With 21 varsity sports teams at Alabama, plenty of traditions have worked their way into the school’s culture. From football to softball, here are the top five traditions of Alabama athletics.
Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em
Each fall, Alabama football plays Tennessee, the game has historically been played on the third Saturday in October, and is rich in traditions, as Tennessee is one of Alabama’s longest-standing rivals.
The first game between the two was played in 1901, and Alabama is currently 61-39 against the Vols with an 8-2 record in the past 10 years.
An Alabama win against Tennessee means one thing: smoke ‘em if you got ‘em. The tradition of smoking cigars after a win over the Vols started in 1958, after head coach Paul Bryant had trainer Jim Goosetree pack cigars and hand them out, according to Alabama’s Paul W. Bryant Museum. Bryant had a long history of smoking victory cigars after wins.
Now, despite smoking being banned on campus, you can see smoke fill Bryant-Denny as the game comes to a close.
Elephant Stomp and Walk of Champions
The Elephant Stomp is a pre-game and end-of-tailgating performance put on by Alabama’s Million Dollar Band. The band gathers on the steps of Gorgas and performs iconic stand tunes such as “Yea Alabama.”
After the Elephant Stomp, the Walk of Champions occurs outside the entrance to Bryant-Denny Stadium. This is where fans gather to see football players and coaches walk into the stadium before the game.
Cheerleaders line the walkway as the players come through, and usually, the team walks into the stadium to the tune of Thunderstruck by AC/DC.
Camp Coleman and hard hats
Camping out for men’s basketball games has steadily become an Alabama tradition ahead of bigger games, such as the 2024 Alabama versus Tennessee game, and both the 2025 and 2026 Alabama-Auburn games.
Students will set up tents outside the entrance of Coleman Colesium, sometimes even up to two days before the game. This setup has been dubbed Camp Coleman.
While walking through Camp Coleman, you’ll notice most students will all have one thing on them: a hard hat.
This is a tradition head coach Nate Oats brought to the program when he joined in 2019. After each game, Oats awards a player with the hard hat award. This honor is given to the player who embodies Alabama’s “blue-collar basketball mentality” the most. Now, students have taken up wearing hard hats to each game.
Softball’s goodbye chant
Alabama softball has continuously packed out Rhoads year after year with some of the highest fan attendance across SEC softball. If you’re at a game in Rhoads, you can expect it to be high energy with fan-led chants across the game.
“They kind of will us to win sometimes,” head coach Patrick Murphy said of fans after the team’s win over South Alabama. “One of the coolest things I’ve heard from a fan in a long time is: ‘It’s like a bounce back thing. We give it to you, and you give it right back to us.’”
After each game, win or lose, at Rhoads Stadium, Alabama softball takes the time to say goodbye to fans and family, leading a roll tide chant.
Coming off the field or out of the dugout, Alabama will line up in front of the fans and begin their chant, calling out “Alabama,” in which fans reply with “Alabama,” this is repeated until the end of the chant, when the team ends it with “roll tide roll” in a drug out fashion. Along with the chant come hand motions.
