Alabama’s Gene Stallings Enshrined in College Football Hall of Fame

Former Alabama Crimson Tide football coach Gene Stallings was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame Saturday in South Bend, Indiana. The official release from UA follows below:

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Legendary Alabama coach Gene Stallings was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame Saturday night during a dinner, held at the Century Center Convention Center in South Bend, Ind., that served as the culmination of the National Football Foundation’s two-day Enshrinement Festival.

The Veterans Committee of the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame selected Stallings as a part of the 2010 College Football Hall of Fame Class with this weekend’s activities serving as the culmination of the induction process. The 2010 College Football Hall of Fame Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Class was inducted at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 7, 2010, at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.

“From his years as a young assistant coach under Coach (Paul) Bryant through his head coaching days here at Alabama, Coach Stallings produced a career that is richly deserving of this recognition,” University of Alabama Director of Athletics Mal Moore said. “Coach Stallings was more than just a head coach at Alabama – his manner of doing things, his leadership and his passion took our entire program to another level.”

Stallings is the 22nd member of the Alabama family enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame, joining UA greats such as Bryant, Woodrow Lowe, Cornelius Bennett, John Hannah, Frank Howard, Lee Roy Jordan, Johnny Musso and Ozzie Newsome.

A member of College Football Hall of Fame coach Paul “Bear” Bryant’s “Junction Boys” as a player at Texas A&M, Stallings returned to his alma mater in 1965 as head coach. In his third season, the Aggies captured the Southwest Conference title and defeated Alabama in the Cotton Bowl. Stallings compiled a 27-45-1 record in seven seasons as head coach of the Aggies. After spending the next 17 seasons as an NFL coach, Stallings took over as head coach at Alabama in 1990.

As head coach of the Crimson Tide from 1990-96, Stallings led Alabama to the 1992 National Championship, one Southeastern Conference title (1992), four SEC West Division championships (1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996), five victories in postseason bowl games and four top 10 final national rankings.

Under Stallings’ direction, the Crimson Tide posted a 28-game winning streak spanning the 1991-93 seasons. He coached 13 first-team All-Americans during his head coaching career. In 1992, Stallings was the National Coach of the Year, the American Football Coaches’ Association Coach of the Year, the Paul Bryant Coach of the Year and the Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year, an honor he earned twice at Alabama. Overall he led the Tide to an on-field record of 70-16-1 (62-25 after eight wins were forfeited due to an NCAA ruling).

Stallings, former Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez, former Dayton head coach Mike Kelly and former Widener University, Delaware Valley College and LaSalle University head coach Bill Manlove were the four coaches that joined the list of 16 former players who were also inducted. The players enshrined were Dennis Byrd of North Carolina State (1964-67), Ronnie Caveness of Arkansas (1962-64), Ray Childress of Texas A&M (1981-84), Dexter Coakley of Appalachian State (1993-96), Randy Cross of UCLA (1973-75), Sam Cunningham of USC (1970-72), Michael Favor of North Dakota State (1985-88), Charles Haley of James Madison (1982-85), Mark Herrmann of Purdue (1977-80), Clarkston Hines of Duke (1986-89), Desmond Howard of Michigan (1989-91), Mickey Kobrosky of Trinity (1933-36), Chet Moeller of Navy (1973-75), Jerry Stovall of LSU (1960-62), Pat Tillman of Arizona State (1994-97), and Alfred Williams of Colorado (1987-90).