Bryant-Denny Stadium, located in
Tuscaloosa, AlabamaTuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in the west central part of the U.S. state of Alabama. Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama with an estimated population of 90,221 in 2008. Tuscaloosa is named after the Choctaw chieftain Tuskaloosa...
, is the home stadium for the
University of Alabama football teamThe Alabama Crimson Tide football program is a college football team that represents the University of Alabama . The team currently competes in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Southeastern Conference. The Crimson Tide is one of the most storied and decorated programs in NCAA history...
. The stadium opened in 1929, and was originally named Denny Stadium, in honor of former Alabama president George Hutchenson Denny. The stadium's name was amended to Bryant-Denny Stadium in 1975 after the Alabama legislature chose to honor famed Alabama coach
Paul "Bear" BryantPaul William "Bear" Bryant was an American college football coach. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. During his twenty-five year tenure as Alabama's head coach he amassed two national championships and thirteen conference championships...
. It currently has a
seating capacitySeating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, either in terms of the physical space available, or in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that...
of 92,012, and is the fourth largest stadium in the SEC, the
eleventh largest stadium in the nation and the
17th largest non-racing stadium by seating in the world. Since the 1988 football season, the university has sold out every game played at the stadium. In February 2009 the University of Alabama board of trustees gave approval to begin stadium expansion of the south endzone, with a capacity of approximately 101,000, giving it a capacity larger than
Neyland StadiumNeyland Stadium is a sports stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. It serves primarily as the home of the Tennessee Volunteers football team, but is also used to host large conventions and has been a site for several NFL exhibition games with the last between the Washington Redskins and Houston Oilers...
, which is currently the largest stadium in the
Southeastern ConferenceThe Southeastern Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in , which operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I in athletic competitions; for football, it is part of the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision...
(100,011).
Construction
Serving as a replacement for
Denny FieldDenny Field was located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and served as the former home stadium for the University of Alabama football team from 1915 through the 1928 seasons, excluding 1918 when a team was not fielded due to World War One. The stadium opened in 1915, and was originally named University Field...
, Denny Stadium opened on September 28, 1929 and was officially dedicated the following week at Homecoming ceremonies against the
Ole Miss RebelsUniversity of Mississippi sports teams, originally known as the "Mississippi Flood", were re-named the Rebels in 1935 and compete in the competitive twelve-member Southeastern Conference of the NCAA's Division I. The school's colors are cardinal red and navy blue , purposely chosen to mirror the...
, a game the Tide would win 22-7. Originally, the stadium had a capacity of 12,000, though President Denny initially envisioned a full bowl stadium capable of seating 60,000 people. In 1937, the first expansion of the stadium added 6,000 seats along the east sideline to increase the capacity to 18,000. Further expansions in 1950, 1961, and 1966 raised capacity to 25,000, 43,000, and 60,000, respectively. The first upper deck was added on the west side of the stadium in 1988, adding 10,000 more seats for a capacity of 70,123. During the construction, the Tide was forced to play its entire 1987 home schedule at
Legion FieldLegion Field is a large stadium in Birmingham, Alabama primarily designed to be used as a venue for American football, but is occasionally used for other large outdoor events. The stadium is named in honor of the American Legion, a U.S. organization of military veterans. At its peak it seated...
, from campus in
BirminghamBirmingham is the largest city in the state of Alabama in the United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County and includes part of Shelby County. According to a 2007 estimate, the city had a population of 229,800 The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, as of the 2008 census estimates,...
.
In 1998, a second upper deck was added to the east side of the stadium, raising capacity to 83,818. The new upper deck provided 10,000 additional bleacher seats and eighty-one skyboxes on two levels—sixty-three 16-seat and eighteen 24-seat capacity boxes. In 1999, four additional skyboxes were built to bring total number of skyboxes to 85. Also, a scoreboard with video display capabilities was erected in the south endzone, as well as new light towers for the east side of the stadium. A new east side entrance tower a brick facade and reception areas for the Scholarship and A-Club level patrons was also added during the 1998 expansion.
North end zone expansion (2006)
Following the 2004 football season, the university spent approximately $47 million on an expansion to the North end zone, which was completed days before the 2006 season opener against Hawaii. The expansion added a new upper deck to the North end zone area, complete with three different levels of skyboxes, which collectively are known as "The Zone," which brought the number of skyboxes in the stadium to 123. Two large video screens made by Daktronics were placed in each corner of the North end zone, and high and long LCD ribbon screens were placed along the East and West upper deck facades.
Additions were made to the exterior of the stadium with the Walk of Champions. Included in the Walk of Champions are four bronze statues, one for each Alabama football coach who has led the Tide to a national championship. Each statue has a wall behind it bearing the coach's name and the year(s) he led the team to a national championship. There is an empty space with a blank wall next to the four statues, presumably reserved for the next coach to lead Alabama to a national title. In addition, there are stones laid in the immediate pathway leading to the stadium recognizing all of Alabama's SEC and national championship teams throughout the years. Finally, there are also two bronze statues of Alabama football players at the entrance to the North end zone, and the two statues are holding a large Alabama flag. The player on the left is wearing the number 18, and the player on the right is wearing the number 92. These statues honor the entire Alabama football program, which began in 1892.
The north end zone was opened for the
2006The 2006 Alabama Crimson Tide football team represented the University of Alabama in the Southeastern Conference's Western Division during the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by fourth year head coach Mike Shula...
season opener versus
HawaiiThe Hawaii Warriors football team represents the University of Hawaii at Mānoa in NCAA Division I FBS college football. The team, which is currently coached by Greg McMackin, is part of the Western Athletic Conference...
, which set a new record attendance of 92,138. The Crimson Tide were victorious, 25–17.
South end zone expansion (2010)
The University of Alabama Board of Trustees approved a study for further expansion of Bryant-Denny on September 19, 2008. The Physical Properties Committee of the University of Alabama Board of Trustees heard a presentation from UA athletic department on November 13, 2008 regarding the proposed $80.6 million expansion of the south end zone upper deck and suite level of Bryant-Denny Stadium. The proposed expansion would bring the stadium's capacity to approximately 101,000. The committee unanimously approved the project to move into the third of four stages, the fourth being final approval to begin construction.
On February 6, 2009 The UA Board of Trustees voted unanimously and without discussion to give the final approval construction to commence on the south end zone expansion. With the approval of the Board of Trustees, construction is set to begin in the Spring 2009 and will continue through out the 2009 football season. The expansion is currently slated to open by September 2010 for the 2010 college football season.
The Tuscaloosa News reported on April 17, 2009 that due to the economic climate and resultant lowered construction costs, the stadium expansion should cost $15 million less than expected, coming in around $65.6 million.
The expanded south end zone will include a two level South Zone club with a total of 1,700 seats and 36 skyboxes to bring the total number of skyboxes in Bryant-Denny Stadium to 159, as well as an 8,500 seat upper deck. The entire stadium's audio/visual system will be upgraded including two new video boards in both corners of the south end zone.
Prior to the 2009 season, the large south scoreboard was disassembled to make way for the construction of the new stadium expansion. Also, during this time, four new play clocks and down/distance indicators were installed (one behind each corner of the end zones) and a new LED game clock was placed behind the south goalpost.
Football lore
Throughout its history, the Crimson Tide owns a 187–32–3 all-time record at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Bear Bryant accumulated a 72–2 record while head coach of Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Despite its success at Bryant-Denny, much of Alabama "home" football history occurred at Birmingham's
Legion FieldLegion Field is a large stadium in Birmingham, Alabama primarily designed to be used as a venue for American football, but is occasionally used for other large outdoor events. The stadium is named in honor of the American Legion, a U.S. organization of military veterans. At its peak it seated...
. Up until the late 1990s, Legion Field, and not Bryant-Denny, hosted the more important games. Usually, Bryant-Denny hosted about three to four games per season. However, in 1998, when Bryant-Denny was expanded to a capacity exceeding Legion Field, home games started to move to Bryant-Denny. From 1998 to 2003, Bryant-Denny hosted the more important games while Legion Field hosted two or three minor games. Finally, in 2003, Alabama played its final game at Legion Field against the South Florida Bulls, and now Bryant-Denny is the sole home of Alabama football.
However, despite most big games being played at Legion Field, Bryant-Denny Stadium has hosted many memorable games, such as the 1994 shootout between Alabama's
Jay BarkerJay Barker is a former professional American football quarterback, and a current Birmingham radio personality.- Football career :...
and Georgia's
Eric ZeierEric Royce Zeier is a former American football quarterback. In his five years in the NFL, he played for the Cleveland Browns , Baltimore Ravens , and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers . Zeier started his career at Heidelberg American High School in Heidelberg, Germany where he led them to a championship...
, Marvin Constant's goal line stop against LSU quarterback Josh Booty as time expired in 1999,
Tyrone ProthroTyrone Prothro is a former American football wide receiver who played for the University of Alabama between 2003–2005.-Collegiate career:...
's reception over the back of Southern Miss defensive back Jasper Faulk in 2005, a 31–3 victory over No. 5 Florida in 2005, the
Roman HarperRoman Harper is an American football safety with the New Orleans Saints of the NFL. He was drafted in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Alabama....
forced fumble against Tennessee in 2005 that helped the Tide to victory, and Alabama's 36-0 shutout victory against Auburn in 2008 thus breaking the six game losing streak and first ever
Iron BowlThe Iron Bowl is a common name for the annual college football game between the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and the Auburn University Tigers. The series is considered one of the best and most hard-fought rivalries in all of sports...
victory in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Field design
Traditionally speaking, the field design of Bryant-Denny Stadium was much like the field designs of most football stadiums, which generally involved only the necessary field markings required for play. However, as more and more stadiums began to add other designs to the field aside from those required for play, such as logos, Bryant-Denny Stadium chose to remain traditional, having very few field markings. In fact, even on into the 2002 season, Bryant-Denny had no logo at midfield and no logos at the twenty-five yard lines, which are commonplace in many stadiums. The endzones were simply designed as such that the name "ALABAMA" was spelled out in a white, block style font. During the 2002 season, however, a rather large white script A was added to midfield.
The field design underwent full scale changes beginning with the 2004 season. At midfield, the large white script A was replaced with the script A logo, which is encircled by a crimson ring which has "Alabama Crimson Tide" written around it. The endzone designs, too, were changed to a crimson, block style font (though different than the block style font used in the earlier design) that was outlined in white.
For the 2006 season, two identical logos commemorating the 175th anniversary of the founding of the University of Alabama were also added to the field on the twenty-five yard lines. One was added on the south end of the stadium, on the west side of the playing field, while the other was on the north end of the stadium, on the east side of the playing field.
For the 2007 season, two identical logos commemorating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Southeastern Conference were added to home field of every Southeastern Conference team. These were in the same places as the 175th logos were during the 2006 season.
For the 2008 season, two identical Southeastern Conference logos were added to the home field of every Southeastern Conference team. These are in the same places as the previous logos.
For the 2009 A-day game, the endzones were changed back to the original white block style font that was used prior to the 2004 season, except the background will be shaded Crimson. The north endzone says "ALABAMA", while the south endzone says "CRIMSON TIDE". This design has been kept for the 2009 season.
Locker rooms
In 2008, the visitors' locker room was officially named "The Fail Room" after alumnus and donor
James M. FailJames M. Fail is an American financial executive, the chairman of Stone Holdings, Inc. and Bluebonnet Savings Bank. A native of Mobile, Alabama, he attended Murphy High Schooland served for three years in the U.S. Navy....
. Fail commented, "Earlier this year, when I saw the visitors' locker room as a potential naming right, I figured it was the most appropriate opportunity I would ever have to use my name."
External links