Bear Bryant

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paul William "Bear" Bryant
Memorial at Legion Field
Memorial at Legion Field
Title Head Coach
Sport Football
Born September 11, 1913
Place of birth Moro Bottom, Arkansas
Died January 26, 1983 (aged 69)
Career highlights
Overall 323–85–17
Coaching stats
College Football DataWarehouse
Championships
1961/1964/1965/1973/1978/1979 National Championship
1964–65/1971–75/1977–79 Southeastern Conference Championship
1961/1966/1981 Southeastern Conference Co–Championship
Playing career
1932–1936 Alabama
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1945
1946–1953
1954–1957
1958–1982		 Maryland
Kentucky
Texas A&M
Alabama
College Football Hall of Fame, 1986 (Bio)

Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913–January 26, 1983) was an American college football coach. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. At the University of Alabama, Paul W. Bryant Museum and Bryant-Denny Stadium are named in his honor. He was also known for his trademark houndstooth hat.

Before arriving at Alabama, Bryant was head football coach at the University of Maryland, the University of Kentucky, and Texas A&M University.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Paul Bryant was the 11th of 12 children who were born to William Monroe and Ida Kilgore Bryant in Moro Bottom, Arkansas.[1]

His nickname stemmed from his having agreed to wrestle a captive bear during a theater promotion when he was 13-years-old. [2]

He attended Fordyce High School in Fordyce, Arkansas, where 6-foot-1 Bryant began playing on the school's football team as an eighth grader. During his senior season, the team, with Bryant playing offensive end and defensive line, won the 1930 Arkansas state football championship.

Bryant accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Alabama in 1931. Since he elected to leave high school before completing his diploma, Bryant had to enroll in a Tuscaloosa high school to finish his education during the fall semester while he practiced with the college team. Bryant played end for the Crimson Tide and was a participant on the school's 1934 national championship team. Bryant was known as the other end, and played opposite Don Hutson. Bryant was so tough as a player he played in the Tennessee game with a broken leg. Socially, Bryant pledged Sigma Nu and, as a senior, married Mary Harmon, and the two had a daughter nine months later.[2]

In 1936, in the first NFL draft, Bryant was selected in the fourth round by the Chicago Bears, but he did not play for the team.

[edit] Coaching career

[edit] Assistant and North Carolina Pre-Flight

After graduating in 1936, Bryant took a coaching job at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, but left that position when offered an assistant coaching position at The University of Alabama. Over the next four years, the team compiled a 29-5-3 record. In 1940 he left to become an assistant at Vanderbilt University under Henry Russell Sanders. After the 1941 season, Bryant was offered the head coaching job at the University of Arkansas; however, following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Bryant joined the United States Navy. He served in North Africa, seeing no combat action. However his ship, the USS Uruguay was rammed by another vessel and ordered to be abandoned. Bryant disobeyed the order, saving the lives of his men. 200 others died.[3] He was later granted an honorable discharge to train recruits and coach the North Carolina Navy Pre-Flight football team. One of the players he coached for the Navy was future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Otto Graham. While in the Navy, he attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander.[4]

[edit] University of Maryland

In 1945 Bryant accepted the job as head coach at the University of Maryland. In his only season with the Maryland Terrapins (Terps), Bryant led the team to a 6-2-1 record. However, there was a struggle for control of the football program between Bryant and Harry Clifton "Curley" Byrd. Byrd was a former Terrapin coach (1912-1934) and, when Bryant was coach, he was the University President. In the most widely publicized example of the power struggle between the two strong-willed men, Bryant suspended a player for violating team rules only to discover that Byrd had the player reinstated while Bryant was away on vacation. Bryant left Maryland to take over the head coaching position at the University of Kentucky.

[edit] University of Kentucky

Bryant coached at the University of Kentucky for eight seasons. Under Bryant, Kentucky made its first bowl appearance (1947) and won its first Southeastern Conference title (1950). The 1950 Kentucky team concluded its season with a victory over Bud Wilkinson's #1 ranked Oklahoma Sooners in the Sugar Bowl. The living players were honored for their National Championship during halftime of a game during the 2005 season. Bryant also led Kentucky to appearances in the Great Lakes Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Cotton Bowl. Kentucky's final AP poll rankings under Bryant included #11 in 1949, #7 in 1950 (before defeating #1 Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl), #15 in 1951, #20 in 1952 and #16 in 1953. The 1950 season was Kentucky's highest rank until it finished #6 in the final 1977 AP poll.

Bryant departed Kentucky after he and basketball coach Adolph Rupp had both completed successful seasons in their respective sports. Legend has it that, as a reward, Rupp was given an automobile: Bryant was given a zippo lighter. This is not true. Bryant left Kentucky, furious that the University had not reprimanded Rupp for his players' roles in the college basketball point shaving scandals of the early '50s. Kentucky was suspended from playing college basketball in 1953, and Rupp received no suspension. This led Bryant to conclude, and rightly so, that basketball was #1 on the Kentucky campus and Bryant could not abide by that.

[edit] Texas A&M University

In 1954 Bryant accepted the head coaching job at Texas A&M University. He also served as athletic director while at A&M.[2]

The Aggies suffered through a grueling 1-9 initial season which began with the infamous training camp in Junction, Texas. The “survivors” were given the name “Junction Boys”. But only two years later, possibly a result of the Junction experience, Bryant led the team to the Southwest Conference championship with a 34-21 victory over the University of Texas at Austin. The following year, 1957, Bryant's star back John David Crow won the Heisman Trophy (the only Bryant player to ever earn that award), and the Aggies were in title contention until they lost to the #20 Rice Owls in Houston, amid rumors that Alabama would be going after Bryant.

At the close of the 1957 season, having compiled an overall 25-14-2 record at Texas A&M, Bryant returned to Tuscaloosa to take the head coaching position, as well as the athletic director job at Alabama.[2]

[edit] University of Alabama

Statue of Bryant outside of Bryant-Denny Stadium
Statue of Bryant outside of Bryant-Denny Stadium

Bryant took over the Alabama football team in 1958. When asked why he came to Alabama, he replied "Momma called. And when Momma calls, you just have to come runnin'." After winning a combined four games the previous three years, the Tide went 5-4-1 in Bryant's first season. The next year, in 1959, Alabama beat Auburn and appeared in a bowl game, the first time either had happened in the previous six years. In 1961, under his leadership with quarterback Pat Trammell, football greats Lee Roy Jordan, and Billy Neighbors, Alabama went 11-0 and defeated Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl to claim the national championship.

The next three years (1962-1964) featured Joe Namath at quarterback and were among Bryant's finest. The 1962 season ended with a victory in the Orange Bowl over Bud Wilkinson's University of Oklahoma Sooners. The following year ended with a victory in the 1963 Sugar Bowl. In 1964, the Tide won another national championship but lost to the University of Texas in the Orange Bowl in the first nationally televised college game in color. The Crimson Tide would repeat as champions in 1965 after defeating Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Coming off of back-to-back national championship seasons, Bryant's Alabama team went undefeated in 1966 and defeated a strong Nebraska team 34-7 in the Sugar Bowl. However, Alabama finished third in the nation behind Michigan State and Notre Dame.

The 1967 team was billed as another national championship contender with star quarterback Kenny Stabler returning, but the team stumbled out of the gate and tied Florida State 37-37 at Legion Field. The season never took off from there, with the Bryant-led Alabama team finishing 8-2-1, losing in the Cotton Bowl to Texas A&M, coached by former Bryant player and assistant coach Gene Stallings. In 1968, Bryant again could not match his previous successes, as the team went 8-3, losing to the University of Missouri 35-10 in the Gator Bowl. The 1969 and 1970 teams finished 6-5 and 6-5-1 respectively.

In 1971, Bryant installed the wishbone offense. That change helped make the remainder of the decade a successful one for the Crimson Tide. That season Alabama went undefeated and earned a #2 ranking, but lost to #1 Nebraska, 38-6 in the Orange Bowl. The team would go on to win national championships in 1973 (which led the UPI to stop giving National Championships until after all the games for the season had been played--including bowl games), 1978 and 1979.

Bryant coached at Alabama for 25 years, winning six national titles (1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978 and 1979) and thirteen SEC championships. Bryant's win over in-state rival Auburn University, coached by former Bryant assistant Pat Dye in November 1981 was Bryant's 315th as a head coach, which was the most of any head coach at that time.

[edit] Retirement

Bryant announced his retirement as head football coach at Alabama effective with the end of the 1982 season. His last game was a 21-15 victory in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee over the University of Illinois. When asked in a post-game interview what he intended to do while retired, Bryant sarcastically replied that he would "probably croak in a week."

Bryant died on January 26, 1983 at age 69 after checking into Druid City Hospital in Tuscaloosa with chest pain. His death came 28 days after his last game as a coach. He is interred at Birmingham's Elmwood Cemetery.

[edit] Honors and awards

[edit] Tribute Poem

The following poem appeared in the Birmingham Post-Herald December 29, 1983 as a tribute to the late Paul "Bear" Bryant. Signed and numbered prints with a photograph by Cliff Byrd of Coach Bryant in his classic pose leaning against the goal post appear in the Paul W. Bryant Museum at the University of Alabama and in Birmingham at the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.

Paul “Bear” Bryant
1913–1983
He led his crimson troops
Across two decades on the field;
More than a coach, or a myth, or a man,
He leaned against each goal post,
A proud symbol of his sport,
His chiseled chin catching the sun,
His squinting stare peering out
From under his houndstooth hat
Searching through each autumn afternoon
For the silent pride inside his boys
Who fought for their gentleman general
Who believed in the spirit of man.

Poem by Charles Ghigna.

[edit] Legacy

Many of Bryant's former players and assistant coaches went on to become head coaches at the collegiate level and in the National Football League.

[edit] Players

[edit] Alabama

2007 SEC Coach of the Year

1981 National Championship
1981 NSSA Coach of the Year

1981 Walter Camp Coach of the Year

[edit] Texas A&M

1992 National Championship
1992 Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year
1992 Walter Camp Coach of the Year

[edit] Kentucky

1974 Sporting News Coach of the Year

1970 AFCA Coach of the Year

1983 National Championship
1983 NSSA Coach of the Year

[edit] Assistant Coaches

[edit] Alabama

2005 College Football Hall of Fame Inductee (as coach)

[edit] Texas A&M

1960 (H) National Championship

[edit] Kentucky

1958 (AP)(UPI) National Championship
1958 NSSA Coach of the Year

† also served as assistant coach under Bryant at Alabama
‡ also served as assistant coach under Bryant at Alabama and Texas A&M
# previously served as assistant coach under Bryant at Kentucky

[edit] Head coaching record

In his career, Bryant participated in a total of 31 post-season bowl games including 24 consecutively at Alabama. Bryant won 15 bowl games (including eight Sugar Bowls)

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl Rank#
Maryland Terrapins (Southern Conference) (1945 – 1945)
1945 Maryland 6-2-1 3-2 5
Maryland: 6-2-1 3-2
Kentucky Wildcats (Southeastern Conference) (1946 – 1953)
1946 Kentucky 7-3 2-3 8
1947 Kentucky 8-3 2-3 9
1948 Kentucky 5-3-2 1-3-1 9
1949 Kentucky 9-3 4-1 2
1950 Kentucky 11-1 5-1 1 7
1951 Kentucky 8-4 3-3 5 17
1952 Kentucky 5-4-2 1-3-2 9 19
1953 Kentucky 7-2-1 15
Kentucky: 60-23-6 25-19-4
Texas A&M Aggies (Southwest Athletic Conference) (1954 – 1957)
1954 Texas A&M 1-9 0-6 7
1955 Texas A&M 7-2-1 4-1-1 2 14
1956 Texas A&M 9-0-1 6-0 1 5
1957 Texas A&M 8-3 4-2 3 10
Texas A&M: 25-14-2 14-9-1
Alabama Crimson Tide (Southeastern Conference) (1958 – 1982)
1958 Alabama 5-4-1 3-4-1 6
1959 Alabama 7-2-2 4-1-2 4 13
1960 Alabama 8-1-2 5-1-1 3 10
1961 Alabama 11-0 7-0 1 1
1962 Alabama 10-1 6-1 2 5
1963 Alabama 9-2 6-1 2 9
1964 Alabama 10-1 8-0 1 1 (*)
1965 Alabama 9-1-1 6-1-1 1 4
1966 Alabama 11-0 6-0 1 3
1967 Alabama 8-2-1 5-1 2 7
1968 Alabama 8-3 4-2 3 12
1969 Alabama 6-5 5-2 3 - T
1970 Alabama 6-5-1 6-2 3
1971 Alabama 11-1 7-0 1 2
1972 Alabama 10-2 7-1 1 4
1973 Alabama 11-1 8-0 1 1 (*)
1974 Alabama 11-1 6-0 1 2
1975 Alabama 11-1 6-0 1 3
1976 Alabama 9-3 5-2 2 9
1977 Alabama 11-1 7-0 1 2
1978 Alabama 11-1 6-0 1 2
1979 Alabama 12-0 6-0 1 1
1980 Alabama 10-2 6-1 2 6
1981 Alabama 9-2-1 7-0 1 6
1982 Alabama 8-4 4-2 3 - T 17
Alabama: 232-46-9 146-22-5
Total: 323-85-17
      National Championship         Conference Title         Conference Division Title
†Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll of the season.

(*) Before the 1974, the final coaches poll, also known then as the UPI Poll, was released before the bowl games, so a team that lost its bowl game could still claim the UPI national championship. This was changed as a result of Alabama claiming the 1973 coaches' poll national championship despite losing to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl.

[edit] See also

Preceded by
Clarence Spears		 University of Maryland Head Football Coach
1945		 Succeeded by
Clark Shaughnessy
Preceded by
Bernie Shively		 University of Kentucky Head Football Coach
1946–1953		 Succeeded by
Blanton Collier
Preceded by
Raymond George		 Texas A&M Head Football Coach
1954–1957		 Succeeded by
Jim Myers
Preceded by
J. B. Whitworth		 University of Alabama Head Football Coach
1958–1982		 Succeeded by
Ray Perkins

[edit] References

  1. ^ Barra, Allen (2005). The Last Coach: The Life of Paul "Bear" Bryant. W.W. Norton & Company, 6. 
  2. ^ a b c d Bear Bryant 'simply the best there ever was'. ESPN (3-21-07).
  3. ^ Barra, Allen (2005). The Last Coach: The Life of Paul "Bear" Bryant. W.W. Norton & Company, 90. 
  4. ^ Barra, Allen (2005). The Last Coach: The Life of Paul "Bear" Bryant. W.W. Norton & Company, 94. 
  5. ^ Barra, Allen (2005). The Last Coach: The Life of Paul "Bear" Bryant. W.W. Norton & Company, 517. 
  6. ^ Maisel, Ivan (August 16, 1999). "SI's NCAA Football All-Century Team". Sports Illustrated. ISSN 0038-822X. 
  7. ^ al.com: Alabama Football

[edit] External links

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