March 2, 1935

Gene Stallings is best-known as the head football coach of the University of Alabama who led the team to an undefeated season and national championship in 1992. Stallings was born in Paris, Texas, on March 2, 1935. A star high school athlete, he was recruited to play football at Texas A&M, where he became a protege of Coach Paul W. “Bear” Bryant. Stallings played football under Bryant and followed him to the University of Alabama in 1958. There, he rose to the position of assistant head coach. During Stallings’ time with Bryant at Alabama, the Crimson Tide won national championships in 1961 and 1964. He co-wrote Bryant’s 1960 book, “Building a Championship Football Team,” and later updated and revised it as “Bear Bryant on Winning Football.” Stallings was head coach at Texas A&M and for the National Football League’s St. Louis Cardinals, and was an assistant coach for the Dallas Cowboys for 14 seasons. Stallings returned to Alabama as head football coach in 1990. He led the team to four seasons of 10 or more wins, and the Tide won four conference division titles and an SEC championship. Stallings was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

University of Alabama football coach Gene Stallings talks to University of North Carolina coach Mack Brown during the Gator Bowl in December 1993 in Jacksonville, Florida. Alabama defeated North Carolina, 24-10. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of the Paul W. Bryant Museum, University of Alabama)

University of Alabama football coach Gene Stallings celebrates with his 1992 Crimson Tide team after winning the 1992 SEC Championship game against the University of Florida at Legion Field in Birmingham. It was the first championship game played by the Southeastern Conference, and the first conference championship in NCAA football history. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of the Paul W. Bryant Museum, University of Alabama)

Gene Stallings (1935- ), right, was the head coach of the University of Alabama (UA) football program from 1990-1996, leading the Crimson Tide to a record of 70 wins, 16 losses and 1 tie. He played college football for coaching great Paul “Bear” Bryant at Texas A&M University and was an assistant coach under Bryant at UA from 1958-64. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Paul W. Bryant Museum, University of Alabama)

A statue of former University of Alabama football coach Gene Stallings on the Walk of Champions outside Bryant-Denny Stadium on the campus of the University of Alabama. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, photograph by Valerie Glenn)

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