Tuscaloosa, Ala. ? The post-Bear Bryant history at Alabama includes three losing seasons, two major scandals and only one national title.

The firing Saturday of Mike Price for his off-field conduct left the school searching for its seventh coach since Bryant retired in 1982.

Gene Stallings, who led Alabama to the 1992 title, said the program had one crucial need as it begins looking for Price’s replacement.

“It needs some stability,” Stallings said Sunday.

Less than five months after he was hired away from Washington State, the 57-year-old Price was dismissed after reports surfaced that he spent hundreds of dollars at a Florida topless bar, and a woman charged $1,000 in room service items to his hotel bill.

Bryant won five AP national championships at Alabama, and the fact that Stallings is the only coach since then to bring a title to Tuscaloosa is a big reason why many fans would like to see him return.

Stallings’ presence in Birmingham over the weekend only fueled the rumors. But he was there to raise money for juvenile diabetes, and by Sunday he was back home in Texas, insisting that such speculation is “very premature.”

“I just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time, and people thought I was there for that particular reason, and that’s not right at all,” he said.

University President Robert Witt denied Saturday that Stallings was a candidate. Some possible candidates include former Tide players and NFL assistants Sylvester Croom and Mike Shula, former defensive coordinator Carl Torbush and former Jacksonville Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin. Also, two of Price’s assistants — Joe Kines and Sparky Woods — have head-coaching experience.

Ray Perkins, who followed Bryant and was coach from 1983-86, said the coaching carousel was hurting the program.

“We’ve now had one, two, three, four, five, six head coaches since coach Bryant,” Perkins told The Birmingham News. “Six coaches! And none of those really gave the program long-term stability. And I include myself.”

Because of NCAA probation, Alabama can’t play in a bowl game next season, and scholarship reductions could affect the program for years to come.

The punishment resulted from rules violations under Mike DuBose, who was forced out in 2000 during a 3-8 season.