Ray Perkins

We went out there, and we had a really long, hard practice, and it was very physical, and nobody ever backed down.

And we kinda looked at each other, and then Ray Perkins, the former coach, had told me, "These guys will fight and scratch every day.

You don't have to worry about effort," and he was right.

Ray Perkins, Mike Shula's coach, played, did it for Don Shula for the Baltimore Colts.

Sean Williams, another short gain to the 47.

And third and long.

Alabama didn't always fire the...

Ray Perkins got out of there.

Bill Curry kinda sorta got fired, but in the end you could say that he got out of there.

Fran Shoney got out of there.

He, he's such a good man.

But we always talk about, do you know when we talk about the Ray Perkins syndrome?

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Drew, it's interesting you mention an extension of Nick Saban.

We know that Ray Perkins and Bear Bryant were linked.

Perkins succeeds the Bear there in the beginning of the 1980s.

There were other guys that were better or worse fits.

Because Troy knew how to run routes.

And I remember when Troy was running a go route and he was running something else, a receiver coach comes over, same thing with Ray Perkins.

He's like, hey, Troy, when you're running a go, look at your feet.

Like you're in a sprinter stance.

That is correct.

Now, when did Ray Perkins leave Alabama?

Uh, '86.

Six.

Yes.

And Alabama won 28 to six.

And that was Ray Perkins as head coach, right?

That is correct, yep.

It

was when you were, I got there my first year, you were taking your weekly swings at poor Ray Perkins in the Birmingham Post-Herald, making fun of his windbreaker and all of that.

That was when I arrived, the fall of 1984.

And that Alabama team gave you some fodder, that's for sure.

But we found some humor in the shots that you did.

that you took, but hey, you know what? I will say this.

Ray Perkins put together some of the great talent in the coming years that ever came through those doors with Derek Thomas and Cornelius Bennett and John Hand and a host of other guys who came through.

They had some great moments in the Perkins era, but that 1984 season, not among them.

Because, you know, I go back to like, like what if Gerry Faust had...

What if the internet had existed, right, when he got the Notre Dame job? Or Ray Perkins, right? You know-

Yeah

... what, what it would've been like for those guys, but the circumstance is just so different.

And Alabama with Ray Perkins.

Two outstanding schools with solid traditions.

The heart and soul of the Mustangs is Lance McElhaney, the winningest quarterback in Southwest Conference history.

They like to throw the football.

Walter Lewis is their quarterback.

Ray Perkins told us he'd like to throw the ball 30 times today.

When you're a quarterback like Walter Lewis, and you wake up on a day like this, Gary, and you see the wind bending the trees half over, you, you say, "Oh, my goodness, I hope something lets up." But how well Walter Lewis handles the weather is gonna be a big factor.

Gotta keep warm somehow.