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re: Offense wins championships.
Posted on 1/18/16 at 9:42 am to bama1959
Posted on 1/18/16 at 9:42 am to bama1959
quote:I did. My mother was close to Coach Hank and his wife Kathryn, while I was friends with Hank Jr. (I bet he took you to Dollarhide to fish!). While in school, mama worked for the athletic dept while Coach Hank was there under Coach Frank Thomas. Not many folks realize that he recruited Coach Bryant and Don Hutson out of Arkansas, bought them a train ticket and sent them to Tuscaloosa. Coach Bryant actually had to get his high school diploma from Tuscaloosa High because he was short some credits. Coach Hank did things for player and people in general that few folks realized. Mama said that she'd seen him take money out of his pocket and give to a player to go buy a pair of shoes because the kids shoes were worn out and he had no money to buy any more....and back then, coaches weren't paid squat!
By the way, did you know Coach Hank Crisp? I know he died in 1970 but I knew him when I was a very young lad. He lived down the street from my parents when I was growing up. He took me fishing and even to a basketball game once.
I got a ton of stories about those folks (Coach Bryant, Coach Thomas, Hutson, etc.) that mama shared with us because they remained lifelong friends.
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Posted on 1/18/16 at 10:44 am to coachcrisp
quote:
I did. My mother was close to Coach Hank and his wife Kathryn, while I was friends with Hank Jr. (I bet he took you to Dollarhide to fish!). While in school, mama worked for the athletic dept while Coach Hank was there under Coach Frank Thomas. Not many folks realize that he recruited Coach Bryant and Don Hutson out of Arkansas, bought them a train ticket and sent them to Tuscaloosa. Coach Bryant actually had to get his high school diploma from Tuscaloosa High because he was short some credits. Coach Hank did things for player and people in general that few folks realized. Mama said that she'd seen him take money out of his pocket and give to a player to go buy a pair of shoes because the kids shoes were worn out and he had no money to buy any more....and back then, coaches weren't paid squat!
I got a ton of stories about those folks (Coach Bryant, Coach Thomas, Hutson, etc.) that mama shared with us because they remained lifelong friends.
Awesome stories. That should be part of Alabama lore. I love the old history (Wallace Wade and Frank Thomas era). They started our tradition. If it wasn't for them Bryant doesn't come to Tuscaloosa and we are a middle of the pack SEC team today.
I probably was too young to take on a trip to Dollarhide. I would have been only 5-7 at the time. We went to a lake in the neighborhood. Later when I was 16 I shot at and missed a deer at Dollarhide and got paddled (tradition for missing a deer) by Wu Winslett (from the 25' Championship team). Embarrassing moment but I wouldn't trade it for anything.
This post was edited on 1/18/16 at 10:48 am
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