Roger M. Chapman is a graduate of Morgan County High School in North Alabama. He played football at the University of Alabama where he was a “kick-off and field goal specialist”. He received his degree in Geology from the University and has worked in that field since graduation. He and his wife, Amy have made their home and raised their children, Tyler and Caroline in Brewton, Alabama.  Tyler recently completed graduate work at Alabama and Caroline is a sophomore there this year.

Roger is a respected member of his community, a leader in civic and church organizations and University of Alabama alumni and Athletic Department activities. In the midst of his numerous successes and accomplishments, he remains devoted to his faith, family, friends and…Alabama football.
He is a dear and life-long friend of mine and I appreciate all he and his family have meant to me and mine through the years.

Charlsa: I don’t believe that I have ever witnessed so much activity in the NCAA arena, particularly since the end of last season. Specifically, I’m speaking of the violations, coaching and staff turnover, sanctions, the talk of investigations, and threats and rumors being reported by the media for various programs. I am interested in your take on that and how you might compare it to
your awareness of such things when you were a college athlete.

Roger:  Today, we have instant communication that didn’t exist back them. When I was in college in the mid to late 70’s, nobody had cell phone. You had the daily newspapers and TV news. But today, everybody’s carrying a communication device. Any casual comment can immediately hit the airwaves; whether it be a tweet, an email, or on FaceBook. Then of course, we have sports-talk shows and entire networks dedicated to sports information. A high percentage of the sensational talk is just pure cannon fodder and has often not been verified.

When I played, the NCAA’s business didn’t seem to receive as much attention. I believe the increased attention given to the “big time” programs today is the
reason for the change. Competition is so key today. More colleges are competing to recruit top athletes. A  top “5” ranked recruit might be considering  LSU,
Alabama, Georgia, Florida, USC, Michigan, South Carolina, for example. Today’s communication is almost instantaneous. The NCAA has to do a great deal more to “stay on top of every institution.

Charlsa: What years did you play in the program there at Alabama?

Roger:  I was a freshman in 1974 and graduated in August of ’79. The easiest way to date my time there is that I was on the team that played Ohio State and Woody Hayes in the Super Dome in New Orleans and we won 35 to 6, and the following year, the famous “Goal Line Stand”, when we beat Penn State in the Sugar Bowl for the National Championship.

Charlsa: That is a great way to “date” your time there. Those are certainly memorable games in Alabama Football history!

Charlsa: The NCAA does at least “give the appearance” of having a lot more control over college athletic programs. Are there more rules and regulations today?

Roger:  I think the NCAA’s hand in things is kind of like a big pendulum. Perhaps at times they swing too far to one side and then back too far to the other side. But along with your big time programs – I’m talking about national contenders every year- you also have so many other college teams playing the game as well.  There’s so much money involved in the ball games and the TV contracts.  The smaller colleges can’t compete financially with your big time programs, so the NCAA rules are aimed at “leveling the playing field” and making the competition equal.

Charlsa: I see.

Roger: One swing of the pendulum came with the elimination of what we called, “athletic dorms” because they were thought to be an unfair advantage to the schools that didn’t have athletic dorms. In an effort to even the playing field, the rule, I think, stipulates at least 51% non-athletes must reside in the dorm. It’s interesting to see how universities have implemented this rule. Where a college used to have an athletic dining hall, they now provide a common dining hall where all students can eat. The food costs may be expensive for students, but all students and even faculty and such can eat at the dorms with the athletes if they want to.

Roger: Compliance with so many rules can be tough, but I know that all schools do the best they can to keep their athletes and programs on target. I do think at times though, we may go too far in trying to create a level playing field. It may not ever exist.

Charlsa: Were you schooled on rules by coaches or the compliance officers there at the University?

Roger:  In the fall of every year we had meetings aimed at informing players of expectations.   Back in the seventies, it wasn’t such a big, big business – it was just “football”. It was fun. Much of it involved the use common of sense.

Charlsa: Novel idea.

Roger: For example, as a player you’re a non professional. If a guy says, “Here’s $500 for making that kick”.  You say to yourself, “that’s not right, I
can’t do that”.

Charlsa:  Yeah. You kind of know that, don’t you?

Roger:  You should run. Right?

Charlsa:  Right.

Charlsa:  Poorly thought out comments coupled with instantaneous communication can do more than cause trouble. Ill-timed and thoughtless remarks can also bring a student athlete’s NFL stock down. There is not a lot of room for error when you open your mouth these days as a player, so they must take great care with what is said.

Roger: Right.  And then there’s the broad definition of “booster”.  Are they fans? The NC2A says  boosters don’t have to be alumni but can be almost anyone these days.

Roger:  Many of the problems arise with traditionally winning football programs; whether it be an LSU, Alabama, Georgia, Michigan or Oklahoma, when fans kind of forget what the “rules” are and just want so badly to be part of and to be associated with that program. I think a lot of the violations come from people that just are so caught up in the moment, and so caught up in winning, that they just want to do something for a player.

Charlsa:  I got you.

Roger:  I can only speak for Alabama…, I know the University goes as far as they can to protect their players from that kind of situation and to educate the players. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about: Let’s say I have a hunting cabin and I’d like to take friends hunting with me. Some of them are players and some are not. How do you police these kinds of situations?  As a fan or booster, you have to use common sense. In this case, it could be wrong to take a friend hunting and buy him things because it could be seen as an “athlete receiving improper benefits from a booster”.  Many have done these kinds of things with no intent to do harm or break a rule.

Charlsa:  I see your point. Today we hear of numerous players that aren’t making it academically, failing classes, etc. In the mid and late seventies, what kinds of resources were available to help you with your studies?

Roger:  It was certainly available. We had study hall and mandatory study hall. You are a student athlete first and foremost and if you can’t pass, you can’t play. Resources were there for the asking- but it was your responsibility.  I can remember going to study hall as a freshman and getting help. Academic help is readily available at Alabama. The dorm that was once Bryant Hall is now an academic center devoted to assisting students and helping them succeed. It is completely staffed with people that make sure athletes are prepared and are getting their time in. Their check-in to study hall is monitored, I think. Equipment
is computer based and information is up to date. The athletes do feel pressure, but they need to realize that without the grades you could go from a D1 player to a D2 player real fast.

Charlsa: Since you played as a kicker, would you talk a little bit about changes that you see in special teams play?

Roger: Well I think the biggest change overall between now and the seventies or even eighties, is the speed of the game. The speed of the football game today is phenomenal. When I played, if you weighed 215 or 220, you were pretty big. Now you got people at 250 or260 that can run like a deer. This is really a huge change and special teams are a part of it. Bigger and faster players are needed to respond to the skilled people that catch and return the ball so phenomenally fast.

Roger: You’ve still got to do what we did; stay in your lanes and make the play come to you. If you go chasing somebody that’s got 4.1 or 4.2 speed, you’ll end up running a big circle! They could be a world class sprinter, like Willie Gault.  I kicked off to him once in a Tennessee game. I thought I had a pretty good angle on him so I took off, but by the time I got to him, I was way behind him and he went down sideline to the end zone, untouched.

Today there are Willie Gault-types in every game. As a kicker, you have to know who to kick to and where to kick. Special teams practice schemes designed to take away the kicking team’s options for running a reverse or a big return. Special teams play a big part because they can change the momentum of the game. A hundred thousand fans are screaming because somebody breaks an 80 yard kick-off return. As a player, it can be difficult to regain composure after that.

Charlsa: It’s interesting to me that I don’t often hear much about outstanding kickers, or punters. In a recent magazine article, I noted that the “top” punters seem to average 45-46 yards a punt.

Roger: Well, in recent times we’ve seen the point of the kick off change somewhat. We kicked from the 40 yd line, and I used to get a few in the end zone, 4 or 5 yards deep and there would be no return. Today they kick from the 30 I think. Kickers had gotten good enough to put it out of the end zone, but with kick-offs from the 30 now, the kicks only occasionally go into the end zone.

With punting, what you want is “hang time”- as much hang time in the air as possible – this allows your coverage set up downfield.  If you kick a 55 yard punt with very little hang time, you’ve out kicked your coverage and “here they come”, with a great return. So you want a hang time and a punt that goes 40-something yards. Then you have time to set your coverage and stop the return.

Charlsa: I’d love to hear some stories about your personal experience, if you don’t mind.

Roger:  One particular year, Auburn had 3 All-American running backs on kick-off return.  Cribbs, Brooks and Andrews.  On any given kick-off, they had those three guys deep: one back deep and one on either side.  There was a “standing rule” that if there was a TV time out while a kicker was on the field, he was supposed to come off and talk to Coach Bryant, to put you at ease- like that would be possible! Maybe you might tell a joke to relax while the commercial ran on the TV. Once when we were playing at Legion Field, I saw the 3 All-Americans – Joe Cribbs, Brooks and Andrews deep. I remember asking Coach Bryant, “who should I kick it to?” -thinking that he might offer some advice. He said, “Can you kick it over their heads?” “Yes sir,” he said, “that’s what I want you to do. Don’t kick it to any of them.”  So, I put my mouthpiece in went back in.  I’d like to say I kicked it over their heads, but I really don’t remember. Those were my instructions.

Charlsa: ‘Makes perfect sense.

Roger: Perhaps, “Coach Bryant” had a few other words in there that flavored the language up a little, but I got the point!

Charlsa: I like that story.

Roger: On another occasion, we were playing Georgia at Bryant Denny, and beat them by 9 points. I kicked 3 field goals. Following a field goal, I had a really nice kick off; a little wind at our backs, kicking to the north end zone and the ball just jumped off the tip of my foot -it was just beautiful, floating end over end, deep into the end zone.  I was half-way jogging down the field, because I knew there wouldn’t be a return. All of a sudden, I don’t know
from where… this Georgia player just put his helmet right in my ear hole. The hit knocked me completely to the ground and I got up kind of unsteady and
continued heading toward the sideline. Then, he popped me and knocked me down again.  I said, “hey man you’re not going
to return the ball, lighten up”. But by the time I said that, he got me for the third time. When I finally got to the sideline (where I knew he couldn’t hit me
again), I said, “ I’ve got some kind of record here- knocked down on three times on one kick off”.  To the observer, it must have looked awful; it felt awful
and it looked even worse on the film Sunday afternoon! I learned my lesson though. My son played in high school and my advice to him was, “until the
whistle blows, you’d better pay attention son, you might get hit from the blind side”.

.

Charlsa: Sound advice.

Roger:  It’s good to reminisce a little bit.

Charlsa:  Yeah it is. I’m sure that you enjoy doing that with your friends that were former players.

Roger:   Well, we had an alumni meeting last week and Coach Mal Moore, the AD at Alabama was the guest speaker. I was privileged to introduce him. He has done a great job of keeping the whole family together. We’ve been through some tough times at Alabama, but he has done an outstanding job of keeping everybody together – former players, alumni, administration and the entire program. I’ve heard him speak several times and he always does a great job.  One just can’t just say enough about what a class guy he is and the amazing process that he has set in motion at the University.

We hear Coach Saban talk a lot about “The Process” and working until you are executing without mistake. Of course, these are 18 year olds playing the game
and they are going to make mistakes. Coach Bryant always said that if you make a mistake, make it full speed.  I have no doubt that Coach Saban is absolutely the best coach we can have at the University.

Charlsa:  I think most folks would agree with you! On your previous topic of Coach Moore, it must have been a great honor to introduce him. He’s just a good man and that shows in his demeanor and the way he presents himself and the program. I realize that college football is probably not a normal thing for a woman of my age to be enamored with, but it has had a great effect on me. I think a lot of it comes from growing up with boys like you, watching you all play in high school and then going off to school
together.  I had such pride and admiration for all you guys as you played and then as you went on to play at the college level.  That’s just something that I wouldn’t take anything for.

I am interested in the impact you feel your playing time has had on you as an adult and, as a parent of children who followed in your footsteps to the University of Alabama.  Can you comment on this influence on you as a husband, a man and a father??

Roger:  Well, regardless of whether you played college football or not, the thing of pride is that you are attending THE University of Alabama – the flagship university in the state. Of course, I have good friends who went to Auburn too and they feel the same way about Auburn. It was a great opportunity to be involved with the athletic program back in Coach Bryant’s days there.  It is rare that a day passes by without somebody saying, “Hey, this is Roger Chapman, he played at Alabama under Coach Bryant.”

Charlsa: Wow!

Roger:  As a high school player, I was like so many with the dream of going on to play college ball. I was fortunate enough to be at the right place at the right time and have an opportunity. I don’t think you can put a price tag on that. I learned a lot of valuable lessons.

When our children were young, we tried to teach them that in “life” as with football, you’ve got to tow the line, be prepared, have a plan and execute it.  And you have to learn how to deal with competition.  I do think that my time at Alabama probably helped open doors for me in many ways. As you said Charlsa, there are alumni and fans all over the world that recognize the University of Alabama and what it means – its tradition, its winning and its legacy.

I can’t say enough about the excellent work of our president, Dr. Witt. We have 35,000 students, 127 national merit scholars on campus this year. A very
prominent high school near Dallas recently sent 30 students from their senior class to the University of Alabama. We have the ability to draw outstanding academic students as well as outstanding athletics. Of course, Dr. Witt uses this in recruiting, and attracting these top students. I really couldn’t be prouder of
the University right now.

Charlsa: Of course, I DO realize that academics and the value of a degree is much more important than football. But we sure do love it!

Roger:  And you know one thing Dr. Witt has made clear, is that we are a state university at the University of Alabama. We’re here for our in-state children and the children of our alumni. While we do go out and recruit top students nationally, we also have a place for the students that don’t have the top grades. They will come and work hard to prove themselves and the university always has a spot for them.

Charlsa:  That’s a nice thing to know. We have a friend whose child wanted more than anything to go to Alabama but didn’t do very well in his senior year. The parents told him he would have to attend junior college and prove himself before they would allow him to attend Alabama. This young man wanted it so badly. He did attend a two year school, got his grades up, worked hard and he is at the University now.  He is so proud to be there because he worked for it and achieved his dream. He will not graduate with a cum laude degree of any sort – he is just happy to be there.

Roger:  Oh that’s great!

You Know that we are lucky to have that beautiful campus today, after the close call with the April 27 tornado. Tuscaloosa will not recover anytime soon, but
thank goodness the university campus was spared.

Charlsa: Amazingly so.

Roger:  I’m just proud to be an alumnus, like I know you are too.

Charlsa:  I am and I’m proud of you. I always am. Thank you so much for taking time to talk with me and to share this on Southern Girls College Football Guide.

Roger:   Well I hope it was helpful-you call any time. And if you have questions, I’ll do my best to answer them.  Roll Tide,
tell  Sela hello for me.

Charlsa:  I sure will…