(female announcer)
This is a production
of WKNO - Memphis.

Production funding for "Sports
Files" is made possible in part

by..

My guest today on "Sports Files"
is legendary College football

Hall of Fame
coach Gene Stallings.

♪♪♪

The unofficial start of the
college football season took

place this week with the annual
S-E-C media days in Hoover,

Alabama.

The three day event
concluded this afternoon,

and as always, featured a
record number of media members

converging on the Wynfrey Hotel,
looking to find that one great

quote, soundbite or interview
for their respective media

organization.

Last year Texas A and M and
Missouri joined the conference

giving the media 14
teams to chomp at.

S-E-C media days
wasn't always this crazy,

but the power of the
conference has been.

The great Gene Stallings is a
former coach of the Alabama

Crimson Tide and helped lead
them to a perfect season in 1992

and a National Championship.

He has also coached
at his Alma Mater,

Texas A and M, who back
then, were part of the Southwest

Conference.

Stallings is one of the great
coaches in college football

history and a member of the
college football hall of fame.

He was also a head coach in
the National Football League.

Today on "Sports Files", Gene
Stallings on the power of the

S-E-C, with their seven
straight National Champinships,

his time as a player
under Coach Paul Bear Bryant,

and his legacy as
a football coach.

♪♪♪

Coach, thank you so much
for being wtih us today.

My privlege.

It's always a joy.

You speak at a lot of
different functions,

a lot of different
places around the country.

What's your main message?

Oh, when you're
cheap, you go a lot.

You know it
depends on what it is.

You know I'm doing three
different things this week.

And when I was
speaking in Memphis about,

it was the Fellowship
of Christian Athletes.

I'm speaking at a
prayer breakfast in Dallas.

And then I'm doing something
for Chevrolet in Birmingham.

So you know everythings
a little bit different.

We were looking at an article in
USA Today about your daughters

who are all teenagers and what
they're going to try to do with

your help and the help of others
to build a hospital in Haiti

where it's just been obviously
a tough situation for the

Haitians.

One of my daughters has
been there over 30 times.

Her husbands a doctor.

They live in Nashville.

They have a foundation that
basically says live beyond.

And so they
purchased 65 acres of land.

And on that 65 acres of
land which has no electricity,

no sewage, no
fresh water, no wood,

no anything.

They're building a guest
house where workers can stay.

They're building a
hospital, an orphanage,

a home for the little
handicapped child called

"Johnny's House"
and a worship center.

So it's going to change
that little part of the world.

We know how dear to
your heart that cause is.

But how happy and satisfied are
you being able to reach out and

help people?

Oh yeah, you know,
that's, you know,

I've been blessed.

You know I've got good health.

I've had good jobs.

I've done what a lot of
people don't have that.

They don't have good jobs.

They don't have good health.

They don't have good families.

And so if we're not a little
sympathetic towards the people

that are a little less
fortunate than we are,

we just may not make it.

Let's talk some pig skin now.

Texas A and M, your Alma Mater.

Alabama won a national
championship as a head coach

there.

Also a head coach
with the Aggies.

Low and behold, they're both
in the same conference now.

Texas A and M has joined the
S-E-C and you had a little

something to do that that.

I served on the
board of regents.

In Texas, the governor appoints
you for a six year term.

And I've served on the board.

And basically,
there was discussion,

University of Texas primarily,
about joining the PAC-10.

Well I really didn't think we
had a lot in common with the

PAC-10.

And why travel two time
zones to play a game?

That didn't make sense to me.

If we were going to
change conferences,

why not join the greatest
conference in the country

especially football-wise and
thats South Eastern Conference.

And we pursued South
Eastern Conference.

They didn't pursue us.

But later they
offered us an invitation.

We were admitted to the
conference and some didn't know

whether or not that was
a good decision or not.

But it turned out
extremely well.

A and M has made a pretty
nice impact in one year in the

league.

And Johnny Manzel
winning the Heisman trophy.

What do you think about
that young quarterback?

Well I think, you know, some
of us wanted to tell the coach

during spring practice
just leave him alone.

I mean, you know, he just
makes things on his own.

I mean he's hard to tackle.

He's got that great ability to
escape trouble and he deserves

the Heisman.

They lost two games but they
could have very easily beaten

Florida and should
have beaten L-S-U.

And of course he did beat
Alabama and Tuscaloosa.

Not many people do that.

Alabama winning three out of
the last four B-C-S National

Championships.

What do you think of Nick Saban?

What a great job.

Nick played my golf
tournament the other day.

And I told him --
I said, "Now Nick,

if you don't do it again,
we're going to be hot now."

It's not four out five, right?

No, I mean we're
already used to this guy.

What a great job he's done!

I mean he's a no-nonsense coach.

He's an extremely
good recruiter.

They've got lots of depth.

They're well-coached.

And I just can't imagine anybody
doing a better job right now,

college football, than
what Coach Sabans doing.

Gene, all the years you coached,
did you take things away from

Bear Bryant, Tom
Landry, a combination.

Was it your own style?

What was the style you had?

Well first of all, you've got
to coach your own personnel.

No way I could have
coached without Coach Landry.

No way I could have
coached without Coach Bryant.

But I learned some
things from both of them.

You know, Coach Bryant is
probably the greatest college

coach ever.

I feel the same way about
Coach Landry and professional

football.

And there's some things
that they did that I would

incorperate, some things
they did that I wouldn't.

And it's just a privlege
really to work for those kind of

people.

I mean can you imagine being in
staff meetings year after year

with Coach Landry and then on
the field with Coach Bryant.

I mean it was -- My
coaching career has been a joy.

Well it certainly rubbed off.

1992 national
championship with Alabama,

a perfect 13 and 0 season.

Other than winning the title,
what's the greatest memory you

have, memory of that
year, that season?

Well first of all, no question
about the joy that I got out of

coaching that was
seeing a player graduate.

You know here's a
player and grandmother,

a mother say
something like this.

"First one ever on either
side of the family to ever go to

college."

Help him with his books.

And you know to see
that player, you know,

graduate, get a degree.

It's life changing.

And you know I know the
importance of winning games.

You know but to see those
players be successful was a real

joy I got out of coaching.

Do you think we've gotten
too far away from that?

Yes, there are still the student
athletes that want to graduate.

They want to get that degree.

But it's such a big
business, as you know.

And you know what worries
me -- really bothers me.

Doesn't worry me but no
body honors contracts anymore.

Universities, you know, if a guy
can have one or two bad years,

he's gone.

A head coach can have one or
two good years and he's gone.

Somewhere along the line, I just
feel like that both the coach

and the schools, we
need to honor contracts.

You know we've got a law school.

We teach people all over
the world to honor contracts.

And then we break them
either as a coach or a player.

And that bothers
me a little bit.

It bothers me personally that
we're making the season longer.

We've got to decide
who the game is for.

If the games for he player, then
let's give the player a little

consideration about
how long the season is.

Because whether we like it
or whether we don't like it,

you go to college
for an education.

You play football
while you're there.

And some areas it gets like
we're going to college to play

football and we're going
to try to get an education.

Yeah and I just, you know, I
don't subscribe to that theory.

Footballs great.

I love it.

But its not a life job for
a lot of the players now.

If you go in to professional
football but most of them don't.

I completely understand.

We've had a crazy
last couple of years.

The turmoil of
schools leaving leagues,

joining other leagues.

We also though have now in
Division I A football or we will

in 2014, a 14 play-off.

Do you like going
in that direction?

No, no I never
wanted to go down that.

It was coming.

There's no question about that.

What I think is going to happen
eventually is it's going to be

like four major conferences.

And it maybe like 20
teams in the conference.

Then they'll have a
champiionship game.

And they're going to
have some kind of play-off.

Because as it is now, somebody
still has to make the decision

on who's going to
be those top four.

And whoever is
fifth is going to say,

"Good night, we
shoud have been fourth."

And who ever is
sixth is going to say,

"We beat third.

"You know we beat
the third team."

And so you still not
going to satisfy everybody.

Gene, what was it like to
be one of the junction boys?

Well you know it was hot.

You know you didn't get
any water in those days.

The furthest thing from
my mind was quitting.

I never gave quitting a thought.

You know I was on scholarship.

I was going to be able to
get me a college degree.

Now I was glad when
junction was over.

But what made junction so bad
really was the lines were short.

If you got 15 ins, it takes
a while before your time.

But if you just have six
ins, you're time comes up.

And if you just have four,
it really comes up fast.

And you still have the same
two hour practice session.

And we're in the
middle of a draft.

And everytime you
put your hands down,

there's big old gold heads.

And it was the conditions.

If Coach Bryant had known
-- and I never did say this.

But if he had known the
conditions were that bad and I

don't think we'd
ever gone to junction.

What do you think Coach Bryant
would do now-a-days as we now

live in an era where if a
coach hollers at a kid,

he gets in trouble.

If he puts his hands on a
kid, he gets in trouble.

It's a lot
different as you know.

How would Coach
Bryant fair today?

-- just as successful?

First of all, I think
he would adjust some.

Mhmm.

I just, my wildest imagination
-- I can't imagine one of his

football teams with a bunch of
players with hair down in the

middle of their back now.

That may happen.

And for him not to
holler at them occasionally,

and he didn't like for anybody
to put their hands on them back

when I was coaching for it.

I've heard him
tell some coaches,

"Hey, keep yout
hands off the players."

Yeah, just don't do that.

If anybody's
gonna touch players,

it's gonna be him.

But he would be a great coach
because he would recruit well.

And you know, he
wasn't opposed to changing.

You know he had a couple years
that wasn't too good and people

in Alabama were a little upset.

And then they went
to the Wishbone.

And then after that, they won
some more national champions.

So he had the ability to adjust.

That's one of the things you've
got to do in college football

and pro football.

You're the college
football hall of fame.

What was that like?

2010 I think you were enshrined.

Well you know it's really a
compliment to the players and

the coaches.

You know that's the bottom line.

You win football games not
because your scheme is better

than their scheme.

You know we're always
talking about scheme.

Boy, that was a great call.

You win football games with
football players making plays.

Football players don't make
plays -- You can have the

greatest game in the world.

And so if you have good players
making plays and winning some

games, well obviously the coach
has an opportunity to be in the

hall of fame.

So I know that a lot of coaches.

But I had some good players.

What was your experience like in
the N-F-L coaching the Cardinals

and how much different
was it from college?

Well very little for me.

You know if you had seen one of
my pro teams practice and one of

my college teams practice,
you couldn't have told the

difference very much really.

You know times changed and now.

In fact, they're talking
about having a rule in Texas.

And high school football
in Texas is extremely big.

I was reading an article the
other day that said that they're

talking about having no contact
once the season gets underway.

So all of your drills will
be hats and shoulder pads,

just sort of going through it.

Now whether or not that
passes and goes through,

you know, I really don't know.

But footballs a contact sport.

And you know in order to
get better week after week,

after week, after week was
somewhere along the line,

you've got to have
some tough drills.

That's the reason I always felt
like my teams got better as the

year went along was, you
know, we still had good.

You know you can't go
out there and be crazy.

But just every once in a while,
you got to have some contact if

you're going to have
some contact on Saturday.

So can I assume wtih the changes
they're making to the rules that

not only do you not like that
but maybe it's altered the game

a bit?

Well first of all, the head
gear is used for protection.

You know you got a head gear on
and we're going to send you out

to play.

That's not a weapon.

You know your head
gear is not a weapon.

You're not supposed to but
somebody or spear somebody.

And so much of the time, that's
where your injuries come from.

Your head gear is
for protection.

But somewhere along the line,
$50,000 fine to a guy that's

making five million dollars
is not all that big a deal.

But now if he has to
sit out the whole year,

it may become a big deal.

I think the rules in place.

We just have to
enforce what the rules are.

And if they say don't use
your head gear as a weapon,

some where along the line
that's got to be what it means.

What's it like on the ranch?

Well I enjoy it.

I never have a day off.

I raise cattle.

And you know you're constantly
trying to get your pastures

better.

You're working your cattle.

You got some heffers
that need something,

ground that needs
to be fertilized.

You notice
something all the time.

It's like a team but
they don't talk back to ya.

That's a lot of time.

And I thoroughly enjoyed it.

When I was coaching
at Texas A and M,

I bought some land.

I didn't know come here from
sick 'em about running a ranch.

But I knew that when I retired,
I didn't want to move on a golf

course.

I didn't want to
just do nothing.

I've been active.

It took me 40 years
to get it paid for.

But now I've got it paid for and
I've retired and have a place to

go to live.

And that was a good decision.

Well you look great.

You sound great, Coach.

It's been a
pleasure having you on.

I like to end all my interviews
with something I call 'Five for

the Road'.

So it's quick questions -- first
thing that comes to your mind.

What's your favorite
professional sports team in any

sport?

Obviously I used to like the
Cowboys but not so much now.

So that's I'd say
probably the Rams.

I liked the Cardinals.

How about your favorite
pro athlete of all time,

maybe growing up?

Probably Raymond Berry.

Oh, wow!

Raymond Berry was something.

I'm a big Colts fan.

Well Raymond and I went
to high school together.

One of the trivia questions
in the N-F-L was what two head

coaches went to the same high
school and had the same head

coach.

And it was Raymond and I.

Pretty good production.

How about favorite music,
musician -- what do you like to

listen to?

Well I'm country-western fan.

And I'm not much of a music man.

I don't have to get in the
car and turn the radio on.

A good country
song now and again,

right?

And we lost a great one in
George Jones just recently.

Favorite movie of all time?

Well I love "Patton".

I thought that
was a great movie.

And if I had to just pick
one, I'm a John Wayne fan.

I like all of his.

But I'd say "Patton" probably.

And finally, your favorite
television show of all time?

You know what I like to watch?

What?

You're gonna laugh at this.

"Are You Smarter
than a Fifth Grader?"

(laughter)
Is that not silly?

But I enjoy watching
that and, of course,

"NCIS".

If I'm just going to watch two,
those would be the two that I

watch.

I watch Fox News
most of the time.

But ti also reminds us of how
smart these young kids are and

how much we've
forgotten over the years.

Coach, thank you so much.

Absolute pleasure.

Thank you.

Thank you, Gene.

We'll take a quick break.

When we return, our
'Overtime' segment.

♪♪♪

(male announcer)
Three..

Two..

One..

[buzzer sounds]

Athletes are
always looking for that next hot

training regiment to not
only stay fit but to keep their

workouts fresh.

Situps and
five-k's will never hurt,

but that type of workout can
certainly become monotonous.

Crossfit is something fresh.

And it's not just for sculpted
athetes but for anyone looking

to get in shape.

Michelle Kinney is the
owner of Crossfit Chickasaw,

and she practices
what she preaches.

Next week Michelle will
participate in the Crossfit

games in California
for the third time.

She was a three sport Athlete at
Mississippi State and a former

standout at Saint
Benedict High School in Cordova.

Recently I spent some time with
Michelle to find out more about

her and the sport of Crossfit.

Michelle, thank you so
much for being with us.

Thanks for being here.

We appreciate it.

Alright, give me the
broad definition of Crossfit.

Alright, broad definition of
Crossfit is constantly varied

functional movements
performed at high intensity.

What!

I know and it
sounds like, you know,

Webster's dicitonary definition.

But what we're looking for
is just training that's a

well-rounded version of
fitness in a varied format.

So we're not just
focused on weights.

We're not just
focused on endurance.

We're not just focused
on body weight strength.

We're focused on all
those things and creating a

swell-rounded athlete.

How long has this been around?

Crossfit Chickasaw or
Crossfit in general?

Crossfit in general.

Since '99.

'98 I think it when the first
people started doing Crossfit

out in Santa Cruz, California.

But Crossfit
Chickasaw started May 18,

2012.

Yeah, everybody's looking for a
way to make it more enjoyable

working out, staying in shape,
not just the old jumping jacks

and push ups and sit ups.

This seems to be a
hot way to do that.

Absolutely.

It's in the constantly varied
component kind of leads to that.

So you're constantly engaged
because it's always a different

work out every time
you step in to the gym.

So you don't get bored.

You don't get bored mentally and
you don't get bored physically.

So physically, you can plateau
because you'e doing the same

thing over and over again.

And when you change it up a bit,
you're constantly seeing those

gains and it's very rewarding.

How can you take the
time out to do what you do?

And now you're getting ready
for your third Crossfit games,

your third national compeititon.

All the regional competitions
you've been in while you're also

running this place.

This is yours,
Crossfit Chickasaw.

And I'm sure you're coaching a
lot of people and helping them

out.

How do you find that time?

Um, I have a business partner
that helps me run things,

Robby Fromin.

And then our coaching staff has
done a tremendous job picking up

those classes, helping me out as
far as the gym day-to-day stuff

goes because I'm training quite
a bit -- about four hours a day,

six days a week.

So it's heavy loading.

So just in those
four training hours,

that's time
devoted to trainging.

But outside of that, I
get tired and you know.

But my staff and my business
partner help me out a whole lot

with that.

Let's talk about next
week in California,

the Crossfit games.

You've had two under your belt.

How do you learn from them to
make it a better result this

time around?

Well the first time, I
was just totally starstruck.

So it was just like,
you know, a new kid,

a kid in a candy
store type thing.

Now I know going in to it, my
mind set that I'm as ready as I

can be.

So whatever they throw at me.

We don't know
what the events are,

what they'll have us do.

I'm going to do it to the best
of my ability and just accept

the outcome however that may be.

But basically, full effort.

You don't know what
it's going to be?

Right.

I don't understand.

You take the stage
and then they say,

"Do this."

Pretty much, pretty much.

They, um, you know we have three
to four days of competitions.

They won't let us know.

They won't let us
know how many events.

They'll usually tell us what an
event is maybe the night before

or maybe two hours before.

We just have to be ready
for anything and everything.

Three days of
competition you said?

It's officially three days
of competition but last year,

they surprised the athletes with
a fourth day of competition.

And so I'm just anticipating.

They're full of surprises!

They are!

What do you think your strongest
area is and the one area you

really need to work on?

The strongest area is
absolutely endurance.

I have an endurance background.

I ran cross country in
high school and in college.

So endurance is really
a strong suit of mine.

Weight lifting is going to be
the other end of the spectrum.

It's my weakness so I've been
constantly training strength and

trying to get that
weakness a little bit better.

But those are the two
ends of the spectrum there.

You mentiooned high school.

You've been an
athlete all your life,

Saint Benedict High
School and Mississippi State.

Right.

Three different sports
at Mississippi State.

What was that like juggling
academics and athletics?

Um, I was, I
guess, really focused.

Mississippi State does a great
job with their student-athletes

to make sure that the
academics are the focus,

believe it or not.

But yeah, it was
just a fun time.

It just was easy.

I mean just playing
ball and enjoying it,

running and enjoying that, and
then getting work done on the

side.

Softball, cross
country, track and field?

Correct.

What were your events
in track and field?

three-thousand meter
steeple chase and javelin.

What would you say to somebody
out there who's watching you

right now and they're
like, "Wait a minute.

"I like what she's saying.

"I want to get involved."

How do they get
involved at Crossfit?

Oh, they just got to send me
an e-mail or walk through our

doors.

I'll tell them all about it.

I'll talk their ear off.

But we start everybody off
in our fundamentals program.

So a lot of people are
a lilttle intimidated.

Regardless of
gender or background,

we can help them out.

So they just need to
walk through our doors.

We'll put them through
our fundamentals program,

a really small group where we
teach them the movements and get

them ready for our big program.

Well with that said
with the fundamentals,

give me an idea.

Talk about some of
the actual things.

We see ropes here.

We see rings here.

A couple of specfiics.

Yeah, the fundamentals doesn't
involved those scary things that

catch your eye right
when you walk in the door.

Just the basic air squats
movement one that we cover.

And if you don't get
the air squat down,

we don't move on.

We don't progress to the more
complicated movements until

we're certain that you're
moving with that air squat well.

because if your squats not good,
we don't want ot load it with a

barbell and set
you up for injury.

So we're more about
mechanics before we do volume or

intensity.

What is your goal for next week?

Um, just literally give it my
best and have fun because when

the fun left Crossfit
for a bit, it wasn't fun.

That sounds pretty obvious.

But I want to have fun and I
want to do the best that I can

out there and enjoy every minute
of it because this is a very

special place to be.

I missed out on it last year and
I just want to soak it all up

this year.

So I would imagine there are
some that don't feel the same

way you do, that they're in it
for the strict competition to

win it all.

And maybe they don;t
enjoy it which they should.

Oh, no doubt.

I mean I'm a competitor.

I want to win just
with the best of them.

But like I said, we
don't know what's coming.

So I don't know what to expect.

So I just know that I can
only give all that I've got.

And if I do that,
I'll be victorious.

In the final days
leading up to it,

will you train
harder, more or less?

Absolutely not.

I think actually starting about
a week out from the perceived

date that we're going to start,
I'm going to really start to

taper and dial back my training.

My volume is
really high right now.

I'm getting at least 12
training sessions in a week.

So I need to have some
energy come game time.

Absolutely.

Michelle, enjoy yourself
out there like you said.

Have fun.

Best of luck.

Thanks, Greg.

Great meeting you.

Great meeting you!

And best of luck to Michelle as
we hope the third time for her

will be the charm.

And that will do
it for this week's show.

As always, you can see any of
our previous shows by heading to

our website, WKNO-dot-org,
and clicking on KNO Tonite.

Have a great week, and
we'll see you next time.

♪♪♪

Closed Captions provided
by WKNO - Memphis.