Everything we’ve missed about tailgating in Alabama

Tailgating returned to Tuscaloosa two weeks ago, when Alabama hosted Mercer for its 2021 home opener. While certainly not as jam-packed as you’ll see it next week for Ole Miss, the Quad was once again bustling, at least compared to the 2020 season when the pregame ritual disappeared.

Fans were not allowed to tailgate on the University of Alabama campus during the 2020 football season, due to COVID. On RollTide.com: “In accordance with CDC, state and local guidelines relating to social distancing and large gatherings, tailgating will not be permitted on The University of Alabama campus for the 2020 football season.”

Roger Myers, an Alabama fan who runs an elaborate tailgate each season told us at the time he had “no idea” what a season without it would look and feel like: “I don’t know how to do this without the tailgating.”

And going a full season without it reminded us why we love to tailgate and what makes that fall Saturday tradition so special in Tuscaloosa. We missed it, and you can bet now that it’s back, people are raring to go for 2021 and beyond. Here’s what we’ve missed about tailgating in Tuscaloosa.

Barbecue nachos

Barbecue nachos = good. (Ben Flanagan / AL.com)

The food

The aromas might drive you crazy while strolling between those hundreds of tents on Saturdays. Barbecue, burgers, hot dogs, kabobs, cookies, chips, fried gator, corn dogs, roasted hog, slaw, snow cones. Doesn’t really matter what you eat, so long as you just...eat. I mean. Duh.

Alabama tailgate

Alabama fans certainly know how to enjoy a cool beverage at tailgates. (Ben Flanagan / AL.com)

The, uh, drink

Always keep a cooler stocked with water, soft drinks or whatever you need to quench your thirst on hot Saturdays on the Quad. Have enough to keep you and your regular guests refreshed, but also to offer a surprise visitor a tasty beverage. You may have just enjoyed (responsibly) a Yellowhammer at Gallettes, a Bloody Mary elsewhere or just a cold beer, but a good drink goes a long way (on a long day) at the tailgate.

Alabama fan fashion

Alabama fans take gameday fashion seriously. (Ben Flanagan / AL.com)

The clothes

Do you really care what you wear to a football game? On a fall Saturday in Bryant-Denny Stadium, redirect your attention from the football field to the fans in the stands and you’ll see something you might find a bit strange. But if you live in the South, there’s nothing strange about people dressing up for a football game on Saturday like they would for church on Sunday. People do things a little differently on Saturdays at the Capstone, including dressing up for Crimson Tide gamedays. Fans go the extra mile here, sometimes going more formal than anywhere else in the country from cocktail dresses to bow-ties. What makes a football game such a dressy occasion down here?

Alabama Quad tailgate

Autumn looks good on the Quad in Tuscaloosa. (Ben Flanagan / AL.com)

The weather

It doesn’t get better than autumn at the Capstone. Cooler temperatures, beautiful foliage and football create an unbeatable atmosphere people look forward to year-round. The walk to Bryant-Denny Stadium or from one tent to the next feels better with a nice breeze and when you’re surrounded by gorgeous Ginkgo trees. Plus you get to wear that warmer clothing you bought specifically for the Tennessee game.

Alabama Football Fans Mercer 2021

A huge group of Mercer fans had a blast on the Quad, engaging in some friendly trash talk with Tide fans and insisting they would cover the spread. Alabama and Mercer football fans hit the Quad, Walk of Champions and more for tailgating and other pregame action before the home opener in Tuscaloosa Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. (Ben Flanagan / AL.com)

The unity

Alabama football brings people together. I’ve long wondered if Alabama sports can work as a unifying force for people from different backgrounds and if they have and can continue to contribute to real social progress. Does what we have in common as Alabama fans overshadow the differences we have as human beings? Is the common ground of Alabama sports a healthy thing? It’s obviously something that unites people from different backgrounds in a given moment or throughout a season, but do you think it’s also temporary or something that can last past a season?

Covering Alabama football fans for the better part of a decade now, spending countless hours around hundreds of tailgates operated by all sorts of people, I’ve seen an almost universally positive and cohesive environment. Time seems to stop in Tuscaloosa when the Crimson Tide hit the field.

Folks from different backgrounds unite to pull Bama through one game after the next. I see black and white men and women breaking bread together, hugging and celebrating. I’ve seen houndstooth hijabs, the words “Roll Tide” written in Hebrew on T-shirts, and no one batting an eye, as the legion of fans saunter across campus, huddle around the grill together and slowly convene in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Alabama LSU fans

Visiting fans make gamedays interesting in Tuscaloosa, especially when LSU's in town. (Ben Flanagan / AL.com)

The visitors

On that note...you never know what you’ll get from a visiting fan base, especially from our friends across the SEC. But generally, everyone is genial and out to have the same good time you are, making for a warm environment before their respective teams clash. That isn’t to say every fan gets along on every gameday. Saturdays in the fall are stressful. People are on edge. And there is the occasional flare-up in personalities. But for the most part, there is harmony. And meeting new people is, in part, what tailgating is all about. Learning about their hometowns, schools, traditions and why they came to Tuscaloosa to see why this is such a special place in the college football world. The fans from Colorado State, Mercer and the The Citadel so often bring a warm energy, as do folks we’ve met from Australia or Miami fans displaced by a hurricane. And yes, we welcome anyone from Auburn, LSU and Tennessee. That’s what helps to make college football great.

Alabama tailgate

Alabama fans make this tailgating thing look good. (Ben Flanagan / AL.com)

The decadence

You don’t just pop up a tent and some tables in Tuscaloosa. Tailgating is an art for those who consider it more of a dinner party or soirée, adorning their area with fancy tablecloths, flowers, intricate TV setups, figurines, posters, the nice plates or anything that might class up the joint before grown men in pads try to destroy each other on a field. It’s a full-on social experience.

Alabama Football Fans Mercer 2021

Tailgating is back, and so is cornhole. Alabama and Mercer football fans hit the Quad, Walk of Champions and more for tailgating and other pregame action before the home opener in Tuscaloosa Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. (Ben Flanagan / AL.com)

The games

That’s right. Toys. Make your gameday as fun as possible by throwing footballs, Frisbees or beanbags during competitive cornhole matchups. Some even like to play this variation of ping pong involving red plastic cups and tables, or whatever that’s called. What happens on the field in Bryant-Denny Stadium isn’t the only action spectators can find at the Capstone. Gotta get your mind right, people. There’s a ladder toss (er, hillbilly golf) game at hand. We’ve even seen intense pregame Spikeball tournaments in play. Some fans like to work up a sweat before kickoff. More power to y’all.

Alabama fans

Alabama fans will dig The Junction and Mississippi State's tailgate scene. (Ben Flanagan / AL.com)

The noise

The Quad was too quiet in 2020. If you wandered over from the Strip and Walk of Champions -- where most of the limited capacity fans hovered before entering Bryant-Denny -- you caught an eerie glimpse at uncommon emptiness on fall Saturdays in Tuscaloosa. You might have expected a tumbleweed to roll by. The typical cacophony heard before kickoff on campus might send you into a daze if you’re a first-timer. Take a stroll through the heart of the tailgate scene and you’ll hear a mixture of trash-talk, stereos turned up too loud, burgers sizzling, one-sided score predictions and off-key harmonies during the 14th a capella “Dixieland Delight.” In 2020, only the engines from occasional cars passing through a place they wouldn’t normally dare that time of day. But now, all that noise is music to our ears. Even that Applebee’s song. Part of it.

ESPN at Alabama vs. LSU 2019

Justin Thomas (left) and Lee Corso. Behind the scenes during ESPN's "College GameDay" and "SEC Nation" ahead of Alabama vs. LSU in Tuscaloosa on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2019. (Ben Flanagan / AL.com)

The pregame shows

ESPN could easily call Tuscaloosa a second home, frequently, bringing “College GameDay” and “SEC Nation” to town. The two weekly college football preview shows have long histories at the Capstone, with “GameDay” making its first appearance 18 years ago. Fans can always expect a jam-packed Saturday when they visit and shut down right before nationwide kickoff. The shows create electric atmosphere in place that’s already rarely short of it in the fall, adding even greater gravity to the Tide’s subsequent showdowns.

“GameDay” has alternated between the Quad and Walk of Champions throughout the years, but it returned to the epicenter of campus in 2019, giving the tailgate scene jolt ahead of yet another historic matchup. Take a look back at what happened each time the shows visited Tuscaloosa, resulting in some star-studded television, especially as the Crimson Tide emerged as a dynasty that attracted national attention. “GameDay” rolled through town last season, but set up inside Bryant-Denny Stadium where fans were not allowed to provide the backdrop.

Alabama Football Fans Mercer 2021

You'll always find a few Bama dogs on the tailgate scene in Tuscaloosa. (Ben Flanagan / AL.com).

The dogs

Without fail, you’ll see a parade of good boys and girls, often decked out in Crimson Tide clothing ranging from bow-ties to tutus. The Bama doggos need pats. Lots of pats. Because they deserve the pats. Dogs make everything better, so you can imagine what they do for a tailgate. Bonus pats when they have Alabama-themed names. OK, everyone gets the bonus pats.

Alabama fans tailgate

People get pretty hyped at an Alabama tailgate, especially ahead of an SEC showdown. (Ben Flanagan / AL.com)

The anticipation

Every game is a “big game” in Tuscaloosa, but there is a palpable, even simmering feeling ahead of a top 10 SEC showdown when the Tide hosts fellow playoff contenders like LSU or Auburn. Each fan base revels in the build-up, usually pretty cordially, talking trash and playing friendly bets on how it’ll play out. You can eat, drink and talk for hours, but we’re all merely distracting ourselves until that whistle blows. And those late kickoffs that put people to work in and out of their tents from the crack off dawn until after sunset...well, those are long days. But it’s all worth it, folks.

Million Dollar Band

The Million Dollar Band's Elephant Stomp creates an awesome atmosphere on the Quad. (Ben Flanagan / AL.com)

The Elephant Stomp

The Million Dollar Band’s Elephant Stomp is a great way to spend the final hour before kickoffs in Tuscaloosa, as each section of the band finds their designated spot on campus to warm up, whether that’s under Denny Chimes or on the steps of Gorgas Library. It’s also a cool sight whenever they line up to make their way up Colonial Drive on their way to Bryant-Denny Stadium, giving your tailgate a familiar gameday soundtrack as only the MDB can.

RELATED: Our favorite Alabama football fan photos from 2020

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