Gene Stallings has seen big rivalries

In-state rivalries still matter to former Aggies, Tide boss

08:07 PM CST on Thursday, November 17, 2005

By CHUCK CARLTON / The Dallas Morning News

Gene Stallings still has an East Texas drawl and a passion for football.

The former Texas A&M and Alabama coach said what he misses most about coaching are the big games. The next couple of weeks will bring back plenty of memories.

Alabama, whom Stallings coached to the 1992 national championship, plays at Auburn this week. Texas A&M hosts Texas in a week. Stallings remembers the Aggies' first win at Texas' Memorial Stadium, in 1956 when he played for Bear Bryant.

He shared his thoughts in a phone interview this week:

How big a rivalry was Texas A&M-Texas when you participated in it?

I think it was an even bigger deal. We played that game on Thursday, played it on Thanksgiving, and always had the bonfire prior to that particular game. It was one of a few large rivalries in those days. Now, there are so many on television, you sort of forget about going to one of these games. It's a big game now. I think it might have been a little bit bigger in those days.

As a coach who won a national title, how do you look at this current Texas team and Vince Young?

I was talking to Coach [Mack] Brown the week they played Ohio State. I said, "Mack, I really believe it's to your advantage to play Ohio State. You beat them in Columbus and I think you're going to be playing your last game undefeated. If you play your last game undefeated, I think you'll have a chance to play for the national championship."

I'm on the Masters Coaches Survey, and I personally have been picking Texas the No. 1 team in the country for the past five weeks. People have asked me if that's fair to pick Texas over Southern Cal when Southern Cal won it last year and hasn't been defeated this year. My answer was that I'm not talking about being fair; I'm talking about who I think has the best football team.

I think if Texas were to play Southern Cal today, Texas would win the football game. And I think if they were picking the Heisman today, Young win it.

Does this season get the monkey off Mack's back?

He's done an outstanding job since he's been there. To win the national championship or have an opportunity to play for the national championship is a real plus. ... He's not under pressure, but he'll just be a little more comfortable once he wins a national championship.

Were expectations too high for Texas A&M?

I don't think they were too high. We had 17 returning starters coming back, so the expectations were perhaps about right. Early in the season, if you would pick out three quarterbacks that you thought was going to be the top three quarterbacks in the country, I think Reggie McNeal might have been one of those three, along with the quarterback at Texas and the quarterback at Southern Cal [Matt Leinart]. ....

[But] A&M has not been healthy, and I think that's hurt them. I've seen them play a game or two and I've been a little disappointed in the performance. But I'm not as disappointed as the players or the coaches.

Got to switch gears and ask you about coaching in the Iron Bowl.

It's a great game. The difference in the Alabama-Auburn series is the people in the state of Alabama will talk about that game every day of the year. You can go into any coffee shop in Alabama on Aug. 15 and they're talking about the Iron Bowl.

You won a national championship with a really good defense at Alabama in 1992. How do you look at the current Tide defense?

The Alabama defense now is an extremely good-tackling defense, there's no doubt about it. They put pressure on the quarterback from time to time. It's hard to compare teams. I know the team I coached in 1992 led the nation in three or four different categories defensively. The name of the game defensively is how many points you give up, and we led the nation in giving up points.

Has their turnaround from 6-6 in 2004 been a surprise?

The schedule has favored them, for one thing. They played the big games in Tuscaloosa, which helped. They have an excellent running back. This [Ken] Darby is the real deal. Brodie Croyle, the quarterback, has been able to stay healthy. ... If you were to ask me last week who was the coach of the year, I would have said Mike Shula. I think he and his staff have done just an outstanding job with that team.

Alabama fans seem to have a really deep-seated ill-will toward Dennis Franchione for leaving for Texas A&M. Any theories about that?

Sure. I think the resentment is the way he left. As an example, if you're on probation for two years, your juniors and seniors can transfer anywhere and not lose any eligibility. ... The theory was that the players really bought into what Coach Franchione was trying to do. Nobody left. And then he left.

I think the resentment – and they probably wrote about it more in Alabama than here – was they felt that at least he should have gone back and visited with his players. I think the majority of people in Alabama, if he didn't want to coach there and would have rather coached at A&M, they would have wished him well. But I think it bothered them the way it happened.

E-mail ccarlton@dallasnews.com

Born: March 2, 1935, in Paris, Texas, where he still has a ranch.

Family: Wife, Ruth Ann; five children; 10 grandchildren.

Resume: He was one of the legendary Junction Boys playing for Bear Bryant at Texas A&M. He coached the Aggies from 1965 to '71, taking them to the 1967 Cotton Bowl. He served 14 years on Tom Landry's staff with the Cowboys and coached the St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals for three seasons before going to Alabama in 1990. He won the 1992 national championship and compiled a 70-16-1 record in Tuscaloosa.

Labor of love: Stallings co-authored a book, Another Season . The subject is his son, John Mark, who was born with Down syndrome. Stallings was asked to speak to White House employees about the book a year ago. Alabama plans to rename its locker room for John Mark. "He's 43, and nobody ever thought that would happen," Gene Stallings said. "He's been an absolute joy."

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