The Father of Auburn Football Backs the Tide

In December of 1934 the fortunes of Alabama's premier college football teams could not have been farther apart. The Alabama Crimson Tide had rolled to an undefeated season and were preparing to head to California and take on Stanford in the Rose Bowl . Across the state the Auburn Tigers had limped to a 2-8 record under first year coach Jack Meagher.

The founder of Auburn football, Dr. George Petrie, was interviewed at an Atlanta conference about his thoughts on the two teams and was sanguine about the state of affairs at the two programs. Although retired from athletics, the 68-year-old Petrie continued to teach history and remained dean of Auburn's graduate school.

"Alabama has the best football team in the country, except Minnesota. Auburn's one consolation this year is they didn't have to play Alabama."

Alabama went on to beat Stanford in the Rose Bowl, 29-13, and claimed the national championship. Minnesota, who were also undefeated, did not play in a bowl game and also claimed the title.

Despite the conciliatory tone, Petrie remained adamantly opposed to a renewal of the rivalry that had been curtailed in 1907 following a bitter accusations between the two teams. The two schools, he insisted, were against it.

"The state legislature can't make us play as has been suggested. For that matter we couldn't make the boys play if they didn't want to."

In 1947 the Alabama legislature did decreed the rivalry resume -- and then backed it up by threatening to pull funding to the schools. After a four-decade hiatus, Alabama and Auburn met again on the gridiron the following year.

The Crimson Tide Special En Route to the 1938 Rose Bowl

In December 1937, the University of Alabama scheduled a special Southern Pacific train to carry the Crimson Tide football team and their supporters to Pasadena for the New Years Day game against the University of California. As in years past, the transportation for the Bama backers to the West Coast was organized by Jefferson Coleman, the UA athletic department business manager.

The 14-car train with 248 passengers dubbed "The Crimson Tide Special" by sportswriters left Tuscaloosa on Dec. 21 and traveled the 2,500 miles to California in three days, arriving at the Pasadena station at 9 a.m. on Christmas Eve morning.

The trip was not uneventful for the squad. During a practice on a rain-drenched field while on a stopover at San Antonio, Texas, Alabama player Leroy Munskie sustained a severe cut over his right eye that required several stiches. The cut was re-injured in a collision during another practice in a Tuscon, AZ stop. The injury sparked concern over if he would be able to play in the New Year's Day game.

Another train carrying Alabama supporters departed Tuscaloosa on Dec. 27 with about 150 passengers and two more trains, one leaving Montgomery and another from Birmingham, departed the same day with about 200 additional Crimson Tide backers.

1926 Rose Bowl Player of the Game Johnny Mack Brown

The Dothan Antelope put his speed and elusiveness on display at the 1925 Rose Bowl against Washington. Down by five to the Huskies in the third quarter, Alabama's Grant Gillis dropped back to his own 41 and launched a bomb to Brown who snagged it at the 25-yard-line at a dead run and galloped in the go-ahead touchdown.

Two plays later, Washington fumbled near their own 40 and the Alabama offense went to work again. On the first play of the drive Brown dashed down the field while Pooley Hubert dropped back and launched it. The Antelope looked over his shoulder and reeled in the pass at the three-yard-line and scored on the next stride.

In addition to his two touchdown receptions, Brown carried the ball eight times for 78 yards, averaging 6.3 yards a carry. He was later named Alabama's player of the game for his performance. Washington's MVP, George "Wildcat" Wilson, said of his foe in crimson, "That Mack Brown was all they said of him and more. He was about the fastest man in a football suit I have ever bumped up against."

Diagramming Alabama & California's Key Plays

In the week prior to the 1938 Rose Bowl, the Newspaper Enterprise Association's sports artist Art Krenz produced this illustration featuring a play of each of the teams -- Alabama and California.

Alabama vs Georgia 1922

Alabama's Charles Bartlett turns the corner
for a 7-yard gain against Georgia in the 1922 game.

When Montgomery's Cramton Bowl opened in 1922, Alabama's "Thin Red Line" was intended to be the inaugural game for the stadium. Instead, the university's freshman squad was granted the honor as UA president George H. Denny succeeded in having the planned showdown with Georgia relocated to the venue.

It seemed a sharp business move as the Bulldogs under Herman J. Stegeman had become a southern power rolling up a 15-2-2 record the prior two years. As the Alabama game approached, Georgia's record wasn't as stellar as expected since the Bulldogs  had not won a game in November, starting with a tight 7-3 loss to Auburn the first Saturday of the month.

The Tide, meanwhile, were riding high after defeating John Heisman's University of Pennsylvania squad just three weeks prior. The full page ad in the Montgomery Advertiser for the Cramton Bowl contest explicitly noted this feat.

In the first quarter Alabama was driving to the end zone with Charles Bartlett completing key passes to Pooley Hubert and Alan MacCartee to reach the Georgia eight-yard-line. Then disaster struck as MacCartee fumbled and the Bulldogs' Fletcher recovered and galloped ninety-five yards for a touchdown. It would be the Bulldogs only score of the game.

Bama's Bartlett scored on a four-yard run late in the first half and then booted a field goal in the third to put his team up 10-6, which would prove to be the final score.

The game would be the last for Georgia's Stegeman who was replaced by George C. "Kid" Woodruff the following season. Alabama would go on crush Mississippi A&M the following week to conclude the 6-3-1 season and bring the tenure of head coach Xen Scott to an end. The Tide would be led by Wallace Wade in 1923.

Bear Bryant at Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt's 1940 coaching staff (l to r): Assistant Paul Bryant,
Head Coach Red Sanders, assistants H.E. Alley and Jim Scoggins.

Following the 1935 season, Alabama end Paul W. Bryant had finished his career as a collegiate athlete. That spring his coach, Frank Thomas, sent him to Union College in Jackson, Tennessee, in order to teach that staff the Notre Dame offense run by the Crimson Tide. It was the first coaching experience for Bryant and it was followed by an offer to join Thomas’ staff as an assistant.

After four years, Bryant had earned his bachelors degree at Alabama and began looking for other coaching opportunities. He applied for a place on Frank Howard’s staff at Clemson but before he got a reply, Red Sanders of Vanderbilt stopped by in Tuscaloosa and offered him a job on the Commodore’s staff as an offensive line coach.

Sanders had planned to offer the job to Mississippi State assistant Murray Warmath but a chance conversation with Nashville sportswriter Fred Russell convinced him to take a chance on the protegee of Alabama's Thomas.

Sanders was in his first year with the Commodores. His predecessor, J. Ray Morrison, had been unable to keep the Vanderbilt program at the lofty heights it enjoyed under Dan McGugin. The first season under Sanders wasn't expected to be a dramatic change but it started off auspiciously enough with a 19-0 pasting of Washington & Lee.

The second contest was a hard fought 6-7 loss to Princeton in New Jersey and by the end of it the Commodore squad had been severely diminished by injuries. Set to play a mediocre Kentucky team at home in Nashville the following week, bettors were favoring the Wildcats. The odds got longer when Sanders took ill with appendicitis the Thursday before the game. With the head coach in the hospital, the top assistant took over his coaching duties.

So on Oct. 12, 1940 Paul “Bear” Bryant walked the sideline as a head coach for the very first time in his long and illustrious career. The 27-year-old was so nervous he later claimed to have driven out into the country and “puked my guts out” the night before the contest. Sanders gave the team a pep talk from his hospital bed by telephone prior the game but it was Bryant who led them onto the field.

The Commodores managed to battle the Wildcats to a 7-7 tie that was marked by an incident between the young coach and official, Bill McMasters. Late in the game McMasters ejected Vandy’s Art Reborovich for slugging Kentucky halfback Noah Mullins. The call that infuriated Bryant and, urged on by Vandy manager Preacher Franklin, he began moving toward the referee. Kentucky Athletic Director Bernie Schiveley stepped in and physically restrained Bryant. The neophyte coach calmed down but the call still rankled.

“Naturally I thought the officials cheated us somehow, else we’d have won,” he said later. “No young coach is going to believe he lost on his own merit.”

Sanders returned for the next game and the Commodores would limp to a disappointing 3-6-1 record for the season but almost upset Alabama on the road. The next year Vanderbilt powered to an 8-2 record that included a 7-0 victory over Bryant’s former team.

Although the 1941 team was one of the strongest the Commodores had seen in years and Bryant had already developed a formidable reputation as a recruiter, the young assistant’s contract was not renewed. Bryant then threw his hat in the ring for the newly vacant head coaching position at Arkansas.

After three meetings with the governor, Bryant was convinced he would return to his home state as the coach of the flagship university’s football team. Everything changed on Dec. 7 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The next morning Bryant drove to Washington D.C. and enlisted in the Navy ending his head coaching hopes for the duration of the war.

The Alabama Crimson Tide at the Grand Canyon

Mike Szecsi, Hank Crisp, Billy Brown, Lindy Hood, Wallace Wade,
Dink Campbell, Jimmie Moore, Joe Sharpe, Russell Taylor.

In December 1930, the train carrying the Alabama Crimson Tide to California to play Washington State in the Rose Bowl took a stop in Arizona at the Grand Canyon. The team stopped at the canyon on Dec. 22 but the visit was cut short because a practice in San Antonio, Texas had put them behind schedule. A tour of Phoenix was abandoned but the stopover there the team was presented a black donkey named "Poison" which they brought with them to Pasadena.

Alabama Homecoming 1941

Alabama welcomed Kentucky to Denny Stadium on Nov. 1, 1941 for the Crimson Tide's homecoming game. University officials heralded the occasion as an opportunity to "re-dedicate" the school for the service of the state and the nation. "In sum," said the Tuscaloosa News in an editorial, "the day was more spiritual than physical, for those who follow the University both 'on and off the football field.' "

Inclement weather played havoc with the festivities. A Friday night pep rally planned at Denny Stadium had to be moved to the the University auditorium and, on Saturday, a relatively lackluster crowd of 11,000 showed up for the game itself. Prior to the kickoff University president Richard C. Foster (whom the school's auditorium would later be named for) dedicated the game to the country's active duty servicemen.

Alabama's all-conference star, halfback Jimmy Nelson, led the team to a 30-0 rout of the Wildcats. The Crimson Tide starters lodged a touchdown each of the first three quarters before turning the game over to the second team in the final period. The backups proceeded to score a pair of touchdowns in the final minutes of the game to finish the lopsided victory. Oddly, Alabama failed to score a single point after touchdown all afternoon.

Following the contest, UA's Million Dollar Band mingled with the Kentucky band and entertained the spectators who remained in the stadium with a 20-minute concert. The rainy weather gave way to clear skies for the late afternoon A Club smoker.

With the victory Alabama earned the No. 15 spot in the AP poll; the Tide's first appearance in the rankings that season.

Alabama vs Pensacola Naval Air Base 1945

Alabama coaches Tilden Campbell, Hank Crisp and
 Frank Thomas watch the game from the Tide bench.

Just 7,500 fans came to Denny Stadium on Nov. 24, 1945 to see the No. 3 ranked Crimson Tide crush the Pensacola Naval Air Base Goslings 55-6. The Tides' first string scored three touchdowns in their first three possessions and then left the rest of the game to the backups. It was the eighth straight win for Alabama who had just been invited to play in the 1946 Rose Bowl game.

Bernard Patrick "Tony" Holm

Tony Holm was a standout running back for Wallace Wade's powerful teams in the late 1920s, who would go onto a journeyman career in the pro ranks that included a spot on the first Pittsburgh Steelers roster.

A native of Birmingham, Holm played at Fairfield High School before heading to Tuscaloosa in 1926. At jsut more than six feet and 214 pounds, Holm was considered physically imposing for a back in that era. His size allied with a "high knee action" running style made him difficult to tackle. His running prowess earned him sobriquets such as "The Battering Buckaroo" from sports writers.

While he was a productive player in the Tide's varsity backfield in 1927 and 1928, it was the 1929 season that made him a star. Alabama began that year's campaign bulldozing its first three opponents but then traveled to Knoxville to face Tennessee. The revived Volunteer squad under Major Robert Neyland had surprised the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa the season before earning a 15-13 victory. Alabama was looking for payback and as shot at the conference title.

The game proved to be a match of almost complete equals with the two teams battling to a stalemate. The outcome hinged on a punt of Holm's that was blocked and then recovered by Tennessee. The Vols drove to the Tide two-yard-line and then Tennessee's Gene McEver pulled off a play-action fake and ran in for the score. Tennessee won 6-0.

With injuries to backfield stars Billy Hicks, "Flash" Suther and "Monk" Campbell, Alabama's hopes of a championship season dimmed. When Holm went down with a broken rib in a 13-0 loss to Vanderbilt all seemed lost. The Crimson Tide's odds against an undefeated Kentucky team in Montgomery's Cramton Bowl seemed remote.

Holm entered the game "bandaged from his belt up, taped fro his waste down and reeking of liniments and lotion" but it didn't seem to hinder him at all. He grabbed the opening kickoff and ran it back 86 yards to the Wildcat's 15-yard-line. Over the next 60 minutes he would score three of the Tide's touchdowns while stymieing Kentucky's offense with his kicks and blocking. Alabama won 24-13.

The next week Holm repeated his performance in a 14-0 drubbing of Georgia Tech in Atlanta. He scored the Tide's two touchdowns, snagged a key interception and ran for 128 yards while slashing the Golden Tornado with his passing and punting prowess. Despite another stellar performance against Georgia in Birmingham to close the season, the Tide fell to the Bulldogs 12-0.

Holm's 1,387 yards on the season -- almost half of the team's total gained on the ground -- earned him All-Conference and All-American honors.

After unsuccessfully trying to enter West Point to play for Army (he was three months too old), Holm started his professional career with the Providence, RI Steamrollers in 1930 but moved on to   the Portsmouth VA Spartans the following season. In 1932 he was on the Chicago Cardinals roster but at the start of the 1933 season Holm was part of the very first Pittsburgh Pirates squad -- the franchise that would later become famous as the Steelers.

The 1933 Pittsburgh Pirates.

In the Pirates' inaugural game against the New York Giants on Sept. 20, a powerful 65 yard punt by Holm led to his team's only points. When the His kick pinned the Giants on their own one-yard-line and when they were forced to punt, the Pirate's Johnny Oehler blocked it and earned the safety. The visiting Giants would claim a 23-2 victory.

Holm played nine games for the Pirates but a leg injury cut his season short. He finished the season with 406 yards passing and 160 yards rushing, his best marks as a pro. He joined the American Professional Football League's Charlotte NC Bantams as a player coach in 1934 but resigned after three games, ending his playing career.

The 1930 Alabama Football Banquet

A telegram from Atlanta Georgian sports editor Jimmy Burns
to Alabama Coach Wallace Wade. 

Alabama's annual football banquet for the 1930 season was held  Dec. 2, at the McLester Hotel in Tuscaloosa with more than 250 people in attendance. The Tide team was on hand as well as members of numerous local high school football teams. Alabama varsity squad had gone undefeated through the regular season and, just days prior, had received an invitation to play Washington State in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day 1931.

"This team will go down as the greatest ever seen in the South," declared University of Alabama President George Denny at the banquet. "Greatest in exemplifying and illustrating the correct ideals of character, fine spirit, scholarship and devotion to duty in the daily walks under these old oak trees we love so well."

The event was bittersweet for Alabama fans as head coach Wallace Wade had announced his resignation prior to the season and his intention to accept the job as the head coach of Duke. Wade was presented a wristwatch from the the Junior Chamber of Commerce and the Merchant's Bureau who sponsored the banquet.

William Little, the captain of Alabama's first football team spoke as did V.H. Friedman, a longtime supporter of the team. Incoming Alabama coach Frank Thomas sent a telegram with his praise for Wade and the 1930 team as did Jimmy Burns, the sports editor at the Atlanta Georgian. Burns covered southern sports for 17 years at the paper, decamping in the late 1930s for Florida where he became  the Miami Herald's sports editor for almost a quarter century. The text of his telegram is below.

Alabama Rose Bowl Access Ribbons

In an era long before the laminated access card, lapel ribbons were used to identify people with various degrees of access to games. These are two such ribbons for Alabama Rose Bowl contests; a red photographer press pass for the 1927 Rose Bowl and a white spectator pass for the 1935 Rose Bowl.

"Big" Jim Folsom Campaigning With the Crimson Tide

UA President Raymond Paty, Alabama star Harry Gilmer and
Democratic candidate for Alabama Governor, Jim Folsom.

On Oct. 12, 1946, Alabama played its first game of the season at Denny Field against an outmatched Southwestern Louisiana squad (now UL-Lafayette). While spectators might have let their attention wander from the 54-0 blowout there was a distinctive six foot-eight inch figure on the sideline they could hardly miss -- "Big" Jim Folsom.

Folsom was a candidate in the state's gubernatorial election to be held in just three weeks time. The former University of Alabama student (he never graduated from the school) had survived an ugly party primary in the spring and was considered a shoo-in for the general election due to the weakness of the Republican party in the state.

According to the Tuscaloosa News, Folsom "was cheered by thousands of students. He gave the fans a thrill when he picked up and hugged and kissed a pretty co-ed cheerleader."

Folsom had been unsuccessful in his previous run for governor in 1942 but his calls for reform and colorful style earned him a growing base of support across the state. For the 1946 election he returned with his now trademark mop and bucket which he said would "clean out" the Capitol. As expected he was elected on Nov. 5, 1946 and was inaugurated the following January for the first of his two terms in office.

1935 Rose Bowl Coaches Cartoon

A newspaper cartoon from December 1934 featuring the coaches of the upcoming Rose Bowl game; Alabama's Frank Thomas and Stanford's Claude "Tiny" Thornhill. The cartoon at the bottom features Stanford's mascot at the time, the Indian.

The 1927 Rose Bowl from the Air

An aerial view of the Rose Bowl stadium during the 1927 game pitting Alabama against Stanford. This was the last game in the distinctive "horseshoe" version of the venue as the southern end was completed prior to the following year's contest. The 1927 game ended in a 7-7 tie.

The 1948 Sugar Bowl Game Film

In 1947 Alabama rolled up an 8-2 regular season record under first year coach Harold Drew. The performance earned the Crimson Tide an invitation to play Texas in the 1948 Sugar Bowl at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. The game was expected to be a clash of two of the country's hottest passers, Alabama's Harry Gilmer and the Texas' Bobby Layne. The result was a 27-7 defeat at the hands of the Longhorns, the fourth straight for the Tide against Texas.

The Completion of the Rose Bowl Stadium

Built in 1922, Rose Bowl Stadium was initially constructed in a horseshoe shape with the south end of the venue left "open." The popularity of the annual inter-sectional contest in the mid-1920s, due partly to the success of the Alabama team's success there, provided the financial means to complete the stadium. The new southern section debuted with the 1928 Rose Bowl game featuring Pittsburgh and Stanford raising the stadium's capacity by 16,000 to 79,000.

Alabama Arrives in Pasadena for the 1946 Rose Bowl

Alabama's Harry Gilmer, Coach Frank Thomas
and Vaughn Mancha arrive in Pasadena.

On Dec. 26, 1945, the University of Alabama football team arrived in Pasadena, California for the 1946 Rose Bowl after a 72-hour train trip from Tuscaloosa.

Although the train arrived more than nine hours late Alabama Head Coach Frank Thomas immediately ordered his team to a workout under the lights at South Pasadena High School. It was the first time in Rose Bowl history a team held a night workout to prepare for the New Year's Day game.

The trip had not been uneventful. Nine Crimson Tide players suffered from the flu on the way and halfback Lowell Tew was dealing with a broken jaw from a hit he took on the final day of practice in Tuscaloosa. Alabama would go on to defeat USC in the Rose Bowl game, 34-14.

The 1931 Rose Bowl Game Film

Alabama faced off against Washington State in the 1931 Rose Bowl and the Crimson Tide soundly defeated the Cougars 24-0. This ten minute film narrates the games' action in some detail. It is different than the film shot by Ralph Hutchenson for Washington State and involves more of game action taken, apparently, from the press box.

Dorsett Vandeventer Graves

A cartoon depicting D.V. Graves'
career before coaching at Alabama.

Dorsett Vandeventer Graves, better known as "D.V." or "Tubby," was the University of Alabama's football coach from 1911 through 1915. A native of Alabama, Graves attended the University of Missouri from 1906 to 1908 where he played football and baseball.

He was hired as Alabama's 12th football coach in 1911 and became the school's baseball and basketball coach the following year. Highlights of his tenure included a 1912 victory over regional powerhouse Sewanee and a 13-0 shut out of John Heisman's Georgia Tech team in 1914.

In 1912 George Hutchenson Denny became the president of the University of Alabama. Denny saw football as a way to increase the the profile of the school and became very hands on in the athletics department. And to do that he knew he needed a winner.

Alabama's 1912 team.

While Graves' Alabama squads never suffered a losing season, by 1914 it was clear he wasn't the coach to take the Alabama program to the next level. Denny replaced him with Thomas Kelly in 1915. Graves finished at Alabama with a respectable 21-12-3 record (.625).

Graves next popped up at Texas A&M as an assistant under Dana X. Bible. He assumed the head coaching responsibilities for the Aggies in 1918 when Bible served in the military for World War I. The team performed quite well under his leadership losing just one game, a 0-7 contest against the Longhorns in Austin on Nov. 28, 1918.

When Bible returned in 1919, Graves went back to his role as an assistant coach and was on hand as A&M rolled to an undefeated (and unscored upon) season that culminated in a national championship. In 1920, Graves had moved on to the head coaching position at Montana State, where he amassed a 5-5-1 over two seasons.

Graves then headed to the Pacific Northwest where he signed on at the University of Washington. Between 1923 and 1946 Graves served as an assistant coach on the football team and baseball head coach. He later became the assistant director of athletics.

Graves passed away in 1960. He is now enshrined in the Husky Hall of Fame and the school's former baseball field as well as its current intercollegiate athletics building were named in his honor.

A version of this entry first appeared on Burnt Orange Nation.