Hall of Fame
The late Sam Bailey came to what was then Magnolia A&M Junior College in 1946. A short time after stepping on campus, he would start and play a full contest in the first football game he ever played or saw, and even more remarkable, at quarterback.
Bailey grew up in tiny Sandyland near Smackover, and graduated at the time the U.S. entered World War II. By the time he was discharged from the armed service he had a wife and two-year old son, and spent his time working in area oil fields and playing independent basketball.
Magnolia A&M had suspended athletics in 1942 because of the war. Elmer Smith was hired to create post-war athletic programs in 1946 at the school. There were no practice facilities, uniforms, or an on-campus playing field. Smith happened to see Bailey playing basketball on an independent team at Stephens and liked what he saw. He encouraged Bailey to visit the campus in Magnolia and showed his family where they would live, a very small trailer. When Bailey told Smith he had never played football, Smith gambled one of his 22 allowed scholarships on someone who had never even seen a football game.
In Bailey’s first season, the Muleriders were only 4-5, but they soared to a 9-2-1 record in 1947, including a tie with McNeese State in the Cajun Bowl at Lake Charles, La. After his two years at Magnolia A&M, Bailey moved on to Ouachita Baptist and played against the Muleriders in the now defunct AIC. Before the advent of most eligibility rules, Smith still sent Bailey money each month because Bailey’s scholarship at Ouachita Baptist was not enough for a player with a family.
Upon graduating at OBU in 1950, Bailey joined Smith’s football staff in Magnolia as the institution became a four-year school named Southern State College. As an assistant, he helped lead Southern State to consecutive AIC championships in 1951 and 1952. Bailey also coached baseball, leading the Muleriders to three AIC championships in 1953, 1954 and 1956. His baseball teams compiled a 41-36 record over six years (1951-56).
After Smith joined Paul “Bear” Bryant’s staff at Texas A&M in 1954, Bailey followed in 1956. When Bryant left for Alabama, Bailey went with him, serving as assistant athletics director and assistant head coach until the legendary Bryant died.
Bailey’s wife, Mildred, resides in Tuscaloosa, Ala. They had a son, Darryl, who is also deceased, and they have two grandsons, Sam and J.R.
