Hank Crisp
Hank Crisp (1896-1970)
Teams coached: Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama record: 264-133 (.665)
Overall record: 264-133 (.665)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 0
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 0
- SEC Regular Season Champion: 1 (1934)
- SoCon Regular Season Champion: 1 (1930)
- SEC Tournament Champion: 1 (1934)
- SoCon Tournament Champion: 1 (1930)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 1945-1946 | Alabama |
| 1924-1942 | Alabama |
Hank Crisp Facts
- Henry Gorham Crisp
- Born December 10, 1896
- Died January 23, 1970
- Hometown: Crisp, North Carolina
- Alma Mater: Virginia Polytechnic Institute (BA, 1921)
- Played one year at the Hampden-Sydney and finished his career and degree at VPI (now Virginia Tech)
- Was a quarterback on the football team and starred on the basketball team (both for head coach Charles Bernier
- Also pitched for the baseball and ran track for one year
- Did all of this with one (left) hand, as he lost his right hand in an accident at the age of 13
- For his accomplishments in all sports, Crisp was later inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame (c/o 1987)
- Was a quarterback on the football team and starred on the basketball team (both for head coach Charles Bernier
- In 1921, he was hired by Bernier (then AD at Alabama) to coach linemen for the Tide football team
- Would serve in this role with the football team for a total of 30 seasons (1921-41, 1945 and 1950-57), during which time he was part of four National Championship teams (1925, 1926, 1930 & 1934)
- Also coached the track team from 1921-27 and coached baseball for one season (1928), going 12-7-2
- Added head basketball coach to his plate in 1924, coaching the Tide on the hardwood for a total of 19 seasons
- Compiled a 264-133 record during that time, winning two conference titles (1930 SoCon and 1934 SEC)
- His 1929-30 team finished 20-0 in the pre-Tournament era; retroactively named Premo-Porretta national champs
- Served two stints as Alabama’s athletic director for a total of 13 years (1930-40 & 1954-57)
- Hired future Hall of Famer Paul “Bear” Bryant to replace his as AD and coach the football team in 1957
- Outside of his time at Alabama, also coached the Miami Seahawks (1946) of the short-lived All-America Football Conference
- Also spent three seasons as the line coach at Tulane (1947-49)
- Inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1970
- Suffered a heart attack at a Hall of Fame banquet the night before his induction and passed away (aged 73)
- The University renamed the now Hank Crisp Indoor Facility in his honor in 1991 (built in 1986)
Hank Crisp Coaching Tree
- Malcolm Laney (Alabama)
