I Live In Northern Alabama. What Kind Of Snake Is Chocolate Brown With Yellow Rings?

Identification of a snake without a picture is always difficult.  Based on your area I can only think of a few snakes that are brown in color but they do not have "memorable yellow stripes."  Try doing a google image search on the following snakes and see if any of them resemble what you saw: DeKay's Brown Snake and the Brown Water Snake

I found a snake skin this morning right outside my front door, that was not there last night.
    It was hanging in a space between door and wall. This snake was about 5 feet long. I measured across the flat skin at the widest point it was 2 inches. The belly is light in color and has white lines going from side to side. The back center is brown and lightens to tan as it nears the belly. Will you offer a guess please.