LSU, Alabama enjoyed numerous connections to Super Bowl XLIII

By David Moorman  |   Wednesday, February 04, 2009  |  Comments( 1 )

College Football
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Not that they need any more recruiting help, but LSU and Alabama got it nonetheless with the fact that they were well represented in Super Bowl XLIII.

Eight people with ties to the LSU program had connections to the game. Not to be outdone, Alabama counted nine former players and coaches as having taken part.

Ryan Clark didn’t participate on either of LSU’s two BCS national championship teams, but he tasted the ultimate NFL victory as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting safety.

As a freshman, running back Justin Vincent was voted MVP in the Tigers’ 21-14 victory over Oklahoma for the 2003 BCS title. Vincent did no such thing for the Steelers, but that he’s even on their practice squad is a surprise when you consider how his LSU career waned after his first-year success.

Wide receiver Early Doucet and linebacker Ali Highsmith both played on LSU’s 2007 BCS national championship team and now ply their trade for the Arizona Cardinals, who lost to the Steelers, 27-23. Doucet is a backup, while Highsmith was on injured reserved.

Former LSU coaches who participated in the Super Bowl for Pittsburgh were assistant head coach/defensive line coach John Mitchell and offensive line coach Larry Zierlein. Mitchell worked at LSU from 1987-90, while Zierlein was there from 1993-94. It turned out to be quite an achievement for both of them considering that LSU suffered through a school-record six consecutive losing seasons from 1989-94.

Freddie Kitchens, an LSU graduate assistant in 2000, is now Arizona’s tight ends coach. Kitchens was Alabama’s starting quarterback from 1995-97.

Mitchell was Alabama’s first African-American player in 1971. Mitchell began his NFL coaching career in 1991 on the same Cleveland Browns staff as current Alabama head coach Nick Saban. Mitchell will be inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame this summer.

As if all that weren’t enough, LSU 1981 graduate Terry McAulay worked the Super Bowl as a game official.

Besides Mitchell and Kitchens, another former Alabama player coached in the Super Bowl. Arizona tight ends coach Jeff Rutledge was the Crimson Tide’s starting quarterback from 1977-78 and led it to the national championship his last year.

Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians once coached at Alabama, as did Pittsburgh special teams coach Amos Jones, who both played and coached for the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant.

Three former Alabama cornerbacks played for Pittsburgh in Deshea Townsend, Anthony Madison and Fernando Bryant. Fullback Tim Castille was the lone former Alabama player on Arizona’s roster.




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About David Moorman

Dave Moormann is an award-winning journalist, who has covered LSU athletics since 1980. He began his coverage with the Baton Rouge Advocate, where he was a writer and editor from 1980-98. In 1996, he authored a book on the history of LSU football entitled, "Fighting Tigers Handbook: Stories, Stats ...
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