Former Alabama, NFL coach Ray Perkins passes away

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Former Alabama and NFL head coach Ray Perkins died Wednesday morning in Tuscaloosa. He was 79.

The school announced his passing on Wednesday, and daughter Rachael Perkins posted news of his death on her Facebook page. No other details were immediately available.

“He served the University of Alabama with great class and integrity,” Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said Wednesday on the Southeastern Conference coaches teleconference. “He was a great coach and had a tremendous impact on the game, and he was a really, really good person and a really good friend.”

Perkins left a head coaching job with the NFL’s New York Giants to replace Bear Bryant following the 1982 season. He left to coach the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1987-90 and later spent one season leading the Arkansas State program before working as an assistant for several NFL teams.

He won three bowl games at Alabama and was 32-15-1 but also went 5-6 in 1984, the program’s first losing season since 1957, the year before the school hired Bryant. He also served as athletic director during that period.

Perkins was an All-American receiver at Alabama in 1966 and played professionally for the Baltimore Colts from 1967-71.

“We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Coach Perkins,” Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne said. “Just a year ago we were celebrating him as our SEC Football Legend in Atlanta, an honor he was truly deserving of.

“Coach Perkins served in every possible capacity of Alabama Athletics as an All-American football player, head coach and athletics director, and he will certainly be missed.”