ALABAMA FOOTBALL:
Saban Leads Crimson Tide
to the 2009 National Championship

by DONALD F. STAFFO
1st edition, 55 pages, $12.95
ISBN 978-0-89641-489-1

Alabama Football: Saban Leads Crimson Tide to the 2009 National Championship is a  synopsis of Alabama's 2009 football sseason culminating in its winning the National Championship title in the 2010 Rose Bowl.

In 2009 Donald Staffo completed Alabama Football: Stallings to Saban: A Roller Coaster Ride, which covered Crimson Tide football from 1992 to the beginning of the 2009 season. Following publication of that book, lo and behold, Bama in 2009 won its 13th national championship. That necessitated this work, which capsules what many feel was the greatest season in Alabama football history and includes Coach Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide’s visit with President Barack Obama at the White House and up through 2010 spring practice. It also attempts to capture what Saban has meant to Alabama, his third year at the Capstone highlighting his triumphant return to college coaching.

Saban on the field has enjoyed tremendous success, and off the field celebrity status unparalleled since Bear Bryant. After leading the Crimson Tide to the Sugar Bowl following the 2008 season, Saban trumped that with the national championship in 2009. Alabama football is now considered by almost everyone to be back on track, with many feeling the program has reached and will now maintain the heights to which it was accustomed.
“The most amazing thing, despite all the turmoil, pitfalls and disadvantages that Alabama has been through, is that Alabama is back in the national championship picture,” stated Kirk McNair, former sports information director at Alabama in the 1970s and long-time editor of Bama Magazine.

A two-book special price for both Alabama Football books by Donald Staffo can be ordered from the Alabama Football page on our web site.

CONTENTS

1 The Beginning of “The Process”

2 Nick Saban—What Drives the Man

3 The Saban Effect

4 The 2009 Season—Perhaps the Greatest in Alabama History

5 Mark Ingram Wins the Heisman Trophy

6 Alabama Wins its 13th National Championship

7 Post-Script

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Donald F. Staffo is a professor and chairman of the Dept. of Health & Physical Education at Stillman College. He is in his 25th year covering University of Alabama football, the last 22 for the Associated Press and 8 for the Northport Gazette. He was a writer for Bama Magazine for 17 years, correspondent for The Tuscaloosa News for 15 years, Gannett News Service for 3 years, and had articles on Alabama published in USA Today, Alabama Alumni Magazine and numerous other magazines.

Dr. Staffo is the author of 8 books, chapters in graduate school textbooks, 127 scholarly publications, a newspaper column and more than 1900 articles in a variety of local through national publications. He has made 73 professional presentations and has served on 34 state through International editorial/advisory boards, including currently on boards of the International Journal of Sports Management, International Journal of Research for HPERD-Sports, and Athletic Management. He has been an athletic director at the college and high school level. As a coach, his teams won 4 championships and never had a losing season.

He is the recipient of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance Honor Award and the AAHPERD Henry Award, the 2nd and 3rd highest national awards in his profession. Other awards include the National Health & Fitness Association Henderson Award, Ohio State University Distinguished Alumni Award, first-ever Fulton-Montgomery Community College Distinguished Alumni Award, Alabama Association for HPERD Honor Award, ASAHPERD Ethnic Minority Leader Award, ASAHPERD Professional Responsibility for Delivering Excellence Award, Southern District Sparkplug Award and is the only person to receive all of Stillman’s top awards: Teacher, Scholar (twice), Advisor and Humanitarian of the Year. Also, the 2003 Alabama Press Association 1st Place Award for Best Sports Feature.

In addition to covering Alabama football and basketball for a quarter of a century, Dr. Staffo is in his 43rd year as an educator and his 31st year as a sports journalist. He earned his Ph.D. from Ohio State University, M.A. from Western Kentucky University, and B.S. from SUNY Brockport.