 In the early 1960s, Melford Espey, Jr., then a student, was the first to wear an elephant head costume to portray the Crimson Tide's unofficial mascot.Espey later became a university administrator, and football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant asked him to take responsibility when student groups asked to resurrect the costumed mascot in the late 1970s.The mascot known as "Big Al" today was the brainchild of University of Alabama student Walt Tart, member of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity.