According to AL.com, legendary Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Steve Sloan passed away Sunday.
Fans took to social media to express their condolences for the two-time national championship-winning quarterback. Sloan was in memory care at the Orlando Health Phillips Hospital for three months before he passed away. Sloan was also a coach and an administrator after his playing career.
Steve Sloan had three careers and the Alabama Crimson Tide played a part in all of them
Of the many teams that Steve Sloan had a connection to, the connection to the Alabama Crimson Tide may have been the greatest. He backed up Joe Namath under legendary head coach Paul “Bear Bryant” before taking over the quarterback position and leading the Crimson Tide to another National Championship.
Sloan finished 10th in Heisman voting, won the Sammy Baugh Award for the nation’s best passer, was a consensus All-American and the SEC player of the year in 1965 when he finally got to run the offense. He had just under 1,500 yards passing, 10 passing touchdowns and just three interceptions. This play got him drafted by the Atlanta Falcons where he sustained a short NFL career.
Sloan then spent the first few years of his coaching career as an assistant at Alabama. He was an assistant from 1968 to 1970 before getting the offensive coordinator job with the Florida State Seminoles.
After being a coach for nearly two decades, Sloan moved on to being an administrator. He was an Athletic Director for the Alabama Crimson Tide from 1987 to 1989. These three separate stints with Alabama are why many of the fans sharing condolences on social media are Crimson Tide faithful.
His first head coaching gig was with the Vanderbilt Commodores, whom he came back to as an offensive coordinator in 1990. He then went on to serve as the head coach for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, Ole Miss Rebels and Duke Blue Devils.
His coaching career was relatively unsuccessful, but his best stint was with Texas Tech. With the Red Raiders, he had his only 10-win season and his only conference championship (Southwestern Conference). He also won SWC Coach of the Year in that same season (1976). As a result, many Texas Tech fans also took to social media to mourn the passing of Sloan.
We are saddened to learn of the passing of former head coach Steve Sloan, who passed away Sunday at the age of 79. pic.twitter.com/kgdSSahpNJ
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) April 15, 2024
In an article from ESPN, Sloan’s longtime friend Tommy Limbaugh explained the character of the Alabama Crimson Tide legend.
“You will never find anybody that says anything bad about Steve Sloan,” Limbaugh said. “You can’t find that person.”
Limbaugh also took to social media to share a picture of Sloan, further explaining the character of his longtime friend.
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