula, both a former head coach and player under Joe Kines. "He was always so wide open you half expected him to run out on the field and start making tackles himself."

That was the Joe Kines the fans loved and the players revered.

Considered to be a master of defense, Joe helped hold the Crimson Tide together with his former player Mike Shula during those dark probation years of limited scholarships.

His coaching career mirrored that of many in the trade. He started off at his alma mater, Jacksonville State University in Alabama, and subsequently made moves to Clemson, Florida under Charlie Pell, and then to his first stint at Alabama under Ray Perkins.

He was part of the first "post-Bryant" coaching staff there.

He left with Perkins to try the NFL when Perkins went to the Tampa Bay Bucs, but like many who left college, he realized college was his first and best love.

So in 1991, he returned to be defensive coordinator at Arkansas, and when they fired the head coach, Jack Crowe, in 1992, Kines took over as interim coach and led them to two impressive wins over South Carolina and LSU.

In 1995, he moved to Georgia to coach with the Bulldogs and stayed there until Bobby Bowden tapped him to help bolster the defense at Florida State in 2000.

Then in 2003, Kines was asked by new head coach Mike Shula, to "stay home" and help him build the Tide back up. Shula came in after the Mike Price fiasco, and Shula needed to keep this man in place. He didn't have to be asked twice.

He was there until 2007 when Nick Saban took over and started with a clean slate, but old Joe was snapped up the next year to help a struggling Texas A&M team try and rebuild.

But according to Kines, the A&M situation was just awful, so he retired following the end of the 2009 season.

Now I'm sure Rubye, his wife, is glad to have him all to herself, but he intends on spoiling their two grandsons by their only daughter.

He has already taken them on trips to Disney and other places and he wants to be near the school he loves so much, Alabama.

It would not be too far-fetched to believe that he may become involved in some aspect of university life once again, like fund-raising and high school camp programs and so forth.

He is part of the greatness that is Alabama football and it is nice to have him "home" where he belongs. Welcome home, Joe.