Seth McLaughlin Brings Alabama's Tennessee Victory Cigar Tradition to the Ohio State Sideline

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t celebrate his team’s dominating 42-17 win the way he used to when he suited up for the Alabama Crimson Tide as an undergraduate student. 

The cigar he had with him was not random or a prop. It was part of a tradition he learned in Tuscaloosa.

As the legend has it, in 1961 one of Bear Bryant’s trainers lit up a stogie following a Tide win which had ended a five-game slide to the Volunteers. This created a tradition maintained over the next two decades – which eventually spread to the opposite sideline.

The Volunteers have been participating in the victory cigar tradition since the early 1980s. It has spread from the sideline into the stands and tailgates. Earlier this season, the Volunteers beat the Crimson Tide in Knoxville, creating a plume of smoke above Neyland Stadium.

Tennessee students light up cigars after an SEC conference game between Tennessee and Alabama in Neyland Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. © Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

So it was appropriate that McLaughlin, now with the Buckeyes following his Rimington Award-winning season in Columbus found a way to pay homage to his first alma mater while celebrating with his second one.

Ohio State plays Oregon in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.