Alabama has one of the most iconic stadium names in college football. Some very well-known stadiums are ‘The Big House,’ ‘Happy Valley,’ or ‘The Swamp,’ but all are nicknames for the stadium named after a legendary coach, player, or huge donor.
Bryant-Denny Stadium is an exception to the rule. Very few other stadiums are immediately recognized as the school they represent when their actual name is mentioned. Perhaps the only exceptions are Neyland Stadium (Tennessee) and Lavell Edwards Stadium (BYU).
History of Bryant-Denny Stadium
Bryant-Denny Stadium was constructed in 1929 and was originally named Denny Stadium to honor Georg Denny, the school’s president. At the time, the stadium had a capacity of 12,000. It didn’t take long for the stadium to add more seats, and in 1937, the stadium doubled in capacity to 24,000. The goal was always to have a bowl stadium that could seat 66,000, which was massive and unheard of at the time.
Later, in 1946, 1961, and 1966, the stadium expanded again, closing in the bowl and adding more bleachers to ultimately reach 60,210 seats. In 1975, while Coach Bear Bryant was still coaching, the Alabama state legislature added the name ‘Bryant’ to the stadium name.
Starting in 1975, the stadium changed its name to Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Later, in 1988, 1995, 2006, and 2010, the stadium continued to expand with massive projects, leading to its current capacity of 101,821.
Since then, the stadium has undergone more projects, including adding more press boxes, LED lighting, stadium upgrades, and other changes that have made it more of an event. The current seating is 100,077.
With such a legacy and Bear Bryant, perhaps the most iconic coach of the 20th century, having his name on the stadium, some believed the stadium would never change its name again. That changed on July 19th, 2024, just six months after Nick Saban retired.
Alabama officially changes name of stadium to “Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium,” honoring former coach Nick Saban
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 19, 2024
Stadium Gets a New Name
Following perhaps the only coaching career that could rival Bear Bryant, the Alabama board of trustees voted to rename the stadium to “Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium”. It is unclear how the stadium will be introduced when referred to, but it is possible that somewhere on the field, it will say “Saban Field.”
Nick and Terry Saban react to the renaming of Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. pic.twitter.com/PU4H75XZKk
— Michael Casagrande (@ByCasagrande) July 19, 2024
While with Alabama, Nick Saban coached six national championships from 2009 to 2024 and made the college football playoff in eight of the ten first years. Saban retired with the seventh-highest winning percentage over a career (.801) and seven national championships of all time (Saban won one with LSU).
Saban will be honored in week 2 of this year’s college football season when Alabama hosts South Florida.
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