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S A T U R D A Y , N O V E M B E R 7 , 2009
P A G E 3C
WWW.TUSCALOOSANEWS.COM
STILLMAN FOOTBALL
CECIL HURT
Stillman travels to take on Tuskegee
Alabama always had a special place in Gerald Jack’s heart
T
By Andrew Carroll Sports Writer
Sheman Massingale and Rimeek Ford, freshmen on the Stillman College football team, have been scrambling this week to find extra tickets. The two attended high school at St. Jude in Montgomery. “I have numerous family, friends and classmates who are supposed to be at the game,” said Massingale, a defen-
sive back. “I asked some of our players to spare me some of their tickets to try to get everybody in. Some people called me who I haven’t talked to in a long time. They were saying, ‘We’re going to be at the game, watching you on Saturday.’ I mean old classmates, people who played football with me when we were little. I’d say for me it would be about 20 or 30. “It means a lot because during the summer I didn’t get a chance to come
housands of University of Alabama football fans will stream into Br yant-Denny Stadium today for the biggest football game in years, walking past the row of championship coaches and hoping for a win against an outstanding LSU team that might propel the Crimson Tide into position for another national title. When you walk past the statue commemorating Gene Stallings and the 1992 team, though, don’t forget to think for a moment about Gerald Jack. No plaque or statue celebrates Gerald Jack’s quiet accomplishments in his years as an Alabama assistant athletic director, the staunch supporter of Stallings in his role with football operations. He probably would have laughed at the notion of such recognition, pointing out that he didn’t play or coach. Jack would never have been part of a scramble for the credit that accompanies a national title season. He was content to bask in the reflected accolades that Stallings has rightly received, knowing that he did his part. Jack, 74, passed away in Paris, Texas, on Thursday night after a long illness. His roots were in Texas, where he had a long career as a successful coach and teacher. But when Stallings took over the Alabama coaching job in 1990, Jack was the first person he hired to serve with him. Jack’s duties included everything from logistics to helping with Stallings’ daily schedule to player relations. He loved Alabama, having played baseball here. When I was a young reporter covering Barr y Shollenberger’s first Alabama baseball team in 1980, Gerald’s son, Gary, was on the team, a slick-field first baseman. Gerald, however, was always more pleased at Gary’s status as an Academic All-SEC performer. And, when he returned to Alabama to work with the football program, he took the same sort of interest and pride in the players. Perhaps his main role, though, was to serve as an honest sounding board for Stallings, who on Friday described Jack as his “best friend” and his “right-hand man.” He was fiercely loyal to Stallings, and his unchangeable priorities were to do what the coach wanted done, to tell the coach the truth and to help the players as much as possible. The span from 1990 to ‘97 was a glorious time for Alabama football, in some ways. In other ways it was a time of tumult, and you couldn’t always be sure where everyone connected with the football program stood in terms of their own agendas. That was never an issue with Gerald Jack. You knew where he stood. SEE HURT | 7C
up here and work with Stillman. I worked out with the (Tuskegee) players, so I know them all personally. The receivers, I guarded them all summer, so I’m looking for ward to guarding them in a game when it really counts.” Massingale got to know Jeremy Williams, Tuskegee’s redshirt freshman quarterback who is from Tuscaloosa. SEE STILLMAN | 7C
STILLMAN AT TUSKEGEE ■ When: 1 p.m. ■ Where: Tuskegee ■ Records: Stillman 3-6, 2-6 SIAC Tuskegee 7-2, 7-1 SIAC ■ Series: Tuskegee leads 4-0; last meeting, Tuskegee won, 42-7, last year in Tuscaloosa. ■ Media: Internet, www.1300wtls. com (audio); www.tallasseetimes. com/blogspot (video and audio)
CENTRAL FIGURE Just like at Central High, Jeremy Williams leading Tuskegee to success By Andrew Carroll Sports Writer
Jeremy Williams became a hometown hero in 2007, his senior season with the Central High School football team. With Williams at quarterback, the Falcons achieved a 15-0 record, won the Class 4A championship and Williams was named the most valuable player for the title game against Deshler. Two years later, Williams is a redshirt freshman at Tuskegee University. Even though he was held out last week with a sore shoulder, Williams expects to play today as Tuskegee celebrates homecoming with a game against Stillman College. “I’m not treating it like it’s just another game,” Williams said. “First of all, it’s homecoming. We can clinch the (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) championship by winning this game.” Stillman’s previous coaching staff tried to sign Williams, but he chose Tuskegee, a school which has won 27 SIAC championships and eight national titles among historically black colleges and universities. SEE WILLIAMS | 7C
JEREMY WILLIAMS BY THE NUMBERS
149
74
1,110
8
5
49.7
Passing attempts
Pass comp.
Passing yards
Int.
TDs
Comp. Pct.
WEST ALABAMA FOOTBALL
Tigers set to clash with Gulf South champs UNA By Andrew Carroll Sports Writer
PHOTO | THE BRYANT MUSEUM
Former Alabama football coach Gene Stallings, right, walks the sideline next to Gerald Jack during a Tide game. Jack, who died Friday, was an assistant athletic director at Alabama from 1990 to 1997.
No North Alabama coach has matched the success of Bobby Wallace, who directed the Lions to three straight NCAA Division II championships in 1993-95. But Terry Bowden seems to be trying. Wallace, who coached at North Alabama from 1988-97, is back in Florence today with his University of West Alabama Tigers. He’ll be matching coaching strategies with Bowden, the former head coach at Salem College, Samford University and Auburn University. Bowden, the son of Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden, has directed the Lions to a Gulf South Conference championship in his first season. The younger Bowden, 52, got back into coaching for the first time since 1998, his last season at Auburn. He coached Auburn to 20 victories
WEST ALABAMA AT NORTH ALABAMA
West Alabama football coach Bobby Wallace and the Tigers will face North Alabama today in Florence. The Lions are 10-0 and the defending Gulf South Conference champs. Wallace coached at North Alabama from 19881997 and won three Division II national championships.
■ When: 6 p.m. ■ Where: Florence ■ Records: West Alabama 6-4, 4-3 in GSC; North Alabama 10-0, 7-0 in GSC ■ Series: North Alabama leads 46-14-1; last meeting, North Alabama won, 41-9, last season in Livingston ■ Radio: 104.9 FM
in his first two seasons, including an 11-0 record in 1993. “I’ve met him before, but I don’t know him real well,” Wallace said. “He’s done a good job. I’m sure he’s glad to be back in coaching.” Wallace will see plenty of familiar faces today, but he wants to focus on his mission. UWA’s last game in Florence was a 4 9-20 loss in 2007. SEE TIGERS | 7C
FILE PHOTO