Auburn wanted to renew the football series in 1944. This time, Alabama said no. Alabama's Board of Trustees was against the resumption, saying that an Auburn–Alabama rivalry would lead to an overemphasis of football in Alabama and an unhealthy increase in rumor and rancor between the two schools. The Board also said an intrastate rivalry would make it impossible for either school to hire coaches of "high character and proven ability" because they would be afraid of beating the cross-state rival every year. After 1944, several legislative attempts were made to force the two schools to play again, but all attempts failed. The Legislature did, however, pass several resolutions calling on the two schools to play each other. Those resolutions were rejected by both schools.