A Legendary Connection
The Dash & Gene Stallings
How a beloved football coach helped carry a poem about life's most important question to millions of people around the world.
The Story
Gene Stallings — the legendary University of Alabama football coach and former NFL head coach — was one of the earliest and most prominent figures to share Linda Ellis's poem The Dash with a wide audience.
Known for his deep faith, his love of family, and his commitment to character both on and off the field, Coach Stallings connected immediately with the poem's central message: that what matters most in life is not the dates on a tombstone, but the dash between them — the time we spend, the love we give, and the lives we touch.
Stallings shared The Dash in speeches, at events, and with players, coaches, and fans across the country. For Linda, having someone of Coach Stallings's integrity and stature champion her work was a profound honor. His life embodied the very values the poem speaks to — humility, love, perseverance, and the courage to live each day with purpose.
Together, the poem and the coach became a reminder that greatness is not measured in wins and losses, but in how we treat the people around us — and how we spend our dash.
"What matters is how we live and love, and how we spend our dash."
— from The Dash by Linda Ellis
The Original Poem
The Dash
by Linda Ellis
I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on the tombstone
from the beginning to the end.
He noted first came the date of the birth
and spoke the following date with tears.
But he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between the years.
For that dash represents all the time
that they spent life on Earth.
And now only those who loved them
know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not how much we own,
the cars, the house, the cash.
What matters is how we live and love,
and how we spend our dash.
So, think about this long and hard.
Are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
that can still be rearranged.
If we could just slow down enough
to consider what's true and real,
and always try to understand
the way other people feel.
And be less quick to anger,
and show appreciation more,
and love the people in our lives
like we've never loved before.
If we treat each other with respect
and more often wear a smile,
remembering that this special dash
might only last a little while.
So, when your eulogy is being read
with your life's actions to rehash,
would you be proud of the things they say
about how you spent your dash?
www.LindaEllis.life
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