Walsh: Should Alabama Have a Crimson Tide Hall of Fame, and Who’s Worthy of First Class?
The university does a fantastic job of honoring former football greats, but not so much with other Crimson Tide sports.
The bust of legendary Alabama Crimson Tide coach Paul W. “Bear” Bryant at the Bryant Museum in Tuscaloosa.
The bust of legendary Alabama Crimson Tide coach Paul W. “Bear” Bryant at the Bryant Museum in Tuscaloosa. / Gar
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Even people who have absolutely no interest in sports can’t help but notice the presence of football on the University of Alabama campus, and the reverence that it holds.
There are the names of the football team captains in concrete around Denny Chimes, at the heart of campus, the Quad. Statues of coaches line the Walk of Champions, where both the teams and players of the national champions are set in stone. There’s the Bryant Museum (which has the Bryant Wall of Honor), Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium, buildings and stadiums boasting the names of coaches and administrators, and even the prestigious Bryant Society, which celebrates those who have made gifts of at least $1 million.
But what about the other sports? Outside of Sarah Patterson Champions Plaza, which honors the non-football championship teams, there isn’t much, and even less for the actual athletes. Notable exceptions include the Joe Sewell statue in the entranceway of the baseball stadium, the plaque honoring John Mitchell and Wilbur Jackson outside of Bryant-Denny Stadium, and Wendell Hudson’s basketball jersey hanging from the top of Coleman Coliseum.
There’s also the statue of two football players, who are supposed to represent all who suited up for the Crimson Tide, holding the flag by the entrance to Sabam Field. Center Antoine Caldwell and middle linebacker Matt Collins were the models, with one holding a flag and the other extending his hand and finger with a No. 1 while appearing to look into the distance.
Just A Minute: What if Alabama Crimson Tide had a Hall of Fame.mp4
If you’re wondering, numerous schools including Florida, Florida State, LSU, Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina State, Texas and UCLA have a Hall of Fame, as does Vanderbilt. If Alabama joined them the annual induction ceremony could serve as a fundraiser for the athletic department, and depending on how the honorees were displayed it could be another way to draw fans to campus year-round as part of the Crimson Tide experience.
With that in mind, who could potentially be in that first class? My aim was to set a maximum limit of 10, but I couldn’t do it in good consciousness and went with 12 instead for the initial group. You’ll notice that nearly every person represents a different part of Crimson Tide athletics as a whole, which was by design (see video) and they’re listed in alphabetical order:
1. Paul W. “Bear” Bryant
The Bear Bryant statue on the Walk of Champions outside Bryant-Denny Stadium is seen Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018. / Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK
Won six national titles with his alma mater and may still have the biggest name in college football history. It’s been more than 40 years since his passing, and his iconic stature hasn’t diminished at all (especially in Tuscaloosa, a lot of which is named after him). When Sports Illustrated announced its All-Century Team in college football, Bryant was listed as the head coach.
2. Wendell Hudson
Feb. 13, 2011; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide coach Wendell Hudson smiles during the second half against the Florida Gators at Foster Auditorium. Alabama won 64-59.
During the 2019-20 basketball season , Hudson received a unique honor in being the first Crimson Tide athlete to have his jersey retired by the school. It came 50 years after becoming Alabama’s first Black scholarship athlete in any sport in 1969. He was also the Crimson Tide’s first SEC player of the year in men’s basketball. He opened the door to not only players like Leon Douglas and T.R. Dunn, Jackson and Mitchell, but Sylvester Croom, the All-American center who went on to be the Southeastern Conference’s first Black head coach in football.
3. Don Hutson
Former Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Don Hutson of the Green Bay Packers / Green Bay Packers
Don Hutson was such a good football player that he was a charter member for both the College Football (1951) and Pro Football Hall of Fame (1963). When the All-American end caught six passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns in the Crimson Tide’s 29- 13 victory over Stanford in the Rose Bowl (numbers unheard of at the time), he was dubbed “the greatest pass-catching speed merchant end” by West Coast media. He went on to be All-Pro nine times, led the NFL in pass receptions eight times, topped the league in scoring five times, and twice was named Most Valuable Player.
4. Mark Ingram II
Sports Illustrated cover: Mark Ingram II and the Alabama Crimson Tide defeat Texas at the Rose Bowl to claim the 2009 national championship /
Ingram was a different kind of pioneer at Alabama. While helping lead Alabama to its first national title under Nick Saban in 2009, the running back also captured the program’s first Heisman Trophy. Overall, he finished Crimson Tide career with 3,261 rushing yards in 41 games (24 starts), with 42 rushing touchdowns, 60 receptions for 670 yards and four more scores. The first-round draft pick and Derrick Henry are the only running backs over the past 20 years to win the Heisman.
5. Kelly Kretschman
Apr 22, 2008; Los Angeles, CA, USA; USA national team right fielder Kelly Kretschman (12) bats during exhibition softball game against the UCLA Bruins at Easton Field.
Considered one of the greatest softball players in history, Kretschman (1998-2001) set the standard at Alabama while leading the Crimson Tide to its first College World Series appearance and still holds many school records including career slugging percentage, games started, runs scored, hits, doubles, total bases and intentional walks. She became a fixture on Team USA even before graduating and was named an All-Star nine times at the professional level.
6. Dave Magadan
New York Mets first baseman Dave Magadan (10) in action at Shea Stadium during the 1991 season.
With respect to Sewell, who has his name on Alabama’s baseball stadium along with Frank Thomas (who could also be on this list for his coaching success in football and his time as athletic director) only one Crimson Tide player has ever won the Golden Spikes Award, the sport’s version of the Heisman Trophy, Dave Magadan. In 1983, his senior year, he set the SEC batting average record by hitting.525, while also topping the Crimson Tide in hits, doubles, total bases and slugging percentage. He helped lead Alabama to the College World Series, and was named to the All-Tournament Team.
7. Mal Moore
Jan. 21, 2012; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Director of Athletics Mal Moore speaks during the Alabama Football National Championship Celebration at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Let’s be honest, not every coaching move he made worked out, but the one that did overshadowed the rest in a big way. In 2007, Moore flew to Miami and talked Nick and Terry Saban into leaving the Miami Dolphins and returning to college football. As a player, coach and athletic director, Moore was part of 10 national championships in football alone. After building up the facilities the Crimson Tide won national titles in gymnastics, softball, men’s golf and women’s golf. In 2007, the man who was said to bleed, breathe and live Crimson through and through had the footbal building renamed in his honor, the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility.
8. Joe Namath
New York Jets quarterback (12) Joe Namath on the sidelines.
One can argue about where Namath might be on any list of all-time great athletes at Alabama, but the Crimson Tide has never had a player who was a bigger icon. In addition to leading Alabama to the 1964 national title, and going 29-4 over three seasons, the quarterback was the first player selected in the 1965 AFL Draft. He rewarded the New York Jets by making his famous prediction prior to Super Bowl III and then helped pull off the stunning upset of the Baltimore Colts. “Broadway Joe” was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.
9. Sarah Patterson
Aug 9, 2022; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Sarah Patterson, a former campaign chairperson and winner of multiple gymnastics championships when a coach at the University of Alabama talks with a friend before the kickoff event of the United Way of West.
Sarah and her husband David led the Crimson Tide gymnastics program to six national championships (1988, 1991, 1996, 2002, 2011, 2012) before stepping down in 2014. The Crimson Tide also won 29 regional titles and eight Southeastern Conference championships, and only two of her teams won SEC and national titles during the same season. Her gymnasts captured 23 NCAA individual titles and 40 SEC championships. Moreover, Patterson was a promoter and advocate of both the sport and women’s athletics as a whole, which wasn’t easy at a football-dominated school.
10. Nick Saban
Sep 28, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban walks onto the field before a game between the Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Greatest college football coach ever? He’s definitely the most successful as his teams won seven national championships, including six at Alabama. Saban set a new standard for the profession and his impact went far beyond the playing fields. Per his College Football Hall of Fame bio, as he’ll be inducted later this year: “During his 17 seasons at Alabama (2007-23), Saban built the most dominant dynasty in modern college football, leading the Tide to nine BCS/CFP championship game appearances while winning six national titles.” Among his records that may stand for a long, long time, Alabama went 15 consecutive seasons, beginning in 2008, with a No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25 at some point of the season.
11. Derrick Thomas
Former Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Derrick Thomas holds the record for sacks in a single game (7) from when he was with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Thomas would have been credited as setting the NCAA record for career sacks with 52, and the single-season mark of 27, but sacks weren’t considered an official statistic yet. He finished his Crimson Tide career with 204 tackles, 74 tackles for loss, 10 forced fumbles, two safeties and nine blocked kicks. Over 11 seasons in he NFL he notched 126.5 sacks, the fourth most by a linebacker in NFL history. Thomas also forced 45 fumbles, had 19 fumble recoveries, scored four touchdowns on fumble returns and added three safeties.
12. Justin Thomas
May 22, 2022; Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA; Justin Thomas poses with the Wanamaker trophy after winning the PGA Championship golf tournament at Southern Hills Country Club.
Thomas won the Haskins Award, as the most outstanding collegiate golfer, as a freshman 2012, and the following year helped lead the Crimson Tide to the national championship. He subsequently turned pro and has won 17 tournament including the PGA Championship twice. He’s twice been named the PGA player of the year, and finished atop the tour’s money leaders three times. Thomas won the 2017 FedEx Cup and has played on the U.S. team for the Ryder Cup three times, and in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Who else?
To get a feel for just how difficult getting the list down to 12 was please consider some of the other prominent contenders. They include a coach who won three national championships, an athlete who won five Olympic medals, and some of the most decorated athletes in their respective sports. The following alone could potentially fill the subsequent seven-plus classes (again in alphabetical oder):
Jonathan Allen
Mel Allen
Shaun Alexander
Bill Battle
Cornelius Bennett
Johnny Mack Brown
Greg Byrne
Johnny Cain
Dominique Canty
Sylverster Croom
Rece Davis
Leon Douglas
Minkah Fitzpatrick
John Forney
Harry Gilmer
John Hannah
Derrick Henry
Barbara (Mack) Harding
Robert Horry
Frank Howard
Dixie Howell
Andree’ (Pickens) Houston
Pooley Hubert
Hootie Ingram
Wilbur Jackson
Kim Jacob
Josh Jacobs
Niesa Johnson
Barrett Jones
Julio Jones
Lee Roy Jordan
E.J. Junior
Antonio Langham
Jeff Laubenthal
Lillie Leatherwood
Woodrow Lowe
Marty Lyons
Vaughn Mancha
Glenn Mills
John Mitchell
Patrick Murphy
Billy Neighbors
Ozzie Newsome
C.M. Newton
Nate Oats
Jon Olsen
Jerry Pate
Mic Potter
Dennis Pursley
The Rocket 8
Chris Smauels
Jay Seawell
Joe Sewell
Chet Simmons
Fred Sington
Jonty Skinner
Calvin Smith
Riley Smith
DeVonta Smith
Ken Stabler
Gene Stallings
Bart Starr
Dwight Stephenson
Gary Talese
Emma Talley
Frank Thomas
Merel van Dongen
Wallace Wade
Jim Wells
Don Whitmore
Dee Dee (Foster) Worley
Bryce Young
Would George Hutcheson Denny qualify? Oh the possibilities …
See Also The Saban 250: The Official Rankings Cheat Sheet
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