As we start another college football season, lessons from the life of one of the sport’s all-time greatest leaders, Paul “Bear” Bryant, are perhaps worth highlighting
He ran on principles and changed the thinking of many people - myself included. So that campaign mattered ... as people still believe "Ron Paul was right."
I think I've shared this with you before. When I first saw a Substack post from "ExcessDeathAU," I thought you were from my state and were an Auburn fan!
In Alabama, you are born pulling for either UA or AU.
A-ha! That's funny. No, you have never shared that with me.
In any case, remember the commenter here who was saying that he did not know of any politicians who had died 'suddenly' and I gave him a few Australian examples?
It's hard to explain the impact Bryant had on the people of our state. I tried to find a picture of Bryant's funeral procession in 1983, but I couldn't find one I could use. Bryant's funeral was in Tuscaloosa, but he was buried 50 miles away in Birmingham. An estimated 400,000 Alabamians viewed this 50-mile funeral procession. My father, as a former player, attended the funeral and was in one of several chartered busses of former Bryant players. He confirms that EVERY over-pass on Hwy 59 between Tuscaloosa and Birmingham was over-flowing with people showing their respects to Bryant. The only funeral I can compare this to might be Elvis's or maybe President Kennedy and Roosevelt.
And this was just a football coach who grew up in Moro Bottom, Arkansas.
Here's a photo collage from al.com of Bryant and the funeral. Note the 17th photo - which shows people on one of the highway over-passes.
May we all live a life worthy of such a funeral. ❤️ I love how even in photo #13 you can see people lining up on the sidewalks to watch the funeral cars pass. Heartwarming story
The influence of Coach Bryant endures today. His mother wanted him to become a preacher and he once told her his work was similar in many respects.
He and his son, who became one of the most successful business people in our state, started a scholarship fund for the children of former players. I think several hundred children had their education paid for by this scholarship fund.
I have to concur. I graduated from Bama (also a lifelong fan) in 1998, and my first job was in South Carolina. In 1998-99, SC had its infamous 'perfect season', 0-11 under Brad Scott, but that didn't deter the fans. For that entire season during the week, it was common to see cars with Gamecock flags flying in both windows and they sold out every game. It's rare to see cars with flags mounted on car windows in AL unless it's game day (at least in B'ham metro area) because they're noisy. I worked with a guy who's family had a 'cockaboose'.
I think SC is a sleeping giant. It's a great state with beautiful scenery, golf courses, coastline, etc. The fans are as loyal as any in the country. It's the state university.
Spurrier and Holtz showed what's possible with the right coach. You've got to have the right coach ... And, now, the right boosters to buy the NIL talent .... Sigh.
My late father had a heart attack and later died after a Nick Saban Alabama team had to rally and beat South Carolina at a game in South Carolina. Dad "played" harder watching Bama on TV than he did when he was a player. I have no doubt that game caused his heart attack.
South Carolina has done wonders for the college football program by entering the SEC. Excellence leads to Excellence. It is no joke when you have some respect from other teams, and being in the SEC has led to that respect, and much superior teams. That said, the college transfer portal has not won many accolades from me, perhaps you have a different take on it?
No, I think unlimited transfers and the NIL payments are going to turn off millions of fans. The reformers, as usual, will kill the golden goose. Be careful what you wish for ...
Bryant coached for the most part at a time when college football was more important, certainly in the South, than the NFL. It must've been easier for him, not just to get the local recruits, but to keep his coaches on staff, than it's been for Saban.
Bryant had assistants who stayed with him for many years and decades - and, back then, assistants got paid about as much as a high school football coach. Of course, about 70 percent of them went on to become head coaches.
I think Saban's assistants could only handle working for him for two or three years max. And all of Saban's assistants were making $400K to one million-plus dollars!
If you want to become rich, don't dream of playing in the NFL. Set your sights on becoming an assistant in a big football conference.
I had a youth (11-12 yr old) football coach who fashioned himself after Coach Bryant. I can still hear him saying, no, more like growling, "You gotta' have class." We had fun, and kicked some butt too (55 years ago). First team in the county to integrate. The rest caught on pretty quick.
That was a good coach to emulate. I will say some tried too hard to be like Coach Bryant and couldn't pull it off. Coach Bryant had a charisma and presence that was God-given. I've heard several people say that you could "feel" when Coach Bryant entered a room. You didn't even have to see him. The electrodes in the air somehow changed. They weren't making this up!
There will always be the Bryant vs. Saban debate, but Nick, as good as he was, inherited a program steeped in a tradition of winning. Resources were never in question. In keeping with your theme I think I will write about the Bryant Museum soon (or maybe you should with your father’s connection) because that place is jaw-dropping amazing. I can’t wait until they introduce the “Saban” wing. Is it just a coincidence that the two GOATs of College Football coached at the same school? Hell no it isn’t. Roll Tide!
It almost killed me. I had to cover four local high school programs, one college athletic program and all the recreational league teams and programs all by myself.
I was working 80 hours a week. My salary was small, but I made a killing on overtime!
A similar job would probably be a lot easier these days with everything being streamed online! I still imagine working for some tiny minor league/independent league watching games and doing write-ups. (Though that's probably all AI these days.)
It would be much easier today due to email and computer pagination. I also had to dummy the pages and then wax the hard copy and cut it with an exacto knife and paste it on the pages. I took all the photos too. The only thing I didn't do was develop the negatives and prints.
That said, I got to know some great people and watched a lot of exciting games.
I provided a lot of "scrapbook material" for a lot of moms and grandmoms.
I later started my own weekly newspaper, The Troy Citizen. All I knew about local newspapers was this: Get as many "names and faces" in the paper as you possibly could.
I later learned the most important person at the newspaper wasn't the star journalist or editor, it was the ad salesperson. I also had to become that person ... by default.
I don't think most people in this country, even ones in the South today, fully appreciate how utterly impoverished the South was after the civil war. The type of upbringing Bear had was very common, not rare, in the South at that time. He's proof that dealing with adversity builds character. 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.' Unfortunately, we have a lot of people in our country who don't understand this common sense basic fact.
His childhood life was probably similar to that of Johnny Cash, another legendary figure from Arkansas.
As a football player at Alabama, Bryant was known as "the other end." The first end was Don Hutson, who became the greatest receiver in NFL history (until Jerry Rice, my cousin - ha!).
Hutson was also from Arkansas.
And, decades later, Arkansas gave us ... Bill Clinton. But, before that this state gave us Sam Walton, who was a Man's Man.
I'm 69 and a lifelong Auburn fan, so you clearly know what that means! However, even though I have 8 relatives who went to Auburn and I still bleed orange and blue, I have grown to appreciate and respect the great coach Bear Bryant was. I've watched the ESPN series, "Saturdays in the South" all the way through twice and, along with your article, can see what a difference Coach Bryant made in SEC football and all the schools there. I certainly hated what he was able to do to Auburn when I was growing up, but I will never say he wasn't a great coach. He was. Fortunately, as an Auburn fan we don't have the winning record, but we will always have "Punt, 'Bama, Punt" (yes, we actually had that bumper sticker on our car!), and "Kick Six," as well as other memorable moments including the "Camback" in 2010. Good writing, keep it up for all our sakes.
Thanks, Jeff. I'm still trying to get over "Punt, Bama, Punt!" and the "Kick-Six." The last college game I attended in person was the "Camback." At halftime, I went to the rest room and all the Bama fans were acting like we had this game in the bag. I said, "shut up! This game's not over!"
Did you see my column I wrote about how Pat Dye got hired to be an assistant coach at Auburn? My father recommended him to Coach Bryant. He didn't know that 20 years later Dye would become Auburn's coach and flip the power structure in the state to Lee County.
I haven't seen or read that as I have just recently begun following you. But I will find it, as I am somewhat familiar with the story itself, though I did not know your father recommended him. Thanks so much, I look forward to reading that.
Here's the column, Jeff. It's one of my favorites. One life - one random event - can change everything that follows, which is actually the theme of "It's a Wonderful Life."
I'm pretty sure that if my father wouldn't have hurt his knee in the Senior Bowl in 1962, that Pat Dye wouldn't have 20 years later become the head football coach at Auburn.
FWIW, Dye changed the culture at Auburn - and flipped the balance of power of football in our state - by emulating Coach Bryant.
In Dye's case, I don't think he was trying to be "like Bryant." He was this way naturally. When my late father recommended him as an assistant at Alabama, he told Coach Bryant he should hire him because "he reminds me of you."
Anyone who might have enjoyed this piece might also enjoy a piece I wrote explaining how Pat Dye (eventually) became the head coach at Auburn. This is one of my favorite articles. One life - one random event - can change everything that follows, which is actually the theme of "It's a Wonderful Life."
I'm pretty sure that if my father had not hurt his knee in the Senior Bowl in 1962, that Pat Dye, 20 years later, wouldn't have become the head football coach at Auburn.
FWIW, Dye definitely changed the culture at Auburn - and flipped the balance of power of football in our state ... by emulating Coach Bryant. Even my Auburn friends probably don't realize that Coach Bryant had the greatest influence on the man who had tremendous influence on their program (and entire college).
In a recent column I opined that former college athletes were NOT "exploited" when they played college football in their days. I bet more than 1,000 of Bryant's former players came from all over the country to attend his funeral. I don't think any of them would trade their experience of playing for him or felt they were exploited.
This anecdote tells us more about Coach Bryant: Coach Bryant died in a Tuscaloosa hospital after suffering a massive heart attack (after a minor heart attack the day before). From later media reports, one of the last people Coach Bryant spoke to was Ray Perkins, his replacement, who came to visit him in the hospital. Coach Perkins said Coach Bryant wanted to know if Perkins was going to offer a scholarship to Charles Bradshaw, who was a very good high school player and the son of one of Bryant's former players and assistant coaches, Charlie Bradshaw. Charles's mother, Martha, was probably the best friend of Mrs. Bryant and is one of my all-time favorite people.
Charles, who passed away at age 49 from cancer, was also my best friend. One of the last things Coach Bryant did before he died was try to help the son of a close family friend. Bryant wouldn't have interfered in Perkins' decision not to offer Charles a scholarship. However, I have no doubt he picked up the phone and called another former player, Charlie Pell, and asked him if he might give Charles a scholarship - which he did.
If you had worked or played for Coach Bryant - and put up with him and helped him be successful - Coach Bryant was going to try to help you any way he could the rest of his life.
Imagine what Ron Paul could have done, surrounded with likeminded people - I do not think they would have let him live.
He ran on principles and changed the thinking of many people - myself included. So that campaign mattered ... as people still believe "Ron Paul was right."
I think I've shared this with you before. When I first saw a Substack post from "ExcessDeathAU," I thought you were from my state and were an Auburn fan!
In Alabama, you are born pulling for either UA or AU.
Auburn stole its abbreviation from your country!
A-ha! That's funny. No, you have never shared that with me.
In any case, remember the commenter here who was saying that he did not know of any politicians who had died 'suddenly' and I gave him a few Australian examples?
We just had another one: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/melbourne/article-13717163/Sarah-Carter-cause-death.html
Sarah Carter, 45, brain aneurysm. Hard left politician (they all have been so far).
It's hard to explain the impact Bryant had on the people of our state. I tried to find a picture of Bryant's funeral procession in 1983, but I couldn't find one I could use. Bryant's funeral was in Tuscaloosa, but he was buried 50 miles away in Birmingham. An estimated 400,000 Alabamians viewed this 50-mile funeral procession. My father, as a former player, attended the funeral and was in one of several chartered busses of former Bryant players. He confirms that EVERY over-pass on Hwy 59 between Tuscaloosa and Birmingham was over-flowing with people showing their respects to Bryant. The only funeral I can compare this to might be Elvis's or maybe President Kennedy and Roosevelt.
And this was just a football coach who grew up in Moro Bottom, Arkansas.
Here's a photo collage from al.com of Bryant and the funeral. Note the 17th photo - which shows people on one of the highway over-passes.
https://www.al.com/galleries/OKGEBFG2IZE6TOFKCWIUH2XSPA/
May we all live a life worthy of such a funeral. ❤️ I love how even in photo #13 you can see people lining up on the sidewalks to watch the funeral cars pass. Heartwarming story
The influence of Coach Bryant endures today. His mother wanted him to become a preacher and he once told her his work was similar in many respects.
He and his son, who became one of the most successful business people in our state, started a scholarship fund for the children of former players. I think several hundred children had their education paid for by this scholarship fund.
These photos are amazing.
Thanks for looking. They still bring tears to my eyes. In Alabama, we all remember where we were when we first heard Coach Bryant had died.
I love historical photos. There is even a photo in there of a saluting boy like Jon-Jon at JFK's funeral.
An impressive column, and man, Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant.
Thanks Bill, I'm a Gamecock fan, but I certainly appreciate the excellence shown at Alabama.
Thank you, Edwin. The Gamecocks have some of the greatest fans in all of college football.
I have to concur. I graduated from Bama (also a lifelong fan) in 1998, and my first job was in South Carolina. In 1998-99, SC had its infamous 'perfect season', 0-11 under Brad Scott, but that didn't deter the fans. For that entire season during the week, it was common to see cars with Gamecock flags flying in both windows and they sold out every game. It's rare to see cars with flags mounted on car windows in AL unless it's game day (at least in B'ham metro area) because they're noisy. I worked with a guy who's family had a 'cockaboose'.
I think SC is a sleeping giant. It's a great state with beautiful scenery, golf courses, coastline, etc. The fans are as loyal as any in the country. It's the state university.
Spurrier and Holtz showed what's possible with the right coach. You've got to have the right coach ... And, now, the right boosters to buy the NIL talent .... Sigh.
We are known to be a “rabid” bunch.
My late father had a heart attack and later died after a Nick Saban Alabama team had to rally and beat South Carolina at a game in South Carolina. Dad "played" harder watching Bama on TV than he did when he was a player. I have no doubt that game caused his heart attack.
But Alabama won ... so Dad died happy.
God bless you father and the spirit of the games.
South Carolina has done wonders for the college football program by entering the SEC. Excellence leads to Excellence. It is no joke when you have some respect from other teams, and being in the SEC has led to that respect, and much superior teams. That said, the college transfer portal has not won many accolades from me, perhaps you have a different take on it?
No, I think unlimited transfers and the NIL payments are going to turn off millions of fans. The reformers, as usual, will kill the golden goose. Be careful what you wish for ...
Bryant coached for the most part at a time when college football was more important, certainly in the South, than the NFL. It must've been easier for him, not just to get the local recruits, but to keep his coaches on staff, than it's been for Saban.
Bryant had assistants who stayed with him for many years and decades - and, back then, assistants got paid about as much as a high school football coach. Of course, about 70 percent of them went on to become head coaches.
I think Saban's assistants could only handle working for him for two or three years max. And all of Saban's assistants were making $400K to one million-plus dollars!
If you want to become rich, don't dream of playing in the NFL. Set your sights on becoming an assistant in a big football conference.
I had a youth (11-12 yr old) football coach who fashioned himself after Coach Bryant. I can still hear him saying, no, more like growling, "You gotta' have class." We had fun, and kicked some butt too (55 years ago). First team in the county to integrate. The rest caught on pretty quick.
That was a good coach to emulate. I will say some tried too hard to be like Coach Bryant and couldn't pull it off. Coach Bryant had a charisma and presence that was God-given. I've heard several people say that you could "feel" when Coach Bryant entered a room. You didn't even have to see him. The electrodes in the air somehow changed. They weren't making this up!
The Bum Phillips quote is easily one of the greatest sports quotes of all time.
It's one of my favorites too, Jeffrey.
The roster of great former assistants of Bryant who later became head coaches is another way Bryant's influence continues.
There will always be the Bryant vs. Saban debate, but Nick, as good as he was, inherited a program steeped in a tradition of winning. Resources were never in question. In keeping with your theme I think I will write about the Bryant Museum soon (or maybe you should with your father’s connection) because that place is jaw-dropping amazing. I can’t wait until they introduce the “Saban” wing. Is it just a coincidence that the two GOATs of College Football coached at the same school? Hell no it isn’t. Roll Tide!
The Bryant Museum will be a great topic. I think that was Bryant's idea - to honor his former players and all UA players. We do need a Saban wing!
"My first newspaper job, at age 23, was as the sports editor of my hometown newspaper."
Dream job!
It almost killed me. I had to cover four local high school programs, one college athletic program and all the recreational league teams and programs all by myself.
I was working 80 hours a week. My salary was small, but I made a killing on overtime!
A similar job would probably be a lot easier these days with everything being streamed online! I still imagine working for some tiny minor league/independent league watching games and doing write-ups. (Though that's probably all AI these days.)
It would be much easier today due to email and computer pagination. I also had to dummy the pages and then wax the hard copy and cut it with an exacto knife and paste it on the pages. I took all the photos too. The only thing I didn't do was develop the negatives and prints.
That said, I got to know some great people and watched a lot of exciting games.
I provided a lot of "scrapbook material" for a lot of moms and grandmoms.
Oh man, back in the physical layout days.
I do NOT miss any of that.
I think I still have one of my 'scrapbooks' so I know exactly what you're talking about -- none of THAT these days!
I later started my own weekly newspaper, The Troy Citizen. All I knew about local newspapers was this: Get as many "names and faces" in the paper as you possibly could.
I later learned the most important person at the newspaper wasn't the star journalist or editor, it was the ad salesperson. I also had to become that person ... by default.
And double-check the spelling of names -- especially back then!
I don't think most people in this country, even ones in the South today, fully appreciate how utterly impoverished the South was after the civil war. The type of upbringing Bear had was very common, not rare, in the South at that time. He's proof that dealing with adversity builds character. 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.' Unfortunately, we have a lot of people in our country who don't understand this common sense basic fact.
His childhood life was probably similar to that of Johnny Cash, another legendary figure from Arkansas.
As a football player at Alabama, Bryant was known as "the other end." The first end was Don Hutson, who became the greatest receiver in NFL history (until Jerry Rice, my cousin - ha!).
Hutson was also from Arkansas.
And, decades later, Arkansas gave us ... Bill Clinton. But, before that this state gave us Sam Walton, who was a Man's Man.
I'm 69 and a lifelong Auburn fan, so you clearly know what that means! However, even though I have 8 relatives who went to Auburn and I still bleed orange and blue, I have grown to appreciate and respect the great coach Bear Bryant was. I've watched the ESPN series, "Saturdays in the South" all the way through twice and, along with your article, can see what a difference Coach Bryant made in SEC football and all the schools there. I certainly hated what he was able to do to Auburn when I was growing up, but I will never say he wasn't a great coach. He was. Fortunately, as an Auburn fan we don't have the winning record, but we will always have "Punt, 'Bama, Punt" (yes, we actually had that bumper sticker on our car!), and "Kick Six," as well as other memorable moments including the "Camback" in 2010. Good writing, keep it up for all our sakes.
Thanks, Jeff. I'm still trying to get over "Punt, Bama, Punt!" and the "Kick-Six." The last college game I attended in person was the "Camback." At halftime, I went to the rest room and all the Bama fans were acting like we had this game in the bag. I said, "shut up! This game's not over!"
Did you see my column I wrote about how Pat Dye got hired to be an assistant coach at Auburn? My father recommended him to Coach Bryant. He didn't know that 20 years later Dye would become Auburn's coach and flip the power structure in the state to Lee County.
I haven't seen or read that as I have just recently begun following you. But I will find it, as I am somewhat familiar with the story itself, though I did not know your father recommended him. Thanks so much, I look forward to reading that.
Here's the column, Jeff. It's one of my favorites. One life - one random event - can change everything that follows, which is actually the theme of "It's a Wonderful Life."
I'm pretty sure that if my father wouldn't have hurt his knee in the Senior Bowl in 1962, that Pat Dye wouldn't have 20 years later become the head football coach at Auburn.
FWIW, Dye changed the culture at Auburn - and flipped the balance of power of football in our state - by emulating Coach Bryant.
https://billricejr.substack.com/p/one-event-can-change-everything-that
In Dye's case, I don't think he was trying to be "like Bryant." He was this way naturally. When my late father recommended him as an assistant at Alabama, he told Coach Bryant he should hire him because "he reminds me of you."
Excellent article; you are so so very right; the right leader at the right time can make a world of difference. Your readers should remember this..
Thx
Anyone who might have enjoyed this piece might also enjoy a piece I wrote explaining how Pat Dye (eventually) became the head coach at Auburn. This is one of my favorite articles. One life - one random event - can change everything that follows, which is actually the theme of "It's a Wonderful Life."
I'm pretty sure that if my father had not hurt his knee in the Senior Bowl in 1962, that Pat Dye, 20 years later, wouldn't have become the head football coach at Auburn.
FWIW, Dye definitely changed the culture at Auburn - and flipped the balance of power of football in our state ... by emulating Coach Bryant. Even my Auburn friends probably don't realize that Coach Bryant had the greatest influence on the man who had tremendous influence on their program (and entire college).
https://billricejr.substack.com/p/one-event-can-change-everything-that
In a recent column I opined that former college athletes were NOT "exploited" when they played college football in their days. I bet more than 1,000 of Bryant's former players came from all over the country to attend his funeral. I don't think any of them would trade their experience of playing for him or felt they were exploited.
This anecdote tells us more about Coach Bryant: Coach Bryant died in a Tuscaloosa hospital after suffering a massive heart attack (after a minor heart attack the day before). From later media reports, one of the last people Coach Bryant spoke to was Ray Perkins, his replacement, who came to visit him in the hospital. Coach Perkins said Coach Bryant wanted to know if Perkins was going to offer a scholarship to Charles Bradshaw, who was a very good high school player and the son of one of Bryant's former players and assistant coaches, Charlie Bradshaw. Charles's mother, Martha, was probably the best friend of Mrs. Bryant and is one of my all-time favorite people.
Charles, who passed away at age 49 from cancer, was also my best friend. One of the last things Coach Bryant did before he died was try to help the son of a close family friend. Bryant wouldn't have interfered in Perkins' decision not to offer Charles a scholarship. However, I have no doubt he picked up the phone and called another former player, Charlie Pell, and asked him if he might give Charles a scholarship - which he did.
If you had worked or played for Coach Bryant - and put up with him and helped him be successful - Coach Bryant was going to try to help you any way he could the rest of his life.