Warren always a leader

By By Todd Thompson, Hartselle Enquirer
By Earl Warren’s football career at the University of Alabama lasted just one game. One spring game to be exact.
Warren abruptly left the Crimson Tide football team after the squad’s annual A-Day game.
But that wasn’t the end of Warren’s career on the football field.
The World War II veteran quickly accepted a scholarship at Tennessee Tech and made an instant impact on the Golden Eagles’ program.
The decision to leave Alabama wasn’t a tough one. He didn’t really like the coaching style of several Alabama coaches and he knew that the chances of getting any significant playing time in Tuscaloosa would be a long shot.
Alabama was coming off a win in the Rose Bowl and had most of its starting lineup returning.
Now 84, Warren can look back and smile on a decision that has paid off tenfold.
Warren was inducted into the Morgan County Sports Hall of Fame last weekend after spending most of his life around sports.
Injuries limited his final two seasons at Tennessee Tech, but did get to play in the Golden Eagles’ Tangerine Bowl appearance.
After graduating, he had coaching stops at Lincoln County, Tenn.; Madison County; Fyffe; and Valley Head before retiring to Hartselle where he continues to be an asset to the Housing Authority.
After leaving Tech, he started coaching, including many years as a youth coach in Hartselle.
Warren served in World War II as a Ranger and was part of the Normandy invasion where many of his fellow servicemen were killed.
But when he returned to Alabama, he left an indelible mark on the landscape of the state’s sports.
Sports editor Todd Thompson can be reached at 773-6566 or at todd.thompson@hartselleenquirer.com