1971 Heisman Winner Pat Sullivan R.I.P.

[78Cyclones]

Pat Sullivan played in the first CFB Game I remember (1970 Iron Bowl on the radio) and the second game I went to in person (1971 Iron Bowl). He was a good egg and a son of Birmingham, my home town. One of those players everybody liked. Sullivan to Beasley will ALWAYS be remembered in SEC-land. R.I.P. #7!

Heisman winner, former coach Sullivan dies

 

[craigk217]

Dayummm … wow.

I remember his days at tBarn.

 

[thunderc]

He still holds the career td passes record at Auburn. With all the offense in the game today that is impressive.

 

[outofyourmind]

Always sad to hear.
R.I.P.

 

[NolePride]

Pat Sullivan played in the first CFB Game I remember (1970 Iron Bowl on the radio) and the second game I went to in person (1971 Iron Bowl). He was a good egg and a son of Birmingham, my home town. One of those players everybody liked. Sullivan to Beasley will ALWAYS be remembered in SEC-land. R.I.P. #7!

Heisman winner, former coach Sullivan dies

I forgot the year but I saw him and Beasley, in person, dismantle Florida one year 63-14.

 

[Red_Alert]

R.I.P

With only 3 channels (ABC, CBS, NBC) back in the day, we were limited in what football we would see. More often than not it was mostly regional games. I remember seeing him play because the Alabama/Auburn game was always aired.
.

 

[78Cyclones]

R.I.P

With only 3 channels (ABC, CBS, NBC) back in the day, we were limited in what football we would see. More often than not it was mostly regional games. I remember seeing him play because the Alabama/Auburn game was always aired.
.

He was 2-1 against the Tide leading Auburn to victory in 1969 and 1970 before losing in 1971.

 

[Red_Alert]

He was 2-1 against the Tide leading Auburn to victory in 1969 and 1970 before losing in 1971.

To be fair, those were two of Bear Bryant's worst squads in his 25 years as HC at Alabama.

1969: 6-5
1970: 6-5-1

1971: 11-1

You'd have to go back to his first year (1958) to find his only other bad season at 5-4-1.

That being said, Sullivan was clearly deserving of the Heisman in 1971. I would like to have seen Greg Pruitt at Oklahoma win one, but not at the expense of Johnny Rogers in 1972.
If the voting were after the #1 Nebraska vs #2 Alabama Orange Bowl, Rodgers would have made it to NY.

One could say Pruitt and Mildren from #2 Oklahoma, Musso from #4 Alabama, and Tagge from #1 Nebraska split each others votes, but

#2 Oklahoma Pruitt: 586
#4 Alabama Musso: 365
#2 Oklahoma Mildren: 208
#1 Nebraska Tagge: 168
-----------------------------------

= 1327 votes

Sullivan had 1597 by himself. It wasn't close.
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[Wild Turkey]

Pat was a great and humble guy. He carried this wallet that was on par with George Costanzia's except it was about 40 years old and held together by rubber bands. I offered to buy him a new one on several occasions but he said transferring all his stuff was more trouble than it was worth LOL.

I'd run into him at gas stations and Bar BQ joints and if you didn't know him there would be no way to know he was a Heisman Trophy winner and head coach of Samford University.

He almost became the coach at LSU one time but TCU wouldn't let him out of his contract and LSU couldn't afford the buyout. I've often wondered how he would have done in Baton Rouge. I still have the TCU hat I bought when he was the coach there because any team Pat Sullivan coached I was going to root for.

RIP Coach

 

[Diego Roll Tide]

Sorry to hear.

RIP, Pat.