MARK MAYFIELD

Alabamas Crimson Tide has been the most dominant college football team in America for the past decade, winning five national championships and five conference titles. The team, under coach Nick Saban, has won an astounding ninety percent of its games since 2008, and established a dynasty unparalleled in modern college football. As impressive as Saban and his teams have been, these are far from the only glory days in Alabama football history, and their great tradition is celebrated in Miracle Moments in Alabama Crimson Tide Football History. Mark Mayfield chronicles Alabamas colorful football history dating to when their first team won a scrimmage, 560, over a group of Birmingham high school players in 1892. Three decades later, Alabama pulled off a stunning 2019 upset of West Coast powerhouse Washington in the 1926 Rose Bowl, won its first national championship, and took its place among the elite teams in America with seventeen national titles through eras coached by Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, the legendary Paul Bear Bryant, Gene Stallings, and Saban. Along the way, some of the best players in the nation have been a part of this extraordinary programfrom Don Hutson, Harry Gilmer, Joe Namath, Ken Stabler, John Hannah, Lee Roy Jordan, Derrick Thomas, and Cornelius Bennett to Julio Jones, Amari Cooper, Mark Barron, Donta Hightower, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Calvin Ridley, and Heisman Trophy winners Mark Ingram Jr. and Derrick Henry. They and so many other remarkable players and coaches are highlighted in Miracle Moments in Alabama Crimson Tide Football History, a must have for all Bama football fans.

It was fitting that Alabama and Clemson put on one of colleges footballs greatest ever championship games on a magical January night in Glendale, Arizona, with a dazzling display of athleticism, power and heart. When it was done, the Crimson Tide emerged with a jaw-dropping 45-40 victory and secured an almost unprecedented fourth national college football title in seven years. Only Notre Dame, which topped the Associated Press college football polls four times in seven seasons during the 1940s, has come close to the same feat. But that was in an era when the Irish didnt play in bowl games, college teams had shorter schedules, and there were no scholarship limits. Even the powerhouses of Miami in the 1980s, Nebraska in the 1990s, and Southern Cal in the early-to-mid 2000s, never won as many championships in as short a period of time.More astonishing, Nick Saban, who will enter his 10th season at Alabama this fall, is now being seriously compared to the most legendary coach in college football history, Paul Bear Bryant, who won six national championships with the Crimson Tide. Those titles, however, were spread over Bryants 25-year tenure at Alabama. As great as Bryant was, Saban has now emerged out of his shadow and into a vaunted spot in college football history.Sabans latest team, the 2015 edition, will be remembered for a dominating front seven on defense, a remarkable resurgence after a turnover-filled early season loss, and a running backDerrick Henrywho shattered the Southeastern Conferences 35-year-old single-season rushing record held by Herschel Walker. In the process, Henry became Alabamas second-ever Heisman Trophy winner, and finished with 2,219 rushing yards and 28 touchdownsSEC records not likely to be broken anytime soon. Back on Top! takes an in-depth look back at the Crimson Tides challenging 2015 season, beginning with the first game against Wisconsin on a neutral field in Dallas, and ending with the College Football Playoffs national championship game in the Arizona desert. It wall also pitch forward to examine what Alabama fans can expect during Nick Sabans 10th season in Tuscaloosa as the Crimson Tide reloads for another championship run.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sportsbooks about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team.Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.