Ray Perkins Has Passed Away

[selmaborntidefan]

I too have always wondered what would have happened had Bama held on to beat the barn that year. It would have made for one of the best Sugar Bowl matchups of all time, between Bama and Nebraska. Just my .02, but I don't think he was too intent on taking the Tampa Bay job until after that IB loss, especially given how they lost (blowing a 10 point lead in a short period of time). I think he took that moment as a sign that him at Bama was not going to work, long term.

Respectfully, I'm not sure we would have played Nebraska. LSU beat us head-to-head, so the tie in conference would have gone to LSU (plus they were ranked higher at bowl selection time - because they beat us).

That being said, that LSU loss that year was a doozy. We should have won about 35-7 or so, but danged the fates.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

I was an undergrad at the time. No one really cared about the helmets, most people understood the symbolism of removing the tower, but John Forney...that one kicked a BIG hornet's nest.

Can somebody clue me in? I have no earthly idea what this is about regarding Forney?

Paging.....anyone!!!

 

[CullmanTide]

He had Forney removed from the radio broadcast team. Some thought Forney tended to have panic in his voice whenever Alabama was behind late in a game.

 

[UAH]

Can somebody clue me in? I have no earthly idea what this is about regarding Forney?

Paging.....anyone!!!

Forney had been on Alabama radio from 1953 onward and became the play by play announcer in 1964. Perkins replaced him in 1982 with an unknown, to Bama fans, which created a great outcry from Bryant era fans. He came back under Curry for a bit prior to Eli Gold taking over.

From my viewpoint Forney will always be the Voice of the Crimson Tide.

 

[UAH]

He had Forney removed from the radio broadcast team. Some thought Forney tended to have panic in his voice whenever Alabama was behind late in a game.

BTW I never heard a moment of panic from John Forney and listened to him through CPB's most difficult seasons 68-69-70.

 

[jabcmb]

I was never a fan of Perkins until I heard him absolutely light up Finebaum on his show one day. Big fan after that.

Yeah, Coach Perkins could quickly stop a conversation if he felt like it. My favorite was when a caller to his radio show was critical of a certain play that was called in the game. Perkins replied “Are you a coach?” What followed was a few seconds of dead air and a dial tone. RIP

 

[Bamaro]

RIP

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Forney had been on Alabama radio from 1953 onward and became the play by play announcer in 1964. Perkins replaced him in 1982 with an unknown, to Bama fans, which created a great outcry from Bryant era fans. He came back under Curry for a bit prior to Eli Gold taking over.

From my viewpoint Forney will always be the Voice of the Crimson Tide.

OK, that solves a confusing mystery of my 80s Tide fandom. I never knew this.

As my fandom was growing (1982-83), I was living in Germany, so in all honesty the only Tide games I got were national telecasts (I believe the only games shown on AFN in 1983 were the Penn St debacle and the Iron Bowl).

So in 1984, we move back to rural Mississippi, and I tune in Tide games on WAQT 94 out of Carrollton/Aliceville. Some guy named Paul Kennedy was the lead announcer, and he was assisted by Doug Layton and Jerry Duncan. Kennedy was by no means "bad," but he struck me as more of "a guy hired to do the job because someone has to do the job" than an Alabama announcer.

In the 1986 Florida game, they played a clip from the previous Alabama-Florida game (1979), and said it was John Forney, whom I'd never heard of at that time. And then I listened to Forney when he returned in 1988, and I mean, I just wasn't very impressed with him at all. (I'm told he'd lost it from his earlier days). But I DID have a confusing question once those two thoughts aligned - "Okay, but I've never heard of John Forney, so it's not like he went and became a big deal at ABC. So why would he leave Alabama?"

Can't believe Perkins would do that or I'll admit I probably would have despised him more in 1984 than I did (I mean, running off the longtime play by play announcer is a next level petty imho).

 

[Crimson1967]

I didn’t know the football coach had a say in the announcer. Did he order the change directly or did he just use his power to pull strings to get it done?

 

[OakMtn4Bama]

Perkins and Homan laying out flat to catch balls. Two of my all time favorites. Perkins was a great player and would have done fine here if left alone. RIP coach.

 

[gtowntide]

RIP Coach Perkins.

 

[CB4]

Just as an aside, many people don’t realize that Perkins had a very serious head injury as a freshman at The Capstone, requiring surgery and the placement of a steel plate in his head. Yet he went on to complete his football career at Alabama and then for a period of time in the pros.

Not making excuses for Coach Perkins, but some of Ray’s “personality issues” may have been related to that. My late brother’s personality change significantly after frontal lobe trauma from an auto accident. In many ways it was similar to that of Coach Perkins, ...at times extremely aloof, very curt, and sometimes situationally inappropriate. It was what many the medical community call having a “flat affect”.

I always thought of this when I saw him interviewed or on his football review show.

 

[PaulD]

Coach Perkins had a relationship with my wife’s family. When he was a player at Alabama in the 1960s, he served in my father-in-law’s National Guard unit in Northport. When he returned as coach in the 1980s, he saw my late mother-in-law at The Landing and remembered my in-laws (after about 20 years and a lot of life experiences) and greeted her warmly. May he rest In peace with the saints and rise in glory at the Resurrection and may God comfort all who mourn.

 

[Revrph79]

Perkins could replace Forney because he was the athletic director as well, if I remember correctly.

 

[PaulD]

Perkins could replace Forney because he was the athletic director as well, if I remember correctly.

He was. The original plan was for Coach Bryant to remain as athletic director. When Perkins left, the jobs were separate and have stayed that way. I don't know of any FBS schools that combine the jobs these days. The positions have evolved into different skill sets.

 

[Revrph79]

The 86 season was the one of the most difficult schedules Alabama has played. Ohio state, Penn State, and Notre Dame were the out of conference opponents. I think they ran out of gas by the end of the season. The lsu game was frustrating because there were numerous turn overs by the tide in the tigers red zone.

 

[paulpatt48]

Met Coach Perkins at a George Lindsey golf tournament in Montgomery. He poised for pictures with my son and daughter. Was very nice to them. RIP Coach.

 

[jabcmb]

I know this is a respectful thread for Coach Perkins; but a word about John Forney, who has been mentioned a few times. I believe I would be correct in stating that John Forney WAS Alabama football for most fans of a certain age. TV games were relatively rare into the late ‘60s, and even then your neighbor on the country roads of Alabama may not have a TV. But we all had a radio, and that connected us to a champion, something that was the best, a source of pride. Technically, Forney might have been an ordinary announcer (certainly during that last year after he had suffered a stroke) but to many of us he will always be the best; our last connection to the first time we could feel proud of something Alabama.

 

[deliveryman35]

BTW, someone (Selma) correct me, but Bama had worn white helmets under Coach Bryant or at some point earlier, correct?

The white helmets under Perkins weren't as controversial as some of his other moves like taking down Coach Bryant's tower, IIRC.

Yes, the last time we wore the white helmets was in 1985 under Perkins.

 

[Elefantman]

Yes, the last time we wore the white helmets was in 1985 under Perkins.

I would like to see us wear white helmets Saturday in honor of CRP.