I had a chance Friday to tour the University of Alabama athletics department with the Dallas-Wilcox Bama Club, and it’s a day I won’t soon forget.

I’d been in the press box at Bryant Denny Stadium, where I covered three games this past season, but I hadn’t had a chance to get a behind the scenes look at the Crimson Tide locker room, players’ lounge or weight room. Now that I have, it’s easy to see why Alabama nearly always tops the list when “experts” discuss the top athletic facilities in the country.

It’s honestly hard to believe any recruit walks through the hallways in Tuscaloosa — which are lined with a football history few schools can match — and then proceeds to tell Nick Saban “no” at the end of the day.

And when they do, they’d have to second guess themselves walking back to their car. On the way, they’d surely pass a wall displaying all of the Alabama greats that went on to shine in the NFL or a mural of some of the Crimson Tide’s greatest moments.

Mark Ingram’s Heisman Trophy and the Crimson Tide’s three crystal BCS football national championships sit in the Mal M. Moore Athletics Facility, serving as reminders of just how dominant the football program has been during the Saban era. To me, the Heisman also served as a reminder of one of sports greatest mysteries. Looking around at the names on the wall — Joe Namath, Kenny Stabler, Trent Richardson, Amari Cooper, Derrick Thomas — it’s hard to believe Alabama has only had one Heisman Trophy recipient.

But, don’t feel too bad for those that wear the crimson and white. The walls around the Heisman are full of cases with bowl memories and a list of All-Americans so long that it takes multiple walls to list them all.

If I had to guess, those in the group enjoyed the walk onto the field at Bryant Denny Stadium above all else. Walking through the tunnel, you could almost picture some of Alabama’s all-time greats emerging from the locker room and triumphantly running on the field during one of Alabama’s championship years.

The tour showed plenty of other amenities too. The players’ lounge had multiple Playstation 4’s, large televisions and arcade games.

The weight room was so large that it was hard to get a count on how many student athletes could actually get in there at once to get in shape. However, one of the best parts of the tour had nothing to do with the facilities. I really enjoyed listening to members of the tour group reminisce about old stories on former players and games they’d attended.

I appreciate the Dallas-Wilcox Bama Club giving me the opportunity to tag along on their trip to Tuscaloosa and to document their story.