Bear Bryant

Paul William 'Bear' Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football coach. Best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team, he achieved an unparalleled legendary status in the sport, winning the national championship six times, and setting the record as the all-time (up to that time) most successful coach in NCAA Division I college football, with a record of 323-85-17.

Integration

Bryant presided over a turbulent time in the history of the university, in particular with racial relations in Alabama in the 1960s. He and basketball coach C. M. Newton are credited with bringing the school's sports programs into the modern era. In 1970 after losing to an exceptional University of Southern California (USC) team 42-21 - whose star running back, Sam "Bam" Cunningham, was a young African American from Mobile - Bryant is said to have gone to the governor of Alabama personally, as the university's athletic director, to request a change in policy with regard to the granting of athletic scholarships to blacks, which was granted. Many believe that it was Bryant's intention when scheduling the game with USC; he personally flew to Los Angeles and offered USC head coach John McKay $250,000 to come to Birmingham to play the Tide.

Related Topics:
1960s - Basketball - Sports - University of Southern California - African American - Mobile - Governor of Alabama - Athletic director - Los Angeles - John McKay - Birmingham

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The first black player to sign with Alabama was Wilbur Jackson. The first black to actually appear in a game was junior-college transfer John Mitchell. By 1973 nearly a third of the starters for the Crimson Tide were African Americans.

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