History

From Bryant to Saban: Alabama's 25 Years in the Wilderness

By C.J. Schexnayder Aug 1, 2010, 9:09am CDT

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In the wake of Alabama's victory over the Texas Longhorns in the BCS National Championship Game last January, the comparisons between Paul W. Bryant and Nick Saban have been pretty much constant. While there are certainly similarities between the two men's approach to the profession, it seems ambitious at this point to simply assume the degree of success achieved by the former will follow from the tenure of the latter.

But what is certain is that Nick Saban has returned the Crimson Tide football program to the stature that we Alabama fans have come to perceive as our birthright almost entirely due to Bryant's success. And that's a vastly significant achievement when viewed in the light of the last quarter century.

So it makes sense that as we prepare for the 2010 season we take a moment to look back over exactly how far Alabama football has come since 1982. This week, the Tuscaloosa News has run a superb series examining each of the Tide's seven coaches in that span that is worth giving a gander. In addition, we at Roll Bama Roll have produced a few historical pieces on this subject matter as well. The links for these are after the jump. Take a little time this Sunday and give them a look.