MONTGOMERY – Bobby Wallace, the architect of three national championship teams and two national award winners, is the 2024 recipient of the Alabama Football Legend Award, presented by Regions Bank.
Wallace will be honored at the Alabama Football Legends luncheon on Friday, Dec. 13 at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Montgomery.
Previous winners include Bobby Bowden, Pat Dye, Woodrow Lowe, Gene Stallings, Johnny Davis, Larry Blakeney, Woody McCorvey, Chan Gailey and Dr. James Andrews.
“The list of people honored before me is humbling,” Wallace said. “It truly means a lot to my family and to me.”
Wallace has connections to two of the previous winners, former Auburn coach Pat Dye and former Alabama coach Gene Stallings.
Both were former assistant coaches under Paul “Bear” Bryant at Alabama.
While working for Dye at East Carolina and Wyoming, Wallace would spend time in the summer with Alabama defensive coordinator Bill Oliver and Dallas Cowboys secondary coach Gene Stallings.
“The state of Alabama has been good to me,” Wallace said. “Coach Dye sent me to learn from Coach Bryant, Coach Oliver and Coach Stallings. Then, I was head coach at North Alabama and West Alabama and had great experiences and built great relationships at both schools.”
Wallace made his mark as the head coach at North Alabama from 1988-97, where he led the Lions to three straight NCAA Division II national championships in 1993, 1994 and 1995.
Wallace is the only coach in NCAA Division II history to win three consecutive national titles. UNA posted a stunning 41-1 record during those three seasons.
Linebacker Ronald McKinnon became the first UNA player to win the Harlon Hill Trophy, presented to the Division II National Player of the Year.
Wallace is one of only six coaches in college football history to win three straight national championships at any level.
In terms of Alabama royalty, Wallace joins Alabama coaches Paul Bryant and Nick Saban as the only in-state coaches with three or more national titles.
Wallace became head coach at Temple (1998-2005) before returning to the state of Alabama to become head coach at West Alabama.
He led the Tigers to an 8-5 record and a trip to the Division II Playoffs in 2009. It marked UWA’s first playoff appearance in 35 years.
Wallace wrapped up his coaching career at UNA from 2012-16. During his second stint, he led the Lions to three Gulf South Conference championships and four Division II Playoff berths. In his final season, UNA finished 11-2 and played in the national championship game.
Wallace then took over as Director of Athletics at West Alabama until his retirement in 2021.
Wallace played safety at Mississippi State from 1973-75. He had no intentions of coaching after his playing days but was a graduate assistant under Bob Tyler in 1976.
In 1977, he hooked up with Dye and spent nine years on his staffs at East Carolina, Wyoming and Auburn.
Wallace was responsible for the recruitment of Bo Jackson, who helped change the Tigers’ fortunes.
“Bo was a great influence,” Wallace recalled. “It was an honor and a thrill to recruit him. He’s one of the greatest athletes of all time. Bo came to Auburn because of Auburn, Coach Dye and the players, I just did the service work.”
Dye inherited a team that was winless in the Southeastern Conference and three years later went 11-1 and won the SEC championship.
Jackson helped the Tigers to a 23-22 win over rival Alabama in 1982 to snap a nine-game losing streak in the series. Jackson won the Heisman Trophy in 1985.
Wallace concluded his remarkable career with 172 wins, three national championships, seven conference championships and 11 NCAA Division II Playoff berths.