Coach Gene Stallings’ final game as the Bama football coach came on January 2nd, 1997, as his Crimson Tide beat- yes- Michigan 17-14 in the Outback Bowl in Tampa.
Moments after the game, Bama linebacker Dwayne Rudd, who had a pick six in that bowl game, found his emotional coach near a corner of the locker room.
Sensing that his coach was vulnerable, Dwayne walked over to Coach Stallings and gave him the biggest hug ever, as he comforted the coach in the midst of a fragile moment- after all, Coach Stallings knew that he would likely never coach again (coach announced that he was leaving after the Iron Bowl about a month earlier).
Coach Stallings went 70-16-1 as the Alabama coach and won a national championship.
He averaged 10 wins a season in his 7 years at Bama.
Coach Stallings- now 89 years old- is a dear friend to many of us, and of all the pictures that have seen taken of him, this one gets my eyes watering.
It’s the picture of a tough, grizzled coach showing his vulnerability.
A good man showing his heart.
A good man receiving one last hug.
*Thanks to Paul W. Bryant Museum for the picture.
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