TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Cecil “Hootie” Ingram, a former All-SEC football player and athletics director at Alabama, has died at the age of 90, his family announced Monday.
Ingram was a legendary figure in the state of Alabama and lived in Tuscaloosa for most of his life. A 1991 Alabama Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Ingram had a long history within athletics at the Capstone as well as the city’s surrounding high schools with a 43-year career that included playing, coaching and administration.
Ingram was born in 1933 at Druid City Hospital and grew up to be a three-sport star at Tuscaloosa High School. He enrolled at the Capstone in 1951 and would end up lettering in both football and baseball for the Crimson Tide (1951-54). A halfback and defensive back who played alongside iconic quarterback Bart Starr, his 1952 sophomore season saw him finish with a nation-leading 10 interceptions, an Alabama program and SEC record that still stands today. On the diamond, Ingram had a passion for the sport and was an All-SEC second baseman for the Tide.
After signing with the Philadelphia Eagles, Ingram would retire without having played a game in the NFL to return to Tuscaloosa where he began coaching at area high schools for the next four years. Ingram made the transition to the college game where he coached an additional 12 years that included stops at Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Georgia, Arkansas and Clemson.
Following a playing and coaching career that spanned 20 years, Ingram’s prominence grew as an athletics administrator. He would spend a combined 17 years as an administrator at the Southeastearn Conference (1972-81), serving as associate commissioner, before moving on as the athletics director at Florida State University (1981-89). In 1989, Ingram returned to The University of Alabama as the director of athletics where he served until his retirement in 1995. Soon after being hired as the Alabama AD, Ingram hired Gene Stallings as the new head football coach, who went on to lead the Tide to the 1992 national championship.
In 1991, Ingram was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. In 1992, he was named to UA's "Team of the Century" as the second team defensive back.
In 2007, he was presented with The University of Alabama National Alumni Association’s Paul W. Bryant Alumni-Athlete Award, recognizing athletes whose accomplishments since leaving the university are “outstanding based on character, contributions to society, professional achievement and service."
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