Hank Crisp Henry Gorham " Hank " Crisp ( December 10 , 1896 – January 23 , 1970 ) was an American football , basketball , baseball and track coach and college athletics administrator . In spite of an accident when he was 13 years old that resulted in the loss of his right hand , Crisp went on to both Hampden – Sydney College and VPI where he lettered in football , basketball and track . After his collegiate career was completed , Crisp began his long coaching career at the University of Alabama . There he served as the head basketball coach ( 1924 – 1942 , 1945 – 1946 ) , baseball coach ( 1928 ) , track coach ( 1921 – 1927 ) , as a line coach with the football team ( 1921 – 1941 , 1945 , 1950 – 1957 ) and as athletic director ( 1930 – 1940 , 1954 – 1957 ) . Crisp also served as an assistant and interim head coach with the Miami Seahawks ( 1946 ) and as a line coach at Tulane ( 1947 – 1949 ) . Early life . Henry " Hank " Gorham Crisp was born on December 10 , 1896 , at Crisp , North Carolina . At the age of five , Crisp moved with his family to Falkland , North Carolina where his father operated a retail store . At the age of 13 , he lost his right hand as a result of an accident that occurred as he helped his father fill a silo . After he graduated from Blackstone Military Academy in 1914 , Crisp enrolled at Hampden – Sydney College where he played under Charles A . Bernier on the Tigers ' football team . After his first game against VMI , one of the Keydets ' coaches , impressed by Crisp ' s performance , told coach Bernier , " Why don ' t you cut one hand off all your players ? " After two years at Hampden – Sydney , Crisp transferred to VPI ( now Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University or Virginia Tech ) after the 1916 season and followed coach Bernier who took the position as the Gobblers head coach . While at VPI , Crisp lettered four years in football , three in basketball , one in track and also played as a pitcher on the baseball team . As a member of the Gobblers football team , he was selected as the team captain for the . In recognition of his accomplishments as an athlete at VPI , in 1987 Crisp was inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame . Coaching career . Football . Alabama . Crisp was hired by his former head coach Charles A . Bernier , who had resigned from VPI to become the head basketball coach and athletic director at Alabama , in February 1921 . His first position on the Crimson Tide football staff was as line coach under Xen C . Scott for the 1921 team . The next season , he was the head coach of the freshman team , and in 1923 he was retained by new head coach Wallace Wade as the line coach once again through the end of his tenure at Alabama in 1930 . During the Wade era , Crisp was an assistant coach for the 1925 , 1926 and 1930 squads that each captured a share of the national championship . After Wade ' s resignation , Crisp was again retained on the football staff . Working under Frank Thomas , Crisp continued in his role of line coach , and again won a share of the national championship after the 1934 season . Under Thomas , Crisp ' s role outside of his duties as the line coach was that of the team disciplinarian to compliment the soft - spoken , diplomatic style of Thomas . He continued in his role as line coach through the end of the 1941 season when he took a leave of absence to serve as a civilian physical training instructor for the U . S . Navy pre - flight school at the University of Georgia . He then returned to Alabama and again served as line coach for the 1945 season , before he left to take an assistant coaching position with the Miami Seahawks . Miami Seahawks . On June 29 , 1946 , the owner of the All - America Football Conference ' s ( AAFC ) Miami Seahawks Harvey Hester announced Crisp had been hired as the last member of the inaugural Seahawks staff . Hired as the line coach , Crisp served under head coach Jack Meagher and alongside assistants Hamp Pool and Ralph Jordan . After the squad opened the season with only one win and six losses ( 1 – 6 ) Meagher resigned as head coach of the Seahawks on October 22 . At the time of his resignation , Harvey Hester announced both Crisp and Pool were to serve as co - head coaches for the remainder of the season . Tulane . On February 22 , 1947 , Crisp was hired to serve as line coach at Tulane under head coach Henry Frnka . At the time of the announcement , Crisp indicated he would maintain his permanent residence and family service station in Tuscaloosa and report to New Orleans for spring practices and the regular season in the fall . He remained at Tulane through the end of the 1949 season , and on December 27 , 1949 , officially returned to Alabama as line coach . Return to Alabama . On December 27 , 1949 , University officials announced the return of Crisp to the Alabama coaching staff for the 1950 season under head coach Harold Drew . In 1953 , the Alabama Alumni Association recognized Crisp ' s 25 years of service with a halftime ceremony in their October game against . At that ceremony , he was presented with an automobile and government bonds from the Association and was able to reflect on his career with the 18 , 000 fans in attendance that day . Crisp was again retained as line coach after the resignation of Drew and the hiring of Jennings B . Whitworth in December 1954 . As a result of only winning four games during Whitworth ' s three - year tenure , Crisp resigned his position and retired as a coach after Bear Bryant was hired as the new Alabama head coach . At the request of Bryant , Crisp stayed on staff and oversaw recruiting as Bryant did not officially take over as head coach until after Texas A & M ' s loss in the Gator Bowl . Basketball . Crisp served as the Alabama men ' s basketball coach from 1924 through 1942 and again from 1945 to 1946 . During his tenure , Crisp compiled an overall record of 264 wins and 133 losses ( 264 – 133 ) , and won the SoCon Championship in 1930 , the SEC Tournament Championship in 1934 and the SEC Regular Season Championship in 1939 and 1940 . During his first stint with the Crimson Tide , Crisp led Alabama to their only undefeated season in 1930 en route to a 20 – 0 record and the SoCon Championship . The squad also included Alabama ' s first All - American , Lindy Hood . Baseball . After the arrival of Jimmy Haygood as the new coach of the track team in the spring of 1928 , Crisp became Alabama ' s head baseball coach . During his only season as head coach , he only lost one series ( against Georgia ) and completed the season with a record of twelve wins , seven losses and two ties ( 12 – 7 – 2 , 12 – 5 in the SoCon ) . Athletic director . On April 10 , 1930 , Chairman of the Athletic Committee J . J . Doster announced that Crisp was to become Alabama ' s athletic director . Effective September 1 , 1930 , his appointment to the position was made as a replacement for the departing Wallace Wade . By 1932 , his efforts as athletic director to expand athletic programs to all students at the University was recognized by " Amateur Sports " magazine . He remained in the position of athletic director through March 1940 when he was granted a leave of absence to regain his health due to a severe sinus issue . Frank Thomas was appointed as athletic director and retained the position upon the reinstatement Crisp from his leave in August 1940 . Crisp was later appointed as interim athletic director at Alabama in March 1954 after the resignation of Pete Cawthon . He held the title of interim athletic director through February 1955 when University President Oliver Carmichael announced his full - time appointment to the position . During his second tenure , Crisp hired Jennings B . Whitworth as football coach in 1954 and Eugene Lambert as basketball coach in 1956 . In 1957 , he resigned his post and hired Bear Bryant as his replacement as athletic director at Alabama . Later life . After his retirement as coach and athletic director in 1957 , Crisp remained active at the University and served as director of intramural athletics through 1967 . In 1970 he was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in recognition for his contributions to sport in the state . However , on the eve of his induction , Crisp died at University Hospital in Birmingham as a result of a heart attack he suffered at at the Hall of Fame banquet on January 23 , 1970 . The Hank Crisp Indoor Facility on the University of Alabama campus , which was completed in October 1986 , was renamed in honor of Crisp in April 1991 .