TIDE
Christian Setser · Legends of the Tide

Alabama.
The real version of it.

Every Legend starts with a story worth telling. This is where those stories live: the people who wore the Crimson and went on to change their world.

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University of Alabama, Class of 2018
Former Competitive Distance Runner
TeamPrepUSA
Medical Device Sales · Intuitive Surgical
Legends of the Tide
The Creed

Not just sports.
Legends.
In every arena.

Driven. Curious. The kind of person who shines when he walks into a room without knowing he is doing it. He would never call himself a Legend of the Tide. That is exactly why he belongs here.

He met Chelsea in the second grade. Lost track of her. Found her again at a track meet their senior year of high school. That is either destiny or a very long recruiting process.

He is a Florida kid who grew up between Florida and Wisconsin and graduated from the University of Alabama. He was voted Chair of the NMDP New York Board of Ambassadors after one year of service and is organizing a fundraising run through New York City for the bone marrow registry. He is a brother, a soon to be father, a son to Chip and Diane, and a best friend to many. He wants to honor Alabama and The University of Alabama.

His first date with Chelsea was on Clearwater Beach. They accidentally ended up in a commercial for cord crunchers that day. He drives a Ford F-150. You can find him at Lake Martin or at the beach. Dog dad to Daisy. Brother to Zoë the Maltipoo. Uncle to a golden retriever named Tallahassee. Human brother to Jacob, his best friend, whom he forgives daily for going to Florida State University. He is also, it should be noted, a Green Bay Packers fan.

Christian Setser · Founder, Legends of the Tide
From the archive

The Writing

All articles
Jameis Winston BCS National Championship celebration
Cover Story
NIL · College Athletics · Sports Business
I Once Stood Next to Jameis Winston in a Grocery Store in Alabama. It Taught Me Everything About NIL.
A sports fan's honest account of what the NIL era actually looked like from the inside: the deals, the mistakes, and what nobody told the athletes who needed to hear it most.
Christian Setser 9 min read College Football · Alabama
Read the story →
Christian Setser and Trent Sanderson on the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium, University of Alabama
Elite Coaching · TeamPrepUSA · Running
The Coach in the Mountains Who Built Champions for Twenty Years
Trent Sanderson. Bryant-Denny Stadium. Crested Butte. Twenty years of Olympians and national champions and what he gave that cannot be measured.
10 min read · New
Alabama player holding Green Bay Packers hat with Nick Saban at NFL Draft
Alabama · Green Bay Packers · Sports History
Nick Saban Once Called Green Bay to Coach One of Their Own Players. He Was Right.
Bart Starr from Montgomery to Titletown. The Saban phone call. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. Josh Jacobs staring Saban down the sideline. The Alabama thread running through Green Bay history.
11 min read · New
Sports Business · College Athletics
The Agents, the Collectives, and Who Is Actually in the Athlete's Corner
Three years into the NIL era, the landscape has gotten more complicated. Here is who is working for the athlete, who is working for the institution, and how to tell the difference.
Coming soon · 8 min read
Legends of the Tide

The people who
wore the Crimson
and changed the world.

Every great institution is defined by the people who came through it and went on to build something that outlasted their time there. These are the University of Alabama's. A who's who of champions, trailblazers, authors, jurists, entrepreneurs, and icons — in their own fields and in their own right.

On the Field
Joe Namath
Class of 1965
Broadway Joe. Won the 1964 National Championship at Alabama, then guaranteed and delivered Super Bowl III with the New York Jets. Pro Football Hall of Fame. One of the most iconic athletes in American history.
Football
Bart Starr
Class of 1956
Won five NFL Championships and the first two Super Bowls leading the Green Bay Packers. Quarterback. Hall of Famer. The definition of composed under pressure.
Football
Bear Bryant
Player 1931-35
Head coach for 25 years. Six national championships. 323 wins. Widely considered the greatest college football coach in history. Bryant-Denny Stadium carries his name for a reason.
Coach
Don Hutson
Class of 1935
Revolutionized the wide receiver position. Two-time NFL champion. Pro Football Hall of Famer. Considered the first modern receiver in the history of the sport.
Football
Ozzie Newsome
Class of 1978
Tight end and Pro Football Hall of Famer. Then became the first African American general manager in NFL history, building the Baltimore Ravens into a two-time Super Bowl champion organization.
Football · Executive
Kenny Stabler
Class of 1967
The Snake. Led the Oakland Raiders to Super Bowl XI. Pro Football Hall of Famer. One of the most beloved left-handed quarterbacks to ever play the game.
Football
Derrick Henry
Class of 2016
2015 Heisman Trophy winner. One of the most physically dominant running backs in NFL history. Led the Tennessee Titans to the AFC Championship. A freight train in cleats.
Football
Julio Jones
Class of 2011
Considered one of the most gifted wide receivers in NFL history. Six Pro Bowls. 12,000 career receiving yards. A physical specimen who made impossibility look routine.
Football
Mark Ingram Jr.
Class of 2011
Alabama's first Heisman Trophy winner in 2009. Part of the dynasty that redefined college football. Went on to a productive NFL career with the Saints and Ravens.
Football
Jalen Hurts
Class of 2020
Led Alabama to back-to-back CFP National Championship appearances. Transferred to Oklahoma, then became the Super Bowl-reaching starting quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Football
Tua Tagovailoa
Class of 2020
Offensive MVP of the 2018 National Championship as a freshman. First round NFL draft pick. Starting quarterback for the Miami Dolphins. Came off the bench and changed a championship.
Football
Dwight Thomas
Class of 1988
Alabama's all-time sack leader with 52. Produced 27 sacks in a single season in 1988. Went on to 126.5 NFL sacks with the Kansas City Chiefs. Posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Football
On the Page
Harper Lee
Attended 1945-49
Wrote "To Kill a Mockingbird." Won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961. Became one of the most important novels in American literary history. Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007.
Literature
Winston Groom
Class of 1965
Author of "Forrest Gump," which became a cultural phenomenon and Academy Award-winning film. Wrote more than a dozen books across fiction and history. A distinctly Southern American voice.
Literature
Kathryn Stockett
Class of 1992
Author of "The Help," a New York Times bestseller adapted into a critically acclaimed film. Her debut novel spent more than 100 weeks on the bestseller list.
Literature
E.O. Wilson
Attended 1946-49
"The Darwin of the 21st Century." Father of sociobiology and biodiversity. Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner. Named one of Time's 25 most influential Americans. One of the great scientific minds of the modern era.
Science · Literature
In Business
Jimmy Wales
Class of 1986
Co-founded Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that became the fifth most visited website in the world and the largest reference work in human history. An Alabama graduate changed how the world learns.
Technology · Innovation
Benjamin C. Russell
Early 1900s
Invented the sweatshirt. Founded Russell Athletic. The man who created one of the most ubiquitous garments in American life was a University of Alabama man. That is an underrated legend.
Business · Manufacturing
Michael Mouron
UA Graduate
Revolutionized student housing with Capstone Development Corp, developing over $3 billion in student housing. Co-chair of UA's $1.8 billion Rising Tide capital campaign. Built a legacy inside and outside the university.
Real Estate · Development
Paul Bryant Jr.
UA Graduate
Son of Bear Bryant and President of Greene Group Inc. Built his own legacy in business while carrying one of the most storied names in the history of college athletics.
Business
In History
Hugo Black
Law Class of 1906
Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1937 to 1971. Made landmark civil rights rulings that helped end segregation in the South. Ruled in favor of Rosa Parks. One of the most consequential justices of the 20th century.
Law · Justice
Vivian Malone Jones
Class of 1965
The first Black student to graduate from the University of Alabama, in 1965. Enrolled alongside James Hood as Governor George Wallace stood in the schoolhouse door. Her courage made history. The university she integrated later named its diversity award after her.
Civil Rights · History
Mel Allen
Law Class of 1937
"The Voice of the Yankees." The most recognizable voice in baseball for three decades. Before he called the World Series, he was calling Alabama football. A Birmingham native who became the soundtrack of America's pastime.
Broadcasting · Sports Media
Jim Nabors
Attended UA
Gomer Pyle. An Emmy-nominated actor and singer who won over America with wide-eyed country humor and an extraordinary baritone voice. He sang "Back Home Again in Indiana" at the Indianapolis 500 for 35 consecutive years.
Entertainment
Sela Ward
Class of 1977
Emmy Award winner and Golden Globe winner. One of the most acclaimed dramatic actresses of her generation. Honed her craft at Alabama before becoming one of television's most respected leading women.
Entertainment
Bill Battle
UA Graduate
Founded the Collegiate Licensing Company, which became the largest collegiate trademark licensing company in the country. Literally built the business model for how universities protect and profit from their brands.
Business · Sports Licensing
"The University of Alabama has produced people who changed the way the world watches sports, reads books, learns information, and pursues justice. That is not a collection of alumni. That is a legacy."
Christian Setser · Legends of the Tide
The voice

A fan who was paying attention when it mattered.

"The athletes who get this right aren't lucky. They're prepared. And that's been true of every competition worth having, long before anyone called it NIL."

Legends of the Tide is not a sports blog. It is honest writing about what competition, business, and college athletics actually look like from close range. From someone who trained under a coach that produced Olympians, spent four years inside the Alabama athletics culture, and has spent his career since learning how performance and preparation work in a completely different arena.

The name is Alabama. The conversation is larger than Alabama. It is about what it means to compete, to build something, and to be genuinely prepared when the moment arrives.

What gets covered
01
NIL and the Business of College Athletics
Contracts, collectives, representation, and what a genuinely fair deal actually looks like.
02
Elite Training and the People Who Build Champions
Coaches, programs, and the preparation that happens long before anyone is watching.
03
Alabama Football and What It Actually Feels Like
Not the television version. The stadium version. The one that stays with you.
04
Legends of the Tide: Who They Were and What They Built
The Alabama men and women who went on to change their fields. Celebrated here.
05
Performance, Preparation, and What They Share
What competitive athletics teaches about career, business, and building something that lasts.
Sections
The Field Sports
The Boardroom Business
The Page Culture
The Lab Science
The State Alabama Life
Legacy History
The Interview Conversations
1831 Origins
Origins · 1831

The Year It All
Began.

April 18, 1831. The University of Alabama opened its doors for the first time in Tuscaloosa. It was the first public university in the state. What it became over the next 196 years was something no one in that first class could have imagined.

1831
The Society That Bears the Year
There is a society at the University of Alabama named for the year the university first opened its doors. Its members are the students who understand that Alabama is not just a place you attend. It is a standard you carry. They serve as ambassadors for the institution, not because they were asked to, but because they believe in what the university represents and what it produces. The number 1831 is not just a founding date. It is a creed. A reminder that the best things at Alabama have always been built slowly, deliberately, and with the full weight of intention behind them.
University of Alabama · Founded April 18, 1831
1831
Year Founded
196
Years of Excellence
38,000+
Students Enrolled
500K+
Living Alumni
The First Interview

Who should Christian
sit down with first?

Legends of the Tide is building toward its first major interview. Every name on this list has a connection to the University of Alabama or to the story of what Alabama produces. One conversation will open the series. You decide which one.

Voting closes
April 18, 2027
The day the University of Alabama first opened its doors. April 18, 1831.
000
Days
00
Hours
00
Minutes
01
Nick Saban
Six national championships. The most dominant coach in college football history. What he built at Alabama is the standard every program in the country measures itself against.
0%
02
Ozzie Newsome
Alabama legend. Hall of Fame tight end. The first African American general manager in NFL history. Built the Baltimore Ravens into a two-time Super Bowl champion organization.
0%
03
Derrick Henry
2015 Heisman Trophy. One of the most physically dominant running backs in NFL history. A freight train who ran over entire defenses and carried the Alabama standard into the pros.
0%
04
Jalen Hurts
Came off the bench in the national championship game as a freshman and won it. Led the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl. The most compelling story of resilience in recent college football.
0%
05
Jimmy Wales
University of Alabama Class of 1986. Co-founder of Wikipedia. An Alabama graduate changed how the entire world learns and accesses information. That is a legend by any definition.
0%
+
Write In Your Choice
Someone connected to the University of Alabama or the story of what Alabama produces.
0%
Cast your vote above. Results update in real time.
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The University of Alabama

Has always been
more than football.

Six fields. Hundreds of legends. One university that keeps producing people who change the world in arenas most people never see on a Saturday afternoon.

Art
The Alabama Artists Who Told America Its Own Story
Harper Lee. Winston Groom. Kathryn Stockett. The writers who came through Tuscaloosa did not just win prizes. They changed how America sees itself.
Explore Art
Science
From Field Notebooks to the Stars Above Huntsville
E.O. Wilson redefined how we understand life on Earth. Huntsville sent humans to the moon. Alabama has been a scientific state for a century.
Explore Science
Business
The Founders Who Built Empires From Alabama
An Alabama graduate co-founded Wikipedia. Another built Zoe's Kitchen to 260 locations. Another invented the sweatshirt. The Crimson Tide plays a very long game.
Explore Business
Technology
The Rocket City and the Digital Revolution
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. More PhDs per capita than almost anywhere in America. Huntsville is one of the most important technology corridors in the country.
Explore Technology
Culture
Muscle Shoals, Mardi Gras, and the Sound of the South
The Muscle Shoals studios recorded some of the greatest American music ever made. Mobile has the oldest Mardi Gras tradition in the country. Alabama's culture runs deeper than most people know.
Explore Culture
Food
A State With a Culinary Story Worth Telling
Zoe's Kitchen started in Birmingham. Chicken Salad Chick was born in Auburn. Alabama food is honest, generous, and built to last. Just like everything else this state produces.
Explore Food
The Great State

Alabama is more than
a football team.
It always has been.

The state that produced Harper Lee and Hank Aaron, that sent men to the moon from Huntsville and launched the civil rights movement from Birmingham and Montgomery, that has some of the most beautiful water in America and a coast that rivals anywhere in the Gulf. This is a love letter to all of it.

Lake Martin
44,000 acres of pure Alabama. The most beautiful man-made lake in the Southeast. Fishing, boating, waterfront dining, and a sunset that makes you understand why people never leave.
Explore Lake Martin
Gulf Shores & Orange Beach
White sand. Emerald water. The Hangout Music Festival. The World's Longest Yard Sale. Seafood that would make a New Englander humble. The Alabama coast is the South's best-kept secret.
Visit the Coast
Huntsville: The Rocket City
More PhDs per capita than almost anywhere in America. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. The U.S. Space and Rocket Center. A city that literally put humans on the moon.
Visit Huntsville
Tuscaloosa & The Amphitheater
Home of the Crimson Tide. The Tuscaloosa Amphitheater sits on the Black Warrior River and hosts world-class concerts and events. The city that is Alabama's soul on Saturday afternoons is a real city every day of the week.
Visit Tuscaloosa
Birmingham
The magic city. The Birmingham Civil Rights District. The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum and Museum of Art. A food scene that regularly earns national recognition.
Visit Birmingham
Mobile & Mardi Gras
America's oldest continuously occupied European-founded settlement. Mardi Gras in Mobile predates New Orleans by years. The USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park.
Visit Mobile
Legends of the Tide participates in affiliate partnerships with select Alabama tourism partners, Fanatics, Amazon Associates, and StubHub. When you click and purchase through our links, a portion supports this publication at no additional cost to you.
The Founding 100

Founding
Members.

The first 100 readers, businesses, and individuals to support Legends of the Tide will be recognized permanently as Founding Members. After 100, founding status closes. Forever.

$250
Founding Member
One-time · Forever recognized
01
Permanent placement in the Founding 100. Numbered 001 through 100, in the order you join.
02
The inaugural print edition. Mailed when produced. Before anyone else.
03
The Legends Run. Free entry to the annual NMDP fundraising 5K in New York City. Founding Members medal.
04
The Inaugural Gala. Reserved seat at the annual Tuscaloosa celebration honoring that year\'s Legend selection.
05
Early access to every interview drop. Plus a signed thank-you note from Christian.
Claim Your Founding Spot · $250
96 Founding Member spots remaining
The Founding 100
Four founding seats are already reserved as Charter Members. Spots 005 through 100 remain open. Names appear in the order they join.
001 · Charter Founding Member
002 · Charter Founding Member
003 · Charter Founding Member
004 · Charter Founding Member
005 · Open
006 · Open
007 · Open
008 · Open
009 through 100 · Open
🏃
The Legends Run
Annual NMDP 5K · New York City · Inaugural 2027
🍾
The Inaugural Gala
Annual Tuscaloosa Celebration · Honoring the Year\'s Legend
Philanthropy

Causes We Stand Behind

Legends of the Tide believes that the measure of a publication is not just what it celebrates but what it cares enough to support. These are the causes we stand behind without reservation.

AAMDS Foundation
Aplastic Anemia and MDS International Foundation. Fighting rare bone marrow failure diseases and blood cancers. Every dollar funds research, patient support, and the search for cures.
Support AAMDS
NMDP · Be The Match
The National Marrow Donor Program. Matching patients with bone marrow donors since 1987. Registering as a donor costs nothing and can save everything. One swab. One life.
Register as a Donor
Alabama Animals
Alabama Humane Society. Sheltering, rescuing, and rehoming animals across the state. Every rescue is a second chance. Every adoption is a life changed on both sides of the leash.
Support Alabama Animals
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