CECIL HURT: Where is Stallings place in Alabama football history?
Evaluating coaches, like evaluating presidents, requires two things: time and context. There may not have been enough time, yet, to properly place Stallings’ seven years at Alabama in perspective. If Alabama’s program were currently still locked in a decade of no championships and a cycle of results that ranged from mediocre to above average, but no better, his 70 wins in seven years would look very good indeed. But the UA program isn’t in that cycle any more. Alabama football has been lifted to a different level — some say its proper level — by Nick Saban. This isn’t to argue that memories are short. It simply acknowledges that what someone has done for you (if you are an Alabama supporter) lately is a powerful filter through which to view events. If it is too early to pronounce a final judgment on Stallings, then it is drastically too early to rank Saban’s ongoing career. It is very possible, when the time comes, that Stallings will be viewed in much the same way as Frank Thomas: an
