By Erik Harris
TRUSSVILLE – With the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship Game only hours away, Trussville residents Buddy Aydelette and Jay Grogan, who both wore the crimson and white for coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, spoke with the Tribune about their past experiences on the sport’s biggest stage.
Buddy Aydelette
Jay Grogan
Aydelette served on the Trussville City Council from 2005-12, but spent his younger days pushing around defensive linemen. The former offensive tackle helped Alabama to back-to-back national titles in 1978 and 79.
Grogan, a quarterback-turned-tight-end, played for Alabama from 1980-83. He played for the team that gave Bryant more wins than any other college football coach to that point.
Aydelette, a two-year starter, earned All-SEC honors as a senior for the Crimson Tide. He sees similarities between the Alabama teams he played for in the late 1970’s and the current program residing in Tuscaloosa.
“As far as similarities, it’s the attention to detail and everything that the coaches go through. The head coaches (Saban and Bryant) really coach their coaches and the staff coaches the individual players,” said Aydelette.
“They both (Saban and Bryant) have a lot of experience to draw on. They’ve been there in that championship-game moment,” he added as he readied soup for tonight’s game.
He and his wife will join their two daughters in Trussville to watch Alabama-Clemson, which is set to kickoff at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN. Grogan will also gather with friends and family for the game.
Like Aydelette, Grogan sees similarities between the two successful coaches.
“Coach Bryant was very similar to the way Nick Saban is,” said Grogan. “I don’t think there was any details that coach Bryant left out, even down to making sure that your shoelaces were good.”
Grogan remembers looking up to Bryant’s storied tower during practice, hoping the legendary coach had seen his success and missed his failures.
“Even the coaches would look up in the tower after a play, especially if it was a bad mess up,” said Grogan. “They would look up and hope that Bear wasn’t looking.”
In Saban, Grogan sees a more hands-on approach.
“I’ve never seen anybody more focused or intense than coach Saban is,” he added. “Of course, Saban is younger than coach Bryant (when he played for him).”
Erik Harris is the Sports Editor for the Trussville Tribune. Follow him on Twitter @jeharris2 or email him at jmseharris2@gmail.com.
