A Paris, Texas native, Gene Stallings was hired as Head Football Coach at The University of Alabama on January 11, 1990. In only his third season, Stallings and his staff produced Alabama`s first perfect regular season since 1979 by going 12-0. The team went on to defeat Miami in the Sugar Bowl and capture the national championship. Prior to his arrival at Alabama, Coach Stallings was Head Football Coach of the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals moved to Phoenix in 1988. Coach Stallings led the Cardinals for four years.

In 1972, Coach Stallings joined Tom Landry and the Dallas Cowboys. During his years there, Dallas won seven division titles, three conference championships and the 1978 Super Bowl.

For seven years, Coach Stallings was Head Football Coach of his alma mater, Texas A&M. Coach Stallings spent his collegiate playing days under Coach Paul Bryant at Texas A&M and was one of the Aggies who endured the now famous Junction training camp in 1954.

Stallings has received the Dallas Father of the Year Award, the National Boys Club Alumni of the Year Award, has been elected to the Texas A&M Hall of Fame and serves on the Board of Regents, elected to the Texas Hall of Fame, the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, and has been named to a presidential committee by President George W. Bush.

The Stallings family was honored as the Family of the Year by the Tuscaloosa Association of Retarded Citizens for their sponsorship of an annual charity golf tournament, which raised money for the association. The family was honored once again for their generosity when the Rise program, located on Alabama`s campus, named its new building the Stallings Center. Rise prepares developmentally disabled infants, toddlers and preschoolers for the public school environment by integrating them with non-disabled peers. The playground was dedicated recently and was named the John Mark Stallings Playground after Gene`s son John Mark, who had Down Syndrome and who passed away in 2008.

Coach Stallings and his family now live in Paris, Texas.