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Bear Bryant

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Bear Bryant
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(born Sept. 11, 1913, Kingsland, Ark., U.S. — died Jan. 26, 1983, Tuscaloosa, Ala.) U.S. collegiate football coach. He was an all-state tackle in high school and went on to play blocking end at the University of Alabama (1932 – 36). As head coach at the University of Kentucky (1946 – 53), his team won 60 games, lost 23, and tied 5. After coaching at Texas A&M University (1954 – 57), he returned to Alabama (1957 – 82). His Alabama coaching record of 323 wins, 85 losses, and 17 ties broke Amos Alonzo Stagg's long-standing coaching record for games won; in 1985 it was broken by Eddie Robinson of Grambling State. In all, he took Alabama to 28 bowl games and six national championships.

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Biography: Paul Bryant
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At the time of his retirement in 1982, Paul "Bear" Bryant (1919-1983), legendary coach of the University of Alabama's "Crimson Tide" football team, then had the best record of any coach in college football history: 323 wins, 85 losses, and 17 ties. Sixty-five of his former college players were in professional football, and 44 more were head coaches of college or professional teams.

The future coach was born Paul William Bryant on September 11, 1919, in a rural area of Arkansas known as Moro Bottom, the 11th of 12 children of William Monroe and Ida Bryant. He received the nickname "Bear" after wrestling a muzzled bear at a carnival. After the death of his father, the family moved to nearby Fordyce, Arkansas. In high school there Bryant participated in football, basketball, baseball, and track. He played on the 1930 Arkansas state high school football champion team as an offensive end and defensive tackle. He was scouted and recruited by the University of Alabama.

From 1932 to 1936 he attended Alabama and played on the football team. During the 1933-1934 season he was the starting offensive end. In 1935 he played on the Alabama team that defeated Stanford University in the Rose Bowl. After graduation in 1936 he stayed at Alabama as an assistant football coach. In 1940 he left to accept a similar position at Vanderbilt University. World War II interrupted his football career and he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, achieving the rank of lieutenant commander. After the war he accepted the head football coaching position at the University of Maryland. He stayed at Maryland one year, leaving to become the head football coach at the University of Kentucky. In his years at Kentucky he compiled a record of 60 wins, 23 losses, and 5 ties. In 1950 Kentucky won the Southeast Conference title by defeating Oklahoma University. During his tenure there Kentucky went to the Great Lakes, Orange, Sugar, and Cotton bowls.

He left Kentucky in 1954 to accept the head coaching position at Texas A&M University. There he had his only losing season. After four years, however, his record stood at 25 wins, 14 losses, and 2 ties. In 1954 his team won the Southwest Conference title. Texas A&M won the conference title again in 1956, but was barred from participating in the Cotton Bowl because of recruiting violations. In 1957 the Aggies lost to Tennessee in the Gator Bowl, but Bryant had coached his first Heisman Trophy winner, John David Crow.

Bryant returned to Alabama as head football coach in 1958. In his first year back at Alabama went 5-4-1. In his second year they went to the Liberty Bowl, the first of 24 consecutive trips to bowl games. He became known as a tough disciplinarian who demanded the best from his players. He had them live together in a special dormitory, and they all ate together. This toughness, however, was bolstered by integrity and fairness. He expected nothing from his players that he was not willing to give of himself. And his approach to the game paid off. Alabama football teams won six national championships and 13 Southeastern Conference titles. This remarkable accomplishment brought national attention to Alabama, and Bryant, wearing his trademark houndstooth hat, became a familiar figure on the sidelines during televised games.

In 1962 the Saturday Evening Post published an article that accused Bryant of coaching in a manner that encouraged unsportsmanlike conduct. The article was apparently prompted by an incident that had occurred during the game between Alabama and Georgia Tech played on November 18, 1961. A Tech player going downfield to cover a punt was blocked out of bounds by an Alabama player who used what is called a forearm shiver. The blow to the face broke the Tech player's jaw. As a result, the friendship between Bryant and Tech's coach Bobby Dodd was ruined. Georgia Tech dropped Alabama from its schedule and later left the Southeastern Conference. Bryant filed suit against the magazine.

The Post then published another article accusing Bryant and coach Wallie Butts of the University of Georgia's football team of rigging a game, a game that Alabama had won 35-0. Bryant again filed suit against the Post. One of the best known public figures in Alabama, Bryant went on statewide television to proclaim his innocence. Bryant's lawyers protested to the Post and asked that the charges be withdrawn. The Post, however, stood by the story, and Bryant filed his third lawsuit against the magazine.

Wallie Butts had filed suit against the Post as well, and his suit went to trial first. Bryant appeared to testify in support of Butts. He displayed the same style on the witness stand as he did on the football field sidelines. Confident and dignified, he still could not suppress his rage at the charges, and appeared near tears at times during his testimony. The jury ruled in favor of Coach Butts and awarded general as well as punitive damages. Bryant's suits never made it to the courtroom. Curtis Publishing, publisher of the Post, published a retraction and awarded a cash settlement.

Bryant was named Southeastern Conference (SEC) "Coach of the Year" eight times. In 1968 sportswriters voted him all-time SEC coach. Bryant, however, believed that a head coach was only as good as his assistants. On December 15, 1982, Bryant retired as head coach position and became athletic director at Alabama. He was succeeded by Ray Perkins, a former coach of the New York Giants of the National Football League. Less than two months later, on January 26, 1983, Bryant died of a heart attack. In 1986 he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, in his first year of eligibility. The Bear Bryant Award is given each year to the top college football coach.

Further Reading

Bear, Bryant's autobiography, was published in 1974. It is a remarkably modest story of his life, in which he gives all of the credit for his success to his mother. The Legend of "Bear" Bryant (1987) by Mickey Herskowitz is an emotional tribute to Bryant by one of his greatest admirers. Another good book, this one about the entire Alabama program, is The Crimson Tide: A Story of Alabama Football (1973) by Clyde Balton.

Additional Sources

Bryant, Paul W, Bear; the hard life and good times of Alabama's Coach Bryant, Boston, Little, Brown 1975.

Bynum, Mike, Bryant, the man, the myth, Atlanta, Ga.: Cross Roads Books, 1979.

Bynum, Mike, We believe - Bear Bryant's boys talk, College Station, Tex.: We Believe Trust Fund at the Bank of A&M, 1980.

Ford, Tommy, Bama under Bear: Alabama's family Tides, Huntsville, Ala.: Strode Publishers, 1983.

Reed, Delbert, Paul "Bear" Bryant, what made him a winner: analyses, comments, and memories by those who knew him best, Northport, Ala.: Vision Press, 1995.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Bear Bryant
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Bryant, Bear (Paul Bryant) (brī'ənt), 1913-83, American football coach, b. Moro Bottom, Ark. The son of sharecroppers, he became a Southern culture hero through his football successes. After playing on the Rose Bowl-winning 1935 Univ. of Alabama team, he coached for 38 years at four Southern universities: Maryland, Kentucky, Texas A&M, and Alabama. At Alabama (1958-82), his "Crimson Tide" teams won or shared six national championships (1961, 1964-65, 1973, 1978-79). Bryant retired with 323 wins, the record for coaches in the top-rated Division I-A until Joe Paterno surpassed it in 2001.

Bibliography

See biography by A. Barra (2005).

Quotes By: Bear Bryant
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Quotes:

"I'm not much of a golfer, I don't have any friends and, all I like to do is go home and be alone, and not worry about ways not to lose."

"If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, then we did it. If anything goes real good, then you did it. That's all it takes to get people to win football games."

"It's not the will to win, but the will to prepare to win that makes the difference."

"There's no substitute for guts."

Wikipedia: Bear Bryant
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Bear Bryant
Bryant with trademark houndstooth hat
Bryant with trademark houndstooth hat
Title Head coach
Sport Football
Born September 11, 1913(1913-09-11)
Place of birth Moro Bottom, Arkansas
Died January 26, 1983 (aged 69)
Place of death Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Career highlights
Overall 323–85–17
Bowls 15–12–2
Coaching stats
College Football DataWarehouse
Championships
National Championship (6): 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979
Southeastern Conference Championship (10): 1950, 1964, 1965, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979
Southeastern Conference Co-championship (3): 1961, 1966, 1981
Southwest Conference Championship (1): 1956
Awards
National Coach of the Year (3): 1961, 1972, 1974
Playing career
1932–1936 Alabama
Position End
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1936
1936–1940
1940–1941
1945
1946–1953
1954–1957
1958–1982		 Union College (asst.)
Alabama (asst.)
Vanderbilt (asst.)
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. During his twenty-five year tenure as Alabama's head coach he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships. Upon his retirement in 1982 he held the record for most wins as head coach in collegiate football history. At the University of Alabama, the Paul W. Bryant Museum, Paul W. Bryant Drive and Bryant-Denny Stadium are all named in his honor. He was also known for his trademark houndstooth hat, deep voice, casually leaning up against the goal post during pre-game warmups, and frequently holding his rolled-up game plan while on the sidelines.

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

Contents

Early life

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 ft 1 in (1.85 m) tall Bryant - who as an adult would eventually stand 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) - began playing on the school's football team as an eighth grader. During his senior season, the team, with Bryant playing offensive line and defensive end, 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 the self-described "other end" during his playing years with the team, playing opposite the big star, Don Hutson, who later became an NFL Hall-of-Famer. Bryant himself was second team All-SEC in 1934, and was third team all conference in both 1933 and 1935. Bryant played with a partially-broken leg in a 1935 game against Tennessee.[2] Bryant pledged the Sigma Nu social fraternity, and as a senior, he married Mary Harmon.[2]

Bryant was selected in the fourth round by the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1936 NFL Draft, but never played professionally.

Coaching career

Assistant and North Carolina Pre-Flight

After graduating in 1936, Bryant took a coaching job at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, but he left that position when offered an assistant coaching position under Frank Thomas at The University of Alabama. Over the next four years, the team compiled a 29–5–3 record. In 1940 he left Alabama 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 off North Africa, seeing no combat action. However his ship, the civilian merchantman SS Uruguay was rammed by another ship 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 the future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Otto Graham. While in the Navy, Bryant attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander.[4]

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.

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 team finished the season ranked #1 according to the Sagarin Rankings. The living players from the 1950 team were honored during halftime of a game during the 2005 season after the NCAA retroactively recognized the team as co-national champions for that season. Bryant also led Kentucky to appearances in the Great Lakes Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Cotton Bowl Classic. Kentucky's final AP poll rankings under Bryant included #11 in 1949, #7 in 1950, #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 a Cadillac automobile: Bryant was given a cigarette lighter. 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 that basketball was #1 on the Kentucky campus and Bryant could not abide by that. Rumors also stating that Bryant left Kentucky after his ideas of integrating the team were rebuffed.[5]

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.” Two years later, 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.

Again, as at Kentucky, Bryant attempted to integrate the Texas A&M squad. "We'll be the last football team in the Southwest Conference to integrate," he was told by a Texas A&M official. "Well," Bryant replied, "then that's where we're going to finish in football."[6]

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]

University of Alabama

Memorial of Bryant outside of Legion Field

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 last three years, the Tide went 5–4–1 in Bryant's first season.[7] The next year, in 1959, Alabama beat Auburn and appeared in a bowl game, the first time either had happened in the last 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 co-national champions Michigan State and Notre Dame, who had previously played to a 10–10 tie in a late regular season game.

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 Classic 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.

For years, Bryant defended charges of racism by saying the social climate didn't allow him to go after black players. He finally was able to convince the administration to allow him to do it after scheduling the Tide's 1970 season opener against a strong University of Southern California team led by African-American fullback Sam Cunningham. Cunningham rushed for 150 yards and three touchdowns in a 42–21 victory against the overmatched Tide. After that season, Bryant was able to recruit Wilbur Jackson as Alabama's first African-American scholarship player, and junior-college transfer John Mitchell became the first black man to play for Alabama. By 1973, one-third of the team's starters were African-American.

In 1971, Bryant installed the wishbone offense. The 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 split national championships in 1973 (Notre Dame defeated Alabama in the 1973 Sugar Bowl, which led the UPI to stop giving national championships until after all the games for the season had been played - including bowl games), 1978 (despite losing a regular season matchup against co-national champion USC) and win it outright in 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.

Retirement and death

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."

On January 26, 1983, Bryant, complaining of chest pains, checked into Druid City Hospital in Tuscaloosa. Only minutes later, he died after suffering a massive heart attack. His death came 28 days after his last game as a coach, and only one day after passing a routine medical checkup.[8] On his hand at the time of his death was the only piece of jewelry he ever wore, a gold ring inscribed "The Junction Boys".[9] He is interred at Birmingham's Elmwood Cemetery.

Defamation suit

In 1962, after Bryant lambasted The Saturday Evening Post for printing an article that accused Bryant of encouraging his players to "engage in brutality" in a 1961 game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the magazine claimed that Bryant and Georgia Bulldogs coach Wally Butts had conspired to fix their 1961 game together in Alabama's favor. Butts, also on Bryant's behalf, sued Curtis Publishing Co. for defamation. The case went to the Supreme Court. As a result of Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts 388 U.S. 130 (1967),[10] Curtis was ordered to pay $3,060,000 in damages to the plaintiff.

Honors and awards

Legacy

 This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this section if you can. (December 2008)

Many of Bryant's former players and assistant coaches went on to become head coaches at the collegiate level and/or in the National Football League, including six (in bold) who are currently active head coaches at NCAA programs.

Players

Alabama

1971 NAIA National Championship

1981 National Championship
1981 NSSA Coach of the Year

1981 Walter Camp Coach of the Year

Texas A&M

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

Kentucky

1974 Sporting News Coach of the Year
1999 College Football Hall of Fame Inductee (as coach)

1970 AFCA Coach of the Year
1986 College Football Hall of Fame Inductee (as coach)

1983 National Championship
1983 NSSA Coach of the Year

Assistant coaches

Alabama

2005 College Football Hall of Fame Inductee (as coach)

Texas A&M

1960 (H) National Championship

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

Head coaching record

In his 38 seasons as a head coach, Bryant had 37 winning seasons (tying him with Joe Paterno) and 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 W Great Lakes Bowl
1948 Kentucky 5–3–2 1–3–1 9
1949 Kentucky 9–3 4–1 2 L Orange Bowl
1950 Kentucky 11–1 5–1 1 W Sugar Bowl 7**
1951 Kentucky 8–4 3–3 5 W Cotton Bowl Classic 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 L Gator Bowl 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 L Liberty Bowl 13
1960 Alabama 8–1–2 5–1–1 3 T Bluebonnet Bowl 10
1961 Alabama 11–0 7–0 1 W Sugar Bowl 1
1962 Alabama 10–1 6–1 2 W Orange Bowl 5
1963 Alabama 9–2 6–1 2 W Sugar Bowl 9
1964 Alabama 10–1 8–0 1 L Orange Bowl 1 (*)
1965 Alabama 9–1–1 6–1–1 1 W Orange Bowl 4
1966 Alabama 11–0 6–0 1 W Sugar Bowl 3
1967 Alabama 8–2–1 5–1 2 L Cotton Bowl Classic 7
1968 Alabama 8–3 4–2 3 L Gator Bowl 12
1969 Alabama 6–5 5–2 3 – T L Liberty Bowl
1970 Alabama 6–5–1 6–2 3 T Bluebonnet Bowl
1971 Alabama 11–1 7–0 1 L Orange Bowl 2
1972 Alabama 10–2 7–1 1 L Cotton Bowl Classic 4
1973 Alabama 11–1 8–0 1 L Sugar Bowl 1 (*)
1974 Alabama 11–1 6–0 1 L Orange Bowl 2
1975 Alabama 11–1 6–0 1 W Sugar Bowl 3
1976 Alabama 9–3 5–2 2 W Liberty Bowl 9
1977 Alabama 11–1 7–0 1 W Sugar Bowl 2
1978 Alabama 11–1 6–0 1 W Sugar Bowl 2
1979 Alabama 12–0 6–0 1 W Sugar Bowl 1
1980 Alabama 10–2 6–1 2 W Cotton Bowl Classic 6
1981 Alabama 9–2–1 7–0 1 L Cotton Bowl Classic 6
1982 Alabama 8–4 4–2 3 – T W Liberty Bowl 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.

(*) 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. (**) The NCAA retroactively recognized the 1950 Kentucky Wildcats football team as the 1950 Co-National Champions. The Sagarin ratings also have Kentucky as #1 for that year.

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

References

  1. ^ Barra, Allen (2005). The Last Coach: The Life of Paul "Bear" Bryant. W.W. Norton & Company. pp. 6. 
  2. ^ a b c d e "Bear Bryant 'simply the best there ever was'". ESPN. 2007-03-21. http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/Bryant_Bear.html. 
  3. ^ Barra, Allen (2005). The Last Coach: The Life of Paul "Bear" Bryant. W.W. Norton & Company. pp. 90. 
  4. ^ Barra, Allen (2005). The Last Coach: The Life of Paul "Bear" Bryant. W.W. Norton & Company. pp. 94. 
  5. ^ Barra, Allen (2006). Bear Bryant's Biggest Score. American Legacy Magazine. p. 58. 
  6. ^ Barra, Allen (2006). Bear Bryant's Biggest Score. American Legacy Magazine. p. 58. 
  7. ^ "Bear’s ’58 team reunites, recalls Tide’s turning point to success". http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20080817/NEWS/214379002/0/living03. 
  8. ^ Bear Bryant: 25 Years techography.com. Retrieved on October 17, 2008.
  9. ^ http://espn.go.com/classic/s/add_bryant_bear.html
  10. ^ 388 U.S. 130 (1967)
  11. ^ Barra, Allen (2005). The Last Coach: The Life of Paul "Bear" Bryant. W.W. Norton & Company. pp. 517. 
  12. ^ Maisel, Ivan (August 16, 1999). "SI's NCAA Football All-Century Team". Sports Illustrated. ISSN 0038-822X. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/centurys_best/news/1999/10/06/cfb_allcentury_team/. Retrieved 2007-11-15. 
  13. ^ al.com: Alabama Football

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