An Alabama woman is drawing national attention after telling a local news station how she would spend the record-setting $1.8 billion Powerball jackpot.
Susie Conerly of Guntersville, a University of Alabama fan, was interviewed by WHNT News 19 outside a gas station just across the Tennessee border, where she was purchasing lottery tickets. Asked what she would do if she held the winning numbers, Conerly gave an answer tied directly to Crimson Tide football.
“I’d tell you exactly what I’d do with the first $70 million,” Conerly said. “I’d pay off Kalen DeBoer and get him the heck out of the University of Alabama.”
God bless her. Conerly then added that she would also put money toward removing Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne.
Looks like ‘Susie, from Guntersville’ is ready for a coaching change at Alabama if she wins the powerball.
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) September 6, 2025
🎥: @whnt pic.twitter.com/fX49ldZo8k
The comments come a week after Alabama’s 31–17 loss to Florida State in the season opener. It's a result that has frustrated some fans in the early stages of DeBoer’s tenure as head coach. Conerly said she would also share a portion of her winnings with her church and family, though it was her football-related remarks that drew widespread attention online.
The Powerball jackpot has climbed to $1.8 billion, with a lump-sum cash value of approximately $520 million. Winners can choose between that one-time payment or annual installments spread over 30 years. Federal taxes immediately claim 24% of the prize, with more owed at tax time.
The odds of claiming the top prize are 1 in 292,201,338. Smaller prizes, including $1 million for matching all five white balls without the Powerball, are also available. The last jackpot of more than $1 billion was awarded in April 2024.
For Alabama residents, playing the lottery requires traveling out of state because there is no lottery system. Many, like Conerly, make weekly trips across the border to Tennessee to purchase tickets.
Whether her numbers come up or not, Conerly has already made her mark on the Powerball conversation, tying one of the nation’s richest jackpots to the passion of college football.
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