Legends of Alabama Football

With 15 national championships and a tradition of national achievement that dates back to the 1920s, the University of Alabama has secured its spot as one of the most successful athletic institutions in the history of American sports. Dating back to the days when university president Dr. George H. “Mike” Denny decided football would be the university's ticket to national prominence, Alabama has produced some of the most legendary teams and players in the history of the game. Many of those legends have long since passed, but standouts such as Johnny Mack Brown, Dixie Howell, Don Huston, Pat Trammell, and Derrick Thomas remain alive and well in the hearts and minds of loyal Crimson Tide fans. The legends of Tide stars such as Joe Namath, Ken Stabler, Harry Gilmer, Johnny Musso, John Hannah, and Ozzie Newsome continue to grow with time. None of those legends stands taller than Paul “Bear” Bryant, the former Crimson Tide player who returned to Alabama as head coach in 1958 and built a dynasty that rivaled any in sports, pro, or college football. From Wallace Wade to Heisman Trophy–winner Mark Ingram, current coach Nick Saban, and all points in between, Legends of Alabama Football chronicles the coaches, players, and events that placed Crimson Tide football on the national sports landscape.

Richard Scott is an award-winning freelance sportswriter and editor who works for a variety of football-related publications, including American Football Monthly and the Sports Xchange. A former college football and basketball writer for the Birmingham Post-Herald and the Columbia Daily Tribune in Missouri, Scott has covered numerous major events, bowls, championship games, and tournaments throughout the United States, including Alabama's national championship victory over Miami in the 1993 Sugar Bowl and Auburn's undefeated 1993 season. The native of Kansas City, Missouri, lives in Alabama. Jason Mayfield graduated from the University of Alabama in 2000 with a degree in journalism. While at Alabama, he worked four years in the sports media relations office, and he received national recognition for a story that appeared in the 2000 football media guide on the 1925 Rose Bowl team. Mayfield has a master's in communication from the University of South Alabama and a master's in education from the University of Montevallo. He has taught writers at Columbiana Middle School for the past 10 years.