University of Alabama traditions
Traditions rooted in football, music, and student spirit.
The University of Alabama maintains a number of longstanding traditions, many of which are tied to its football program and campus culture. These customs have developed over more than a century and are observed by students, alumni, and fans.
Quick Facts
- First football game
- November 11, 1892
- First football opponent
- a team composed mostly of high schoolers
- First football score
- 56-0
- Million dollar band founded
- 1912
- Million dollar band founder
- Dr. Gustav Wittig
- Alma mater credited to
- Helen Vickers, 1908
- Fight song adopted
- 1926
Facts from the source article.
Football
Football was introduced at the University of Alabama in 1892 by W.G. Little, who had been a student at Andover, Massachusetts. The first game was played in Birmingham on November 11, 1892, at Lakeview Park, resulting in a 56-0 victory over a team composed mostly of high schoolers. The following day, Alabama lost 5-4 to the Birmingham Athletic Club when Ross kicked a 65-yard field goal, then a collegiate record. The 1918 season was canceled due to World War I. National recognition came in 1922 with a 9-7 win over the University of Pennsylvania. Wallace Wade became head coach in 1923 and led the team to an undefeated season and a Rose Bowl victory over the University of Washington on January 1, 1926. Early nicknames included the "Thin Red Line"; the phrase "Crimson Tide" was coined by Hugh Roberts in an article about the 1907 Iron Bowl, which ended in a 6-6 tie. Two stories, both possibly true, associate the team with the elephant, dating to Wade's tenure.
The Million Dollar Band
The Million Dollar Band was founded in 1912 with 14 members under Dr. Gustav Wittig. It became a military band in 1917 and was student-led until 1927. The band is the largest performing organization on campus, with around 400 members. In September 1992, Southern Living selected it as one of the top ten most outstanding bands in the South. In 2003 it received the Sudler Trophy from the Sousa Foundation. It has been nationally televised more than any other college marching band. Two stories explain the name. In one, a Georgia Tech coach said, "Your football team isn't worth a nickel, but you have a million dollar band." In the other, after a 1922 loss to Georgia Tech, W.C. "Champ" Pickens told an Atlanta sportswriter, "A Million Dollar Band." Directors have included Gustav Wittig (1913-1917), student leaders (1917-1927), Captain H.H. Turner (1927-1934), Colonel Carleton K. Butler (1935-1968), Earl Dunn (1969-1970), James Ferguson (1971-1983), Kathryn B. Scott (1984-2002), and Kenneth Ozzello (2003-present).
School songs
The Alabama Alma Mater is set to the tune of "Annie Lisle," a ballad from the 1850s. The words are credited to Helen Vickers, 1908, though it is unclear whether that was the year of composition or her graduating class. The lyrics include verses beginning "Alabama, listen, Mother" and a recurring chorus: "Faithful, loyal, firm and true, Heart bound to heart will beat. Year by year, the ages through Until in Heaven we meet." Following the 1926 Rose Bowl victory, a contest was held by The Rammer-Jammer for a fight song, with a $75 prize. The winning entry, "Yea Alabama," was composed by Ethelred Lundy (Epp) Sykes, a student in the School of Engineering and editor of The Rammer-Jammer. Sykes won the Pan-Hellenic Cup in 1926 for overall achievement. The song became popular in the 1920s and 1930s. Sykes later became a brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force and donated the copyright and future royalties to the university in 1947. The Million Dollar Band plays only the chorus at football games after touchdowns and field goals. A Dixieland jazz version appeared on the 1950 Percy Faith album Football Songs and was used as theme music for The Bear Bryant Show. The last words, "Roll Tide!," have become a standard cheer, greeting, and farewell among Alabama fans.
Rammer Jammer Cheer
The "Rammer Jammer Cheer" is a traditional cheer whose lyrics originate from The Rammer-Jammer, a student magazine from the 1920s, and the yellowhammer, Alabama's state bird. The term yellowhammer was used for Confederate soldiers from Alabama who wore bright yellow cloth on their uniforms; supporters in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, cheered them with the chant "yellowhammer, yellowhammer. After the Civil War, Alabama became known as the "Yellowhammer State. The cheer's cadence is a direct takeaway of the Ole Miss cheer "Hotty Toddy," after Ole Miss marching band director James Ferguson became director of the Million Dollar Band. The cheer is still referred to as "Ole Miss," and the drum major's signal remains the motioning of one arm in a full circle (an "O"). The cheer was a pregame ritual until the early 2000s, when the chant "We're gonna' beat the hell out of you!" was banned as unsportsmanlike. The university also briefly forbade the band from playing it after games. It is now played only in the closing minutes when victory is certain and is traditionally chanted twice. During the 2008 Iron Bowl, it was repeated four times; after the 2009 SEC Championship Game and the 2010 BCS National Championship Game, it was played nine times. The band and fans call out the opposing team's mascot, except for Auburn University, which is referred to simply as "Auburn."
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