In praise of Southern football: part 2

Last Thursday’s column discussed how Southern college football became the nation’s finest version of the sport. It was a long, hard climb, but it now stands at the top of the hill and is unlikely to be knocked off its perch any time soon. We detailed some of the factors that have become advantages for Southern schools and their brand of football. But we never precisely defined what’s included in this South. My wife, Semone, who hails from South Carolina, considers the South to be exclusively (from east to west) South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.

And while I defer to her as our family’s supreme arbiter of all things Southern, I’ve heard others voice great concern about how limiting her list is. A more liberal definition might include any place you get a biscuit instead of toast with breakfast, or if you order tea, it will come iced and sweet. You want a cup and a tea bag? In the South, you better specify “hot tea.”

The Secession Test

Brian, my law school roommate, is like all men who grew up in the South -- an expert in Civil War history. He extends the definition to states that joined the Confederacy, so throw in Texas, Arkansas, Virginia and North Carolina. Since none other than General Robert E. Lee is supposed to have said, according to legend, that North Carolina troops fought like their heels were stuck in tar, giving that state and its university their nickname, I agree that it is more than reasonable to include it.

APThe home of the Florida Gators

Florida seceded, too, but the only part of the state that was settled back then was the northern part, so Gainesville and Tallahassee are in Brian’s South, putting Florida and Florida State in. Orlando might be (putting central Florida in with an asterisk), and Tampa and Miami (meaning South Florida and Miami are not Southern for football purposes) are probably out, proving warm, sunny weather is not the sole determinant of being Southern.

It Takes a General

Brian is also a little less certain about Tennessee. It was the last state to exit the Union before the Civil War and the first state to rejoin it after. And since the Confederacy had to occupy parts of Tennessee, which remained loyal to the Union, particularly Knoxville, where the University of Tennessee is located, it’s a thornier issue. Iced tea in Knoxville also doesn’t automatically come “sweet.” It is also true that some of Tennessee’s better players have hailed from distinctly un-Southern places like New Jersey, Ohio or upstate New York. But one of UT’s greatest coaches wasn’t just a great field general, he was a real general, Robert Neyland. Neyland led the Vols to national championships in 1950 and 1951, and that seems a very chivalrous thing, and their greatest modern rivals (Alabama, Georgia and Florida) are all definitely in the South, so count Tennessee in.

In and Out

As for Kentucky, most Kentuckians I have met consider themselves Southern. We will take them at their word even if their passions run more toward basketball than football, although Bear Bryant started his coaching career at Kentucky.

APLegendary head coach Paul "Bear" Bryant began his career at Kentucky.

How about West Virginia, Marshall and Maryland? West Virginia is an hour from Pittsburgh, and to get to Marshall from anywhere by air, you usually have fly to Columbus, Ohio, and drive. Maryland definitely plays schools in the South, but it’s not one.

This definition of Southern takes care of all the Southeastern Conference (SEC), a big chunk of Conference USA and most of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), along with great competitive conferences playing below the BCS level. The ACC did problematically ask Boston College to join a few years back, and there’s no argument that can be made for Massachusetts being in the South unless you’re making it from Canada.

The Stadiums

The South also has the greatest stadiums. It isn’t that they’re architecturally or even historically significant. The Cotton Bowl in Dallas is due to be abandoned for most college games in favor of the Cowboys’ new stadium. Alabama has left Legion Field in Birmingham, the scene of Bear Bryant’s greatest triumphs, to UAB, but students at LSU could live in Tiger Stadium until the 1990s, and students at Tennessee can take classes at Neyland Stadium, which is home, perhaps appropriately enough, to the anthropology department. And what’s most striking about Southern stadiums is how marvelously overcrowded they can be. The Rose Bowl, the Los Angeles Coliseum and Michigan Stadium are mega-structures that hold their 100,000-seat crowds in relative comfort and at some distance from the field. Georgia’s Sanford Stadium holds 92,000-plus people in a facility that seems better suited to about half that number with only its famous hedge separating fans from the field of play. Yet the fans come and fill Southern stadiums to the brim with frenzy Saturday after Saturday.

They Also Stand Tall

Then there are the skyscrapers. I’ve landed and taken off in Austin, Texas, and still been lower than the top deck of Texas Memorial Stadium when the “fasten seatbelts” sign was turned off. Kyle Field in College Station also soars high above the plains for arch-rival Texas A&M. South Carolina and Clemson are also in a battle to touch the heavens. And having attended a game in Clemson’s Death Valley, I found that the visiting team’s seats, located at the very top of the upper deck, may require bottled oxygen and mountain climbing gear to reach.

The Rush to Expand

As several Southern stadiums have expanded to encompass the population of their entire states in recent years, crowds in all but the most established northern, eastern and western programs have dwindled. It seems only Penn State’s Beaver Stadium has bucked this trend, growing along with its crowds, matching the expansions at Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Florida State and Florida. Beaver Stadium looked small, rickety and unsafe as a largely metal stadium rising out of an agricultural school pasture when it was a 60,000-seat stadium in the 1980s. Now just looks impossibly rickety and unsafe at nearly twice that size.

Buttondowns and Khakis

My personal favorite in the South is Scott Stadium at the University of Virginia. UVA is not as frenzied a place as, say, Neyland, the Swamp or Bryant-Denny. It is much more laid back and preppy, a joyful place to watch a game with good seats and wide aisles, despite Al Groh’s attempts to Nike-fy his fans. Spectators have shoulder room, and they have great concessions. I recall having a terrific snow cone on a 60-degree December day against Penn State a few years back. In my agent days, it was also easy to find players and their families after games to say hello or drop off a business card.

The Legend of the Grove

APThe Grove at Ole Miss

The mythical place I have never been but long to go to tailgate is the Grove at Ole Miss. I’m told by reliable sources that Ole Miss parties are elegant, and the belles in Oxford are the sweetest in all the South. What more would one expect from a campus where the 18-mph campus speed limit commemorates Archie Manning’s jersey number.

The Stars

It’s impossible not to think about Southern football without thinking of the great players who played the game. So an all-time team seems in order. The list isn’t exclusive or scientific, but you really can’t argue with the greatness of this team. It includes some of the best to ever play the game at any level.

Offense

WR Jerry Rice, Mississippi Valley State; Don Hutson, Alabama; Calvin Johnson, Georgia Tech; Cris Collinsworth, Florida; Carl Pickens, Tennessee; Dave Parks, Texas Tech

OT Jim Dombrowski, Virginia; Walter Jones, Florida State; Jerry Sisemore, Texas; Shawn Andrews, Arkansas; Antone Davis, Tennessee; Lomas Brown, Florida; Will Wolford, Vanderbilt; Greg Kolenda, Arkansas

OG John Hannah, Alabama; Mike McGee, Duke; Jeff Zimmerman, Florida; Crawford Ker, Florida;

C Dwight Stephenson, Alabama; Bill Johnson, Tennessee; Jim Ritcher, North Carolina State

QB Sammy Baugh, TCU; Joe Namath, Alabama; Vince Young, Texas; Tim Tebow, Florida; Charlie Ward, Florida State; Steve Spurrier, Florida; Peyton Manning, Tennessee; Archie Manning and Eli Manning, Ole Miss; James Harris, Grambling; Doug Williams, Grambling; Terry Bradshaw, Louisiana Tech, Bert Jones, LSU, Michael Vick, Virginia Tech

RB Herschel Walker, Georgia; Doak Walker, SMU; Emmitt Smith, Florida; Bo Jackson, Auburn; Earl Campbell, Texas; Ricky Williams, Texas; George Rogers, South Carolina, Walter Peyton, Jackson State. Craig James and Eric Dickerson, SMU; Billy Cannon, LSU; Charlie Justice, North Carolina; Frank Sinkwich, Georgia

K Steve Little, Arkansas; Russell Erxleben, Texas

Defense

DL Bob Lilly, TCU; Joe Greene, North Texas; Buck Buchanan, Grambling; Reggie White, Tennessee; Bruce Smith, Virginia Tech; Tracy Rocker, Auburn; Ray Childress, Texas A&M; Michael Dean Perry, Clemson; Jack Youngblood, Florida

DE/OLB Lawrence Taylor, North Carolina; Peter Boulware, Florida State; Derrick Thomas, Alabama; Kevin Greene, Auburn; Billy Ray Smith, Arkansas; David Pollack, Georgia, Cornelius Bennett, Alabama, Pat Swilling, Georgia Tech; Marco Coleman, Georgia Tech

ILB Tommy Nobis, Texas; Mike Singletary, Baylor; Lee Roy Jordan, Alabama; Marvin Jones, Florida State; Wilber Marshall, Florida

CB Deion Sanders, Florida State; Dre’ Bly, North Carolina; Champ Bailey, Georgia; Fred Smoot, Mississippi State; Antonio Langham, Alabama

S Louis Oliver, Florida; Ken Swilling, Georgia Tech; Jerry Gray, Texas; Dave Elmendorf, Texas A&M; Terry Hoage, Georgia

P Ray Guy, Southern Mississippi

It’s incomplete, but it’s a great starting point for the conversation. Just try picking starting running backs or defensive linemen. Impossible. The defensive linemen list contains six of the greatest to ever put on cleats. And does anyone really know how to choose between Herschel Walker and Bo Jackson on their best days?

Did I leave anyone out? Let me know.

Comments

Add a Comment