Steve Sloan, a former two-time national champion quarterback at the University of Alabama and longtime college football head coach, has died at the age of 79.
Sloan began his football career as a quarterback at Alabama, where he served as backup to Joe Namath, but earned playing time of his own when Namath suffered a knee injury during the 1964 season.
Led by head coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, Alabama won the SEC Championship that year and was crowned the consensus national champion with a 10-1 record, including wins over top-10 teams Florida, LSU, and Georgia Tech. However, they lost to Texas in 2018. orange bowl.
Sloan returned to the Crimson Tide as the starting quarterback for the 1965 season, and despite losing by one point to Georgia in the opening game and tying with Tennessee, Alabama defeated Nebraska in the Orange Bowl and won the national championship for the second consecutive year. won over.
After a brief stint in the NFL, Sloan began his coaching career as an assistant at Alabama in 1968 and earned his first regular job at Florida State in 1971, after spending one season at Florida State. , transferred to Georgia Tech.
Sloan became the head coach at Vanderbilt University in 1973, amassing a 12-9-2 record, transferred to Texas Tech in 1975, and led the Red Raiders to the Southwest team in the 1976 season. led to the conference title.
He spent five years at Ole Miss, compiling a 20-34-1 record before finishing his coaching career at Duke from 1983 to 1986. Sloan served as athletic director at the University of Alabama, UCF, and Chattanooga from 1987 until 2006.
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