BOWLS ‘85-86 : ALOHA : Tide Tries to Turn a Corner for Perkins With Win Over USC

HONOLULU —  There aren’t many surface similarities between Alabama Coach Ray Perkins and the man he succeeded, the late, legendary Paul (Bear) Bryant.

Bryant’s voice was so deep that it croaked like an old bullfrog. Perkins, a native of Mississippi, speaks with a soft Southern accent.

Bryant had a rumpled, shaggy-dog look. Perkins has a face that appears to have been chiseled out of Mt. Rushmore. He also has penetrating blue eyes that seem to bore through a person.

But nobody thought the Bear was a softie. Far from it. And there’s a definite flinty hardness about Perkins, too. It may be that key similarity that allows Perkins to endure at a school where football is nearly a religion, and Bryant was a revered figure. Part of Perkins’ enduring tests will be today, when his Crimson Tide meets USC here in the fourth annual Aloha Bowl.

It has been said that any coach who immediately follows a legend has no chance of becoming one himself. Even if he’s a winner, he’ll always be compared to the legend and will suffer by comparison.

Phil Bengtson couldn’t escape the shadow of Vince Lombardi at Green Bay. Same for Gene Bartow after John Wooden retired at UCLA, Bartow fleeing to Alabama Birmingham, a more secure nest away from national scrutiny and daily Wooden comparisons. And there are many more examples.

It seems unlikely that Perkins will coach long enough to match Bryant’s 25-year record at Alabama. Nor is it likely that he will win six national championships, as the Bear did.

But, from all outward appearances, Perkins seems impervious to the pressure that many would be feeling while constantly being reminded of his predecessor by the media.

“There is a lot of pressure, but it’s not from the outside,” Perkins said. “I put more pressure on myself than anybody from the outside. I really believe this. If I start feeling pressure from the outside, I hope I have guts enough to quit.”

Perkins is finishing his third season at Alabama, and his program looks solid. He had an 8-4 record in his first season in 1983, plunged to 5-6 in 1984, bringing the inevitable comparisons to Bryant, then came back with an 8-2-1 record this season.

His team came ever so close to contending for a national championship, losing two games by a total of four points along with a 14-14 tie with LSU.

Perkins has only 12 seniors on this year’s team, and players such as quarterback Mike Shula, flanker Albert Bell, halfbacks Gene Jelks and Bobby Humphrey and linebackers Cornelius Bennett and Wayne Davis will return next season.

“We’ve turned the corner, but we still have a lot of work to do,” Perkins said, “but we’ll be mighty, mighty close if we have a good recruiting year this year.”

As Perkins talked, he chewed on some macadamia nuts and looked out of place in the lobby of a luxury hotel in Waikiki. He is not the flowered-shirt-and-beads type, despite his current island-paradise environment.

He was courteous and direct but not outgoing.

“Ray is just not a very warm person,” said an Alabama writer, who covers the team. “He has an attitude of ‘I don’t care what people think.’ And I’m not sure he’s real popular with the people in Alabama.”

But that could change if ‘Bama keeps winning, fans being in the long run more interested in wins than in charisma. And those who support Perkins point out that he has won more games than Bryant did in his first three years at the school. The count is 21-20.

Perkins doesn’t reveal much about himself, but the 44-year-old coach is idealistic. He said he had other reasons for returning to his alma mater than those of inheriting a prestigious football program.

“To me, a big part of college football is what we, as coaches, are there for,” he said. “And, to me, we’re not there just to teach over a five-year period. We’re there to teach and instill some basic ideals that will benefit our players as members of society in the future.”

Perkins said that is the main reason he left the New York Giants to return to college coaching.

“Pro football is a business,” he said. “You draft players, sign them, coach them and, if you don’t win games, you get fired. You can build character, but not to the degree you can in college. You get them at their most impressionable age. If it was just X’s and O’s and winning games, I wouldn’t be in college football. That’s not why I came back to college. I had the best job in pro football, but I wanted something else.”

Perkins said that he would have returned to college coaching at some point in his career, even if the Alabama job weren’t available.

Perkins’ contract was recently extended to 1990 and if he has anything to say about it, he’ll be at Alabama for a long time.

Aloha Notes

USC Coach Ted Tollner said he is concerned about the Crimson Tide in two respects: “They have more defensive team speed in their front seven than any team we’ve met. I’d say their speed is good to great, while ours is about average to good. Also, they’ve improved offensively with the development of quarterback Mike Shula, wide receiver Albert Bell and halfback Gene Jelks. They are similar to us in many respects. On offense, they want to run the ball first and be efficient with the pass.” . . . Tollner said that he won’t know until game time whether punter Chris Sperle will be available. He has been bothered by a lingering knee injury. Sperle has improved over the course of the season and gets the ball off quickly. If he can’t play, he’ll be replaced by Troy Richardson, who lost his punting job to Sperle this season. . . . Because of the disciplinary loss of Hank Norman, USC will alternate three inexperienced wide receivers, Lonnie White, Ken Henry and Erik Affholter. “They have performed well in practice and now I’m anxious to see what they can do in a game,” Tollner said . . . Ryan Knight will start at tailback, but Aaron Emanuel is available. “His sprained ankle is better now, but he has missed two hard weeks of practice,” Tollner said. Zeph Lee will be used as a backup at both tailback and fullback, behind Kennedy Pola. . . . Tollner said that his football players have mixed football work with fun in the Hawaii sun. Tollner imposed a midnight curfew, partly because USC practiced in the morning at Aloha Stadium. Alabama practiced in the afternoon and Ray Perkins didn’t have a curfew until last Wednesday. “We had a curfew every night when we played in the Sun Bowl two years ago,” Perkins said. “But I think this is a little different situation. This year the guys can’t go too far. How wide is the island?” . . . Statistically, the teams are about on par. Offensively, Alabama has averaged 380.1 yards in total offense and 26.7 points a game. USC has averaged 352.9 yards and 20 points. Defensively, USC has yielded an average of 289.8 yards and 14.8 points while Alabama has allowed 326.6 yards and 16.2 points. . . . The NCAA rates Alabama’s schedule as the second toughest in the country. The Crimson Tide’s only losses were to No. 1-ranked Penn State and Southeastern Conference champion Tennessee.

TODAY’S ROSTERS

USC vs. ALABAMA USC 1 Jerome Tyler S

4 Steven Keith CB

5 Junior Thurman CB

6 Tim McDonald S

7 Sean Salisbury QB

8 Matt Johnson CB

9 Erik Affholter SE-PK

10 Don Shafer PK

13 Jeff Maree S

14 Aaron Brown S

15 Clark Sperle P-PK

16 Rodney Peete QB

18 Kevin McLean QB

21 Todd Steele FB

22 Elbert Watts CB

24 Aaron Emanuel TB

25 Steve Webster TB

26 Ryan Knight TB

27 Garrett Breeland OLB

28 Dexter Levy CB

29 Gary Klein S

30 Tracy Butts CB

31 Brian Cook CB

34 Zeph Lee TB

35 Rex Moore LB

36 Mike Serpa ILB

37 Kennedy Pola FB

38 Louis Brock CB

39 Leroy Holt RB

40 Bill Prindle S

42 Martin French CB

47 Jack McDade OLB

48 Andy Eddy FB

51 Ron Brown OLB

53 Delmar Chesley ILB

55 Joe Walshe DT

56 Sam Anno ILB

57 Anthony Ervin DT

58 Marcus Cotton OLB

59 Gary Willison NG

60 Keith Davis ILB

61 Don Guerrero G

62 Tom Cox C

63 Brad Leggett G

64 Bruce Parks C-G

65 Scott Brennan C

66 David Cadigan G-T

67 Jeff Benson T

68 Eri, Woodin DT

69 Mark Sager T

70 James FitzPatrick T

71 Brent Parkinson G-T

72 John Page T

73 Chuck Kunsaitis T

74 Chuck Ebertin T

75 John Denvir G

76 Tom Hallock G

78 Gaylord Kuamoo T

79 Jeff Bregel G

80 Travis Knox FL

81 Ken Henry SE

82 Lonnie White FL

84 Martin Chesley TE

85 Joe Cormier TE

86 Scott Galbraith TE

87 Al Washington FL

88 Gene Arrington FL

89 Erik McKee TE

90 Dan Owens DT

91 Matt Koart DT

93 Deryl Henderson DT

94 Cordell Sweeney OLB

95 J.P. Sullivan DT

96 Brent Moore DT

98 Brett Lane OLB

99 Troy Richardson P

Alabama 1 Albert Bell WR

3 Van Tiffin PK

5 Chris Mohr P

6 Greg Payne SE

7 Gene Newberry QB

8 Butch Worley PK

10 Vince Sutton QB

11 Mike Shula QB

12 Shon Lee SS

13 Dave Smith QB

15 Lydell Mitchell OLB

17 Greg RichardsonD SE

19 Larry Abney QB

20 Britton Cooper LCB

21 Freddie Robinson LCB

22 Fwnw Jwlka HB

23 Todd Richardson RCB

24 Mike Bobo FB

25 Carlos Robinson FB

26 Bobby Humphrey HB

27 Kermit Kendrick FS

28 David Casteal FB

30 Chester Braggs HB

31 Steve Wilson SS

34 Ricky Thomas SS

35 Kerry Goode HB

36 Chris Goode SS

37 Rory Turner FS

38 Vernon Wilkinson RCB

39 Don Horstead FB

40 Bo Wright ILB

41 Shannon Felder RCB

42 Don McClain HB

44 Craig Turner FB

45 Murray Hill HB

46 Doug Allen HB

47 Darin Whitlock C

48 Desmond Holoman ILB

50 Rob Roberts C

51 Tommy Cole NG

53 Todd Roper ILB

54 Wes Neighbors C

55 Derrick Thomas OLB

56 Greg Gilbert ILB

57 Randy Rockwell OLB

58 Wayne Davis ILB

59 George Bethune OLB

60 David Johnson T

61 Butch Lewis G

62 John McIntosh G

63 David Gilmer G

64 Mike Burkett C

65 Derrick Slaughter DT

67 George Salem G

68 Jeff Bentley G

72 Joe King T

73 Hardy Walker T

74 Larry Rose T

76 John Fruhmorgen T

77 Bill Condon G

78 John Hand DT

79 Brent Sowell DT

81 Thornton Chandler TE

82 Clay Whitehurst SE

84 Ernest Carroll TE

85 Howard Cross TE

86 Angelo Stafford TE

87 Mark Jerue LB

60 Larry Roberts DT

89 Phillip Brown OLB

90 Joe Godwin ILB

91 Craig Epps OLB

92 Darryl Whetstone DT

93 Willie Ryles DT

94 Anthony Smith NG

95 Curt Jarvis NG

96 Willie Shephard ILB

97 Cornelius Bennett OLB