Coach Stallings Recovering After Mild Stroke

dvil doc

1st Team
Dec 3, 2014
365
59
47
Northern Virginia
My son was recruited by USNA for football and went to their camp two summers. He and I were in line registering at the second one I guess, and a huge kid and his mom were in line behind us. The sun was hot, and the line was slow. We started talking and I noticed that the boy and mom spoke in a dialect not from the DC area. It turns out they were from Texas, and of course the topic turned to "who is your college team."

Being curious as to why they were Bama fans from Texas, I asked, "Why?"

The mom let the huge kid, a 10th grader as it turns out, do the talking. He was a humble and most polite young man. He said, "My granddaddy used to coach at Alabama." Yeah, OK, I'm thinking. Ah, who, I asked.

Gene Stallings, the young fella told me. It was a treat to talk to him and the coach's daughter that day. We finally got through the line and never saw each other again. I don't know what happened with him after high school. My son did not end up at Annapolis, but is a Marine officer anyway and currently deployed to the Middle East.

Many prayers going up for Coach Stallings full recovery.
 

crimsonaudio

Administrator
Staff member
Sep 9, 2002
63,382
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462
crimsonaudio.net
Hope he heals up quickly - he's a very good man. Not only a great coach that I'm proud to have met but also a good human, he's used his celebrity to help Rainbow Omega (a home for special needs adults), among other charities.
 

Crimson1967

Hall of Fame
Nov 22, 2011
18,711
9,897
187
Get well soon, coach.

He is my favorite post-Bryant coach. Saban is a better coach, but this is a job for him. Stallings saw this as a calling. He loved Coach Bryant and embraced his shadow as a badge of honor.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

GrayTide

Hall of Fame
Nov 15, 2005
18,810
6,245
187
Greenbow, Alabama
I opposed our hiring him. Not too proud to say I was wrong. My parents met him in TX about ten years ago or so at a function. Nice fella.
Since we are coming clean; I too was not real enthused when he was hired and with his rocky start I knew I was right. Well, we all know how the story ends and I freely admit I was way-bad wrong.
 

TideMan09

Hall of Fame
Jan 17, 2009
12,186
1,153
187
Anniston, Alabama
Get well Coach & here's to a speedy recovery, in my lifetime of all things Bama, Coach Stallings represents to me that entity within "Bama Football" that makes it the Greatest Tradition in the history of the sport..
 

DzynKingRTR

TideFans Legend
Dec 17, 2003
42,131
29,288
287
Vinings, ga., usa
Since we are coming clean; I too was not real enthused when he was hired and with his rocky start I knew I was right. Well, we all know how the story ends and I freely admit I was way-bad wrong.
I didn't like his previous record as a coach. I didn't think he would last 2 or 3 years. His woe and 3 start was painful to live through, but I was a teenager so I got over it quick. I still remember the guy that camped out on a billboard until we finally won a game again.
 

TideEngineer08

TideFans Legend
Jun 9, 2009
36,258
30,841
187
Beautiful Cullman, AL
The 1990 Iron Bowl may be one of my favorite games of all time. Just because I was so young, it was my first real Alabama football memory. I wasn't really aware of the losing streak. We had just gotten a VCR and my dad taped the game. I absolutely wore that tape out over the years.

I hope and pray Coach Stallings is doing well. Seven years isn't a long time these days, but in those seven years he really made a huge impact on this state.
 

MattinBama

Hall of Fame
Jul 31, 2007
11,144
5,453
187
Hoping he gets well soon. Coach Stallings is one of my favorite coaches. Was lucky enough to get to hear him speak and tell stories a few years back at a football season kickoff event.

Assuming he recovers enough to go on with it he's participating in another one at the Montgomery Performing Arts Center with Pat Dye on August 15th. I highly recommend hearing him speak if you have the opportunity.
 

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