What does history indicate for first-year Alabama football coaches in Tennessee rivalry?

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Nearly 35 years later, Martin Houston remembers the “chaos” during the third week in October 1990. The Crimson Tide started that season 0-3 under first-year coach Gene Stallings but reeled off wins over Vanderbilt and Southwestern Louisiana before their trip to Neyland Stadium to face No. 3 Tennessee. Very few people expected Alabama to win. Still, the pressure was at an inflection point.

“People were calling for Stallings’ head,” said Houston, Alabama’s starting fullback from 1989-1992. “If that was in 2024, it would have been just as bad or worse than (the scrutiny) now, but it was bad then even without social media.

“Back then, and I don’t know if they still do it as much now, we had these loudspeakers and listened to Rocky Top all week. It was kind of chaotic, but it forced us to focus.”

What stood out most to Houston about the week leading up to the game was the confidence the team had despite its record. It felt like it wasn’t playing to its potential, so there was no intimidation factor.

What transpired on Oct. 20, 1990, was one of the most iconic games in this series, and it’s one of several notable Alabama coaching debuts in this rivalry.

The score was tied at 6 with 1:35 remaining when Stacy Harrison blocked Tennessee kicker Greg Harris’ 50-yard field goal attempt. The ball bounced to the Tennessee 37-yard line, setting up the game-winning field goal attempt by Alabama kicker Philip Doyle three plays later. Alabama won 9-6 in what’s considered one of the biggest upsets in series history.

Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer will face Tennessee for the first time on Saturday. (Butch Dill / Imagn Images)

“We knew that that was a turning point for the Tide,” Houston said. “Even though we ended up losing two more games that year, it kind of set the foundation for the next recruiting class. The next year where we only lost one game and then (1992) we won it all. So that was definitely a turning point where we knew that we could be good under Coach Stallings.”

As things change, they stay the same in this rivalry. Tuesday was Alabama’s first on-field practice day ahead of Saturday’s matchup between the No. 7 Tide and No. 8 Vols. Both teams are 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the SEC.

“Rocky Top” blared through every corner of the facility starting at 6 a.m.

“Everywhere — the weight room, training room,” defensive lineman Tim Smith said. “They tried to play it in the locker room, but we turned that off.”

The turnover within Alabama’s program since its last trip to Neyland in 2022 is another layer to this game. It’s an introduction for coaches like Kalen DeBoer and Kane Wommack and players like Ryan Williams, Domani Jackson and more. This time last year, Nick Saban offered the perfect perspective to contextualize the rivalry’s importance.

“There are stadiums named after the people that have made this rivalry what it is,” he said.

Those people, Paul “Bear” Bryant (.696) and General Robert Neyland (.684) had near identical winning percentages in this rivalry. Alabama leads the all-time series (59-39-7), and first-year Tide coaches hold a record of 8-8-1. The largest margin of victory: 51-0 by J.W.H. Pollard (1906). The largest loss: 25-0 by Frank Thomas (1931).

There only have been six times in history where there’s been a different winner in three straight seasons, most recently 2021-23.

Like 1990, this year’s edition finds Alabama at somewhat of a crossroads. This year’s team is in a much better position record- and rankings-wise, but pressure has started to build since a loss to Vanderbilt and a scare against South Carolina. A loss would put Alabama’s College Football Playoff hopes in serious jeopardy, but a win, like the one in 1990, could be a launching point.

“When we beat Tennessee, it flipped the script,” Houston said. “I think the same thing (this Saturday). Beat Tennessee and the script will flip once again for DeBoer and the haters, naysayers, crazy callers, etc., will be pacified.”

The story of this rivalry cannot be told without the memorable moments produced by first-time Alabama coaches. Another chapter will be written on Saturday. What is expected? If history is any indication: chaos.

Here are some notable moments through the years:

1901: Alabama 6, Tennessee 6

Fittingly, the first game between these programs ended with a tie and a field storming in Birmingham, Ala. It ended early when fans rushed onto the field after a controversial offsides call, and umpires were unable to clear out the crowd. J.L. Broug scored for Tennessee and A. W. Stewart scored for Alabama.

1958: Tennessee 14, Alabama 7

Bear Bryant’s debut ended sourly behind five fumbles (three recovered by Tennessee) in a narrow defeat. Bryant went on to coach the most games of anyone in this series: 25 with a record of 16-7-2.

1983: Tennessee 41, Alabama 34

Ray Perkins’ debut saw one of the most improbable losses for Alabama as a 27-17 third-quarter lead turned into a 41-34 upset. Of any Alabama coach who has beaten Tennessee at least once, Perkins has the lowest winning percentage (.250).

1987: Alabama 41, Tennessee 22

Like Stallings, Bill Curry’s first Alabama team finished 7-5, but it included an emphatic win over No. 8  Tennessee, which finished the season 10-2-1. The win set off a run of prosperity for Alabama in this series as it won seven consecutive games. Freshman Jeff Dunn threw for 229 yards that day, including a 90-yard touchdown that set a program record.

Curry finished 3-0 vs. Tennessee in his Alabama career. He’s one of four Alabama coaches who never lost to the Volunteers and the only one to do so after World War I.

1990: Alabama 9, Tennessee 6

One of the iconic moments in this rivalry’s history and Alabama’s program history. The irony is that the Alabama players didn’t think they’d lose but weren’t sure about a win either.

“We didn’t feel necessarily like they were going to make that field goal,” Houston said. “But we were not thinking that we were going to make it out of there with a win if that makes sense. We thought in the worst-case scenario, it’s going to end in a tie. But we blocked the kick, lined up for ours, and the rest is history.”

1997: Tennessee 38, Alabama 21

Mike DuBose’s debut was the final game of the series played in Birmingham and the start of a downward trend for Alabama in this series. Future NFL Hall of Famer Peyton Manning led the Volunteers to victory, and DuBose finished his tenure as one of three coaches to never beat Tennessee in multiple tries (0-4).

Mike Shula went 0-4 against Tennessee. (G. N. Lowrance / Getty Images)

2003: Tennessee 51, Alabama 43 (5 OT)

Mike Shula, like DuBose, never beat Tennessee (0-4), but his debut was a classic. No. 22 Tennessee and unranked Alabama played the longest game in the rivalry’s history — nearly five hours and five overtimes. Eventually, Tennessee made just a few more plays to win.

But what happened a few years later turned this rivalry on its head.

2007: Alabama 41, Tennessee 17

Welcome, Coach Saban. Alabama was far from the greatest dynasty in modern history at that point. Still, Saban, John Parker Wilson’s career-high 363 yards and three touchdowns and D.J. Hall’s then-program record 13 catches for 185 yards led Alabama to an upset of No. 20 Tennessee and the most lopsided win in the series since 1986.

Alabama had lost 10 of 12 to Tennessee before that Saturday, but then the Tide reeled off 15 consecutive wins, the longest streak in the history of the series. Tennessee spoiled Saban’s perfect record with an epic 52-49 win at Neyland Stadium in 2022, culminating in the goalposts being taken down.

Alabama hasn’t been back to Knoxville since, setting the stage for another exciting, high-stakes matchup. History indicates that success follows the victor.

(Top photos of Nick Saban, left, and Gene Stallings: Andy Lyons / Getty Images, Jamie Squire / Allsport)