Q&A with Fred Sington: 'We got a lot of good things going on at Alabama State'

Sington remains a popular name in Alabama.

Fred Sington Sr. was a two-time All-American for Alabama football from 1929-30 and was on the 1930 Alabama National Championship team. He also played baseball, going on to play in the MLB for six seasons,

His son, Fred Sington Jr., lettered in football and played under coach Paul “Bear” Bryant before serving as assistant to the mayor for 14 years in Gadsden.

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Grandson Fred Sington III helped lead Gadsden High to a state championship in 1986 and then helped Troy win the NCAA Division II National Championship in 1987.

Sington Sr. died in 1988, while Sington Jr. died in 2017. The third generation is now carrying the name. He was named the Associate Athletic Director for Strategic Communications for Alabama State in July 7.

Sington III, 54, served as the Assistant Director of Athletic Communications from 2014-22 at Delta State University.

The Gadsden Times caught up with Sington III for a Q&A to talk about his family's history, working at an HBCU and the historic 1986 Gadsden High state championship run.

Q: What was the decision behind taking the job at Alabama State? What made the job attractive to you?

Sington: Just the want to get back to the state of Alabama. I had times when I really missed it. Wanted to kind of be back over here.

We got a lot of good things going on at Alabama State. Not just the football program, but the whole athletic department. The facilities are some of the best around, they're making progress every day and I believe they got some teams over here that are gonna be competitive. Alabama State is probably the most stable it's been in years, not only financially but athletically. I just thought it was a good chance to come in and help build upon what was going on here.

Q: Is it an exciting time to enter the HBCU level, seeing Deion Sanders doing big things at Jackson State?

Sington: If you really look deep into the history of HBCU schools, there is a lot of talented guys that have come out, when you look at far back as Mississippi Valley State with Jerry Rice. There's been a lot of high-end talent. Hall of Fame talent comes up here. And that's going to happen again. It's deep and rich with talent and this upswing will make it deeper and more talented. You saw Jackson State got a five-star recruit that (Sanders) took from a lot of the FBS schools or Power Five schools. Here, our possible starting quarterback Dematrius Davis is a four-star transfer from Auburn. There's a lot of people that aren't shying away from coming to these schools. I think people are going to find that this level is going to be on a high level now and going forward.

Q: It's an interesting time in college athletics with the transfer portal and NIL. How has that impacted Alabama State?

Sington: We just signed a department-wide agreement NIL deal with Adidas group called 'Postgame.' If our kids take advantage of it, they can make some NIL money. I think you're going to see, as success comes, you're going to see a lot more of that. That was a big deal that Dr. Jason Cable pioneered here with our apparel provider. It's going to help.

Q: You were on the 1986 Gadsden City state championship team that went 4-5 in the regular season. What was that run like?

Fred Sington: We actually started that year 1-5. We had some injuries, but things started to come together. Long story short, we ended up winning our last three regular-season games to win the area and make the playoffs. Then we made the run in the playoffs. Matter of fact, we won our first-round game on an 89-yard touchdown to beat Guntersville. We were definitely underdogs in all five games. And then we beat Homewood in the championship game in Murphy Stadium. It was an unbelievable run. I tell you it sticks out in my mind to this day. It just shows you never, never give up no matter how bad it is.

We had a guy named Gerry Benson who was our field-goal kicker, but also our star running back. He tore his ACL in probably the third or fourth game of the season. He ended up knee bracing his left knee plant up. In that eight game winning streak, he figured in all eight games with a field goal with a torn ACL.

Q: Your father and grandfather both played at Alabama?

Sington: My grandfather was on the first Rose Bowl team in 1930. He played pro baseball with Brooklyn Dodgers and Washington Senators. My dad played at Alabama from 1952-53 before he went to the Navy. He came back in 1958 and played for coach Bryant's first team. He actually kicked a field goal and those were the first points for coach Bryant's career.

I was slated to go play at Alabama, but coach Ray Perkins left for a job with Tampa Bay. Bill Curry came in and wanted to make all kickers walk-ons. Then the South Carolina thing came about and there was a scholarship mix up. I ended up at Troy and was on the 1987 state championship team.

Contact Ehsan Kassim at 256-300-5313 or ekassim@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Ehsan_Kassim.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Q&A with new Alabama State associate AD Fred Sington