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Ebook has 1002 lines and 71683 words, and 21 pages

Contributor: Lloyd Gregory

PAUL W. "BEAR" BRYANT

Englewood Cliffs, N.J. PRENTICE-HALL, INC.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PART OF THIS BOOK MAY BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM, BY MIMEOGRAPH OR ANY OTHER MEANS, WITHOUT PERMISSION IN WRITING FROM THE PUBLISHER.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUE CARD NUMBER: 60-53173

Eighth Printing February, 1968

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Dedication

To a few close associates who were genuinely dedicated to the game of football. These men were not only great assets to the game; they also exemplified the true American way of life. Had it not been for men like these, many of us would have fallen by the wayside. To them, I am forever grateful.

ROBERT A. COWAN FORDYCE, ARKANSAS

FRANK W. THOMAS UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA

W. A. ALEXANDER GEORGIA TECH

H. R. "RED" SANDERS U. C. L. A.

CHARLES CALDWELL PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

JIM TATUM UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA

G. A. HUGUELETT UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY

HERMAN L. HEEP TEXAS A & M

REX ENRIGHT UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

Acknowledgment

This book would not have been possible had it not been for the untiring efforts of Eugene Stallings, co-captain Texas A & M 1956, All Conference SWC End, and assistant football coach, University of Alabama. "Bebes" Stallings exemplifies the true meaning of football, both as a player and as a coach.

A Real Competitor

"Fight on, my men," Sir Andrew says, "A little I'me hurt, but yett not slaine; "I'le but lye downe and bleede awhile, "And then I'le rise and fight againe."

"Sir Andrew Barton," Part 2, St. 16

If Sir Andrew were coaching football today, he would be accused of teaching "hard-nosed football," for his battlecry "I'll rise and fight again" is that of Paul "Bear" Bryant, author of this book and self-acknowledged teacher of hard-nosed or all-out football.

Paul Bryant is one of the ablest, most colorful, most controversial mentors. Fans either love Bear Bryant or despise him--which makes him excellent box office.

Competitive fires flame high in Coach Bryant. Legend has it he once played an entire game with a broken leg, believable when one considers the all-out effort he demands of himself and his players. Deep down, he is a sentimentalist who leaves a heavy imprint on his players. John David Crow, All-American back and Heisman Trophy winner under Bryant at Texas A & M, and now a National Football League star, says, "Coach Paul Bryant is the greatest coach in America. He made a man out of me."

Paul Bryant is a builder. When he came to Texas A & M in 1954, Aggie fortunes were at a low ebb. In four years, Bryant's Aggies won 25, lost 14, tied 2, and nine of those losses were in his first year.

There was something almost mystical about Bryant's story of why he was leaving Texas A & M for his alma mater, the University of Alabama: "As a small boy, I sometimes would play until after dark, and then, from afar off, I'd hear my beloved mother calling, 'Paul, come home.' I'd run as fast as my legs would carry me."

Some cynics sneer at Paul Bryant's explanation. But the many sportsmen who hold for him lasting respect and affection know this warm-hearted man is telling the truth.

LLOYD GREGORY HOUSTON, TEXAS

Table of Contents

INDEX 235

Building a CHAMPIONSHIP Football Team

Why Football?

Have you ever wondered about football? Why it's only a game which is as fundamental as a ball and a helmet. But the sport is a game of great importance. If you take all of the ingredients that go into making up the game of football and put them into a jar, shake well and pour out, you've got a well-proportioned phase of the American way of life.

FOOTBALL IS MORE THAN A GAME

Football is the All-American and the scrub. It's the Rose Bowl with 102,000 cheering fans, and it's the ragged kids in a vacant lot using a dime-store ball. It's a field in Colorado ankle-deep in snow, and one in Florida sun-baked and shimmering.

Leaping cheerleaders, a brassy band, and the Dixie Darlings are a part of the wonderful game of football. It's a rich guy being chauffeured to the stadium gate, and a frightened boy shinnying the fence and darting for the end zone seats. It's a crowd which has gone crazy as it rips down the goal posts. And it's a nation stunned and wet-eyed at the news of Knute Rockne's death.

Football is drama, music, dignity, sorrow. It's exhilaration and shock. It is also humor and, at times, comedy. It's a referee sternly running the game. It's an inebriated character staggering onto the field and trying to get into the action.

Football is the memory of Red Grange, the Four Horsemen, and the Seven Blocks of Granite. It's a team's traditional battle cry, such as, "War Eagle," in the middle of the summer. It's a crisp fall day, traffic jams, portable radios and hip flasks. It's train trips, plane flights and victory celebrations. It's the losers moaning, "You were lucky, just wait'll next year!"

Names are football, such as Bronco, Dixie, Night Train, The Horse, Hopalong, Bad News, The Toe, and Mr. Outside.

FOOTBALL IS THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL

For four quarters, football is the Great American Novel, with chapters from Frank Merriwell, the Bible, Horatio Alger, the life of Lincoln and Jack the Giant-Killer.

Newspaper photos, arguments, Mr. Touchdown USA, yellowed clippings, the Hall of Fame, The Star-Spangled Banner--they're all football.

It's a game of young men with big shoulders and hard muscles. It's also a game of old pros, such as, 38-year-old Charlie Conerly quarterbacking the New York Giants to a football championship.

Football is popcorn, cokes, banners and cigaret smoke. It's people standing for the kick-off, lap blankets, pacing coaches, penalties and melodious alma maters.

Football is a game of surprises. The big guy everybody picks in pre-season as All-American fizzles out. But a kid nobody ever heard of scores the winning touchdown and a star is born. It's Tennessee going 17 games without being scored on. It's also tiny Chattanooga upsetting mighty Tennessee, making a coach's dream come true.

It's the pro halfback who is a movie star. And the water boy who got into a game at Yale. It's Bronco Nagurski butting down a sandbag abutment, and dwarfish Davey O'Brien disappearing from sight behind an array of 250 pound linemen. It's Harry Gilmer jumping high to pass, and Coach Jim Owens proving that nice guys finish first.

Football is Bud Wilkinson, whose Sooners are 40 points ahead, walking up and down the sideline like a caged lion. It's 35-year-old Paul Dietzel and 90-year-old Amos Alonzo Stagg. It's 6?8? Gene "Big Daddy" Lipscomb and 5?6? Eddie LeBaron.

Women who don't know a quick kick from a winged-T cheer every move on the field, waving pennants, purses and even mink stoles. That's football. So is the pressbox with its battery of clattering typewriters. And the oldtimer who claims they played a better game in his day is a part of football, too.

It's Ray Berry, who wears contact lenses, making unbelievable catches for the Baltimore Colts. And after the game, when he dons his thick glasses, he looks the part of a studious school teacher--which he is after football season terminates.

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