Seibert Stadium: Jack Green

Published on November 7, 2017

Renamed Pete Hanna Stadium on October 14, 2023, F. Page Seibert Stadium opened in 1958 as the new home field for the Samford Bulldogs. The stadium was originally named for the Daytona Beach, Florida, businessman who donated money for its completion in 1961. Listen to Jack Green '50 read his account of the formation of the Howard College Sportsman Club that paved the way for the reinstatement of football in 1949 after the program was suspended for the duration of World War II.

Transcript

JACK GREEN: In 1948, Howard College, now Samford University, did not have
a football team. In one of the last games played, Howard College tied the
Alabama team that had played in the previous Rose Bowl. During World War II,
Howard dropped football. After the war, many of those enrolled at Howard were
former players, yet Howard did not have a team. In order to meet that desire and
need, a group of students who frequented Causey Gym wanted to do something about
having a team. And that group asked President Harwell Davis if the school
planned to field a football team. He told them it was impossible. The group,
mostly former players, decided they would attempt to put a team on the field as
a club team. They decided on a name, the Sportsmen Club, and elected Jack Greene
president, Ellis Wanninger treasurer, Gene Daughtry business manager, Malcolm
Miller, Roy Vest, and Dan McCullough offered to help to raise money. President
Davis agreed to the proposal offered to him to use the gym and the athletic
field known as Berry Field. He was assured it would not be a budget item for the
school. It was the Sportsmen Club's offices and students who would be
responsible to raise funds to build a team. The club decided to contact all of
the colleges in Alabama. They succeeded in scheduling eight games. The student
government donated one half of all student fees for that year, reserving the
balance to finance the yearbook. They made a stipulation that the money would be
for new bleachers--"I was vice president for the student body"--They made a
stipulation that the money would be for new bleachers for Berry Field. They also
requested that all students could see the games free of charge. Jack Green--it
is good to see you [high five]--and he agreed to the request of his classmates
and student officers, after the club had accepted the offer. The new bleachers
were built by the students, being completed after the season had begun. The year
was an exciting one for Howard College. A football team was being fielded. A
former assistant coach at Marion Institute, T.M. Shorty McCrary, had enrolled in
school. He volunteered to be head coach and was assisted by a Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania native and former Howard player, Joe Cuffaro. For pre-season
training, Ralph Sibley, another former player, agreed to help." He played in the
pre-war team. "The student response was tremendous from those who had played
some college and high school football. They were anxious and ready to get in shape.

Audio Information
Attribute	Value
Interviewee	Jack Green
Repository	Samford University Oral History Collection