Pat Sullivan Appreciation Thread

quote:

---

As the Samford Bulldogs prepare for their 2014 home opener Thursday, their coach is struggling to be on the field. Sullivan has endured a series of health issues since first being diagnosed with throat cancer in 2003, when he was an assistant at UAB. And while Sullivan currently is cancer-free, the chemotherapy and radiation treatments he had to endure were so intense (he originally was given less than a 50 percent chance of survival) that he has never completely overcome the toll it took on his throat, neck, back and overall stamina.

Sullivan had cervical fusion surgery in April and suffered a setback during the summer. His time with the team was sporadic during the early weeks of preseason practice, and he did not make the trip to TCU for the Bulldogs' season-opener Aug. 30. Those who have been around Sullivan in recent weeks say his voice is weak and raspy.

Yet even as his body battles to recover from this latest setback, Sullivan's instincts scream that now is no time to rest. He has a team to lead, players to teach. That's what he does, it's who he is. And it's why Sullivan is determined to be part of the game.

---

quote:

---

One of the most memorable passes Sullivan ever made was an incompletion.

Yet as soon as the ball hit the ground, the Auburn fans at what was then Cliff Hare Stadium burst into loud applause.

It was 45 football seasons ago that Sullivan made his first start for Auburn, and expectations were high that he was about to sling the run-oriented Tigers into a new passing age. Sullivan and wide receiver Terry Beasley had created a buzz a year earlier with their performance playing for Auburn's freshman team, most notably with a comeback victory over Alabama's freshmen.

So when Sullivan unleashed that long pass to Beasley in the Tigers' 1969 season-opener against Wake Forest, it didn't matter that it was incomplete. A message had been sent that things were no longer the same on the Plains, and Auburn fans roared their approval.

"Calling that play meant there was a new day ahead for Auburn football," former Auburn athletic director and sports information director David Housel said. "Pat Sullivan did for Auburn in 1969 the same thing Bo Jackson did in 1982. He gave us hope."

Hope and a lot of points.

Sullivan recovered from that initial incompletion to lead Auburn to a 57-0 win against Wake Forest. It was the beginning of an 8-3 season, during which Auburn rolled up 52 points against Mississippi State, 51 against Clemson and, most stunningly, 49 against Alabama. Not only was that the most points ever scored against one of Paul "Bear" Bryant's Crimson Tide teams, it also was more points than Auburn had scored in the previous 10 Iron bowls combined.

The Tigers finished that season with a then-school-record 370 points; just three years earlier, the 1966 Auburn team had managed to score only 104.

Sullivan and the Tigers increased their output to 390 points in 1970 -- a record that stood for 16 years -- and topped 300 again during Sullivan's Heisman Trophy-winning senior season of 1971.

In his three seasons at Auburn, Sullivan passed for 6,284 yards and 53 touchdowns, rushed for 18 scores, and was a two-time All-America selection. The Tigers went 26-7 during that span, including 2-1 records against both Alabama and Georgia.

But for those who saw Sullivan in action, his abilities on the football field went far beyond the numbers. He was a leader who could rally his team and come up with big plays when they were needed most.

"Pat was a playmaker back before that was a term," said Scott Hunter, who played against Sullivan as the Crimson Tide quarterback in 1969 and 1970. "You'd sack him on second down and have him back there on third-and-long and think you've got him, and all of a sudden he spots a receiver for 15 yards and a first down. That's what I remember most about Pat. He was always making plays."

---

quote:

---

Then last season, in his seventh year at Samford, Sullivan guided the Bulldogs to their first berth in the FCS (formerly Division I-AA) playoffs since 1992. Samford has posted three consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 1997-99.

Housel said the key for Sullivan as a coach is not his football knowledge. Rather, it's his ability to relate to players and lead them, much like he did when he was a mop-haired young quarterback at Auburn.

"Pat obviously has great coaching ability, but he also has the ability to communicate with players, with young people," Housel said. "A lot of people know Xs and Os and strategy, but they can't communicate. The players relate to Pat as a person and a leader. Not everybody in coaching can do that, but Pat can."

---