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This day in sports history

BY COLIN “BIG C” MACGUIRE

The Greenville Standard

 

Today I will write about Alabama’s College Football Hall of Fame player Vaughn Mancha.

He played at Ramsay High School in Birmingham and then played at Alabama from 1944-1947.

Alabama’s record was 30-9-2 with Mancha on the team. The 1945 team finished at 10-0 and No. 2 in the nation.

Alabama won the SEC that year and played in the Rose Bowl. Alabama beat Southern Cal 34-14.

Mancha was a consensus All-American center that season. He played in the 1944 Sugar Bowl where Alabama lost to Duke 29-26 and the 1948 Sugar Bowl where they lost to Texas 27-7.

He was named to 1940’s Sugar Bowl Team and was nicknamed “Cisco”.

In 1948 he was a round one pick number rive by the NFL Draft Boston Yanks.

Mancha was the head coach at Livingston from 1948-1951 and their record was 18-10-2.

He then became an assistant at Florida State for five seasons.

Mancha signed two running backs Lee Corso (ESPN), and Burt Reynolds (actor).

He then became an assistant at Columbia University. From 1959-71, he was the athletic director at Florida State.

He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1990.

He is a member of Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, Florida State Hall of Fame, Tallahassee Sports Hall of Fame, and All-Century Team for Alabama.

Coach Mancha passed away on Jan. 27, 2011 in Tallahassee, Fla..

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