At the University of Alabama, the Paul W. Bryant Museum, Paul W. Bryant Hall, Paul W. Bryant Drive and BryantDenny Stadium are all named in his honor. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}The Man Behind the First All-Black Basketball Team, 8 Times Brothers Have Faced Off in a Championship, Every Black Quarterback to Play in the Super Bowl, Soccer Star Christian Atsu Survived an Earthquake. Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. At the University of Kentucky, Lexington (194653), his team won 60 games, lost 23, and tied 5; won the schools first Southeastern Conference championship; and won three of four bowl games. "Well", Bryant replied, "then that's where we're going to finish in football. 2023 www.tuscaloosanews.com. The best part is, Bear was only just beginning his incredible life story. Paul 'Bear' Bryant (Paul William Bryant) was born on 11 September, 1913 in Moro Bottom, Arkansas, USA, is an Actor. It was November 2009, and undefeated No. Less than one month after his final game, Bryant died of a heart attack at Tuscaloosa's Druid City Hospital on January 26, 1983. Along with his record-tying six national titles, he won 15 conference championships and was named the College Football Coach of the Year three times. After these disappointing efforts, many began to wonder if the 57-year-old Bryant was washed up. She was 68 years old. But several other contemporaneous polls, as well as the Sagarin Ratings System applied retrospectively, declared Bryant's 1950 Wildcats to be the national champions, but neither the NCAA nor College Football Data Warehouse recognizes this claim. On October 7, 1988, the Paul W. Bryant Museum opened to the public. Two hundred others died. But you know what? At 13 years old, Paul William Bryant was 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds when he was challenged to wrestle a live bear at a carnival. [22] On his hand at the time of his death was the only piece of jewelry he ever wore, a gold ring inscribed "Junction Boys". And some of the fans heckled him a little bit. His last game was a 2115 victory in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee, over the University of Illinois. He went on to play at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, where, despite being the "other end" opposite future NFL Hall of Famer Don Hutson, he was twice named to the all-Southeastern Conference third team and once to its second team. They would both be a credit to the University by their conduct and play, thus widening the door and warming the welcome for many more to follow. The UPI thereafter moved its final poll until after the bowl games. )[16] Bryant said that the prevailing social climate and the overwhelming presence of noted segregationist George Wallace in Alabama, first as governor and then as a presidential candidate, did not let him do this. Charles Ghigna wrote a poem that appeared in the Birmingham-Post Herald in 1983 as a tribute to Bryant. Paul William Bryant Jr. was born circa 1945. Bryant was selected in the fourth round by the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1936 NFL Draft, but he never played professional football. Danny Ford (Clemson, 1981), Howard Schnellenberger (Miami of Florida, 1983), and Gene Stallings (Alabama, 1992), one of the Junction Boys, all won national championships as head coaches for NCAA programs while Joey Jones, Mike Riley, and David Cutcliffe are active head coaches in the NCAA. Held in Houston and televised live by the Bally Sports Southwest sports channel, the Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year Award annually recognizes the country's top college football coach. During his collegiate career the team won 23 games, lost 3, and tied 2. Three-time National Coach of the Year in 1961, 1971 and 1973. A month after his death, Bryant was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, by President Ronald Reagan. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Charles McClendon, Jerry Claiborne, Sylvester Croom, Jim Owens, Jackie Sherrill, Bill Battle, Bud Moore and Pat Dye were also notable NCAA head coaches. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. In 1968, Bryant again could not match his previous successes, as the team went 83, losing to the University of Missouri 3510 in the Gator Bowl. Son of Wilson Monroe Bryant and Dora Ida Bryant Bear Bryant: The Crimson Standard. He says he's asked. University of Alabama football coaching legend, Paul "Bear" Bryant, died from a heart attack in 1983. [5] He also serves as the President of Green Group, Inc.[6], Bryant invests in "dog and horse racing, the insurance industry, cement making, catfish farming and banking. Bryant was the 11th of 12 children who were born to Wilson Monroe Bryant and Ida Kilgore Bryant in Moro Bottom, Cleveland County, Arkansas. Paul "Bear" Bryant and Billy Varner. [6], After meeting with Byrd the next day, Bryant received the job as head coach of the Maryland Terrapins. Paul William "Bear" Bryant was born on September 11, 1913, in the community of Moro Bottom, outside Fordyce, Arkansas. After the game, Bryant was asked what he planned to do now that he was retired. He also served as athletic director while at Texas A&M. "[1] In 1995, Bryant acquired Reynolds Ready Mix, a cement company later renamed Ready Mix USA. He died of a heart attack only 37 days after retiring. The 1978 Alabama Crimson Tide football team split the national title with USC despite losing to the Trojans in September. The Man Behind the First All-Black Basketball Team, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads, Name: Bear Bryant, Birth Year: 1913, Birth date: September 11, 1913, Birth State: Arkansas, Birth City: Moro Bottom, Birth Country: United States, Best Known For: American college football coach Bear Bryant won six national championships at the University of Alabama and retired with a then-record of 323 wins, Astrological Sign: Virgo. [14] The national coach of the year award was subsequently named the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award in his honor. Coach Dabo's dance moves were too good https://t.co/pZlGYR85o5. https://www.nytimes.com/1984/08/28/obituaries/mary-harmon-bryantwidow-of-coach-dies.html. After that season, Bryant was able to recruit Wilbur Jackson as Alabama's first black scholarship player, and junior-college transfer John Mitchell became the first black man to play for Alabama. In a few years, you might even see Bear's own flesh and blood take the field. "It was just kind of a way of life for us going to football games," Marc says. His Father, Wilson, was a farmer and his mother, Ida, looked after the family. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). We're trying to win a state championship. Bryant returned to his alma mater in 1958 as head football coach and athletic director, his five wins that year surpassing the team's output from the previous three seasons. Bryant coached at Kentucky for eight seasons. After the 1941 season, Bryant was offered the head coaching job at the University of Arkansas. 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. In 1954, Bryant accepted the head coaching job at Texas A&M University. Furman Bisher, "College Football is Going Berserk: A Game Ruled by Brute Force Needs a Housecleaning". I was national coach of the year three times, SEC coach of the year eight times, coached six national championship teams and on November 28, 1981, I became the winningest coach in the history of college football at that time. The 1963 season ended with a 127 victory over Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl, which was the first game between the two Southeastern Conference neighbors in almost twenty years, and only the second in thirty years. [13] The next year, in 1959, Alabama beat Auburn and appeared in the inaugural Liberty Bowl, the first time the Crimson Tide had beaten Auburn or appeared in a bowl game in six years. Stewart. The Paul W. Bryant Museum, Paul W. Bryant Hall, Paul W. Bryant Drive, and BryantDenny Stadium are all named in his honor at the University of Alabama. The next three years (196264) featured Joe Namath at quarterback and were among Bryant's finest. The 1962 season ended with a 170 victory in the Orange Bowl over Bud Wilkinson's Oklahoma Sooners. I don't want ordinary people,I want people who are willing to sacrifice and do without a lot of those things ordinary students get to do. 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". Former Washington Redskins coach George Allenalso attended the funeral, representing then-President Ronald Reagan. Bryant was portrayed by Gary Busey in the 1984 film The Bear, by Sonny Shroyer in the 1994 film Forrest Gump, Tom Berenger in the 2002 film The Junction Boys, and Jon Voight in the 2015 film Woodlawn. [2], The Aggies suffered through a grueling 19 season in 1954, which began with the infamous training camp in Junction, Texas. Under Bryant, Kentucky made its first bowl appearance (1947) and won its first Southeastern Conference title (1950). Paul William "Bear" Bryant died at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 26, 1983, at the age of 69 at Druid City Hospital after suffering cardiopulmonary arrest. [citation needed], He was later granted an honorable discharge to train recruits and coach the North Carolina Navy Pre-Flight football team. Bryant took over the Alabama football team in 1958. After the 1945 season, Bryant left Maryland to take over as head coach at the University of Kentucky.[7]. Bryant entered Druid City Hospital in Tuscaloosa on January 25, 1983, after feeling chest discomfort. Discover Paul 'Bear' Bryant's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. 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. [2] He went on to establish more tracks in Texas (for example in La Marque, Texas), Idaho, and Iowa. HOUSTON, October 10, 2022 The American Heart Association's Paul "Bear" Bryant Awards has named coaching legend Mark Dantonio the recipient of the 2023 Paul "Bear" Bryant Heart of a Champion Award, presented by St. Luke's Health in Houston, Texas. Because of the overflow crowd, the service also was piped into . [1][2] By 1995, they were incorporated as GreenTrack, Inc.[4] As of 2009, he owned 72% of GreenTrack. About 400 dignitaries, family members and friends packed First United Methodist Church for the service. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_Bryant#Head_coaching_record. On February 12, 1943, in the North Atlantic the oil tanker USS Salamonie suffered a steering fault and accidentally rammed the SS Uruguay amidships. After the 1982 season, Bryant, who had turned 69 that September, decided to retire, stating, "This is my school, my alma mater. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. [3] After the 1941 season, Bryant was offered the head coaching job at the University of Arkansas. He would sit on the sidelines for home games, and when those games finished, he'd find his grandfather, grab his hand and walk off the field with him. University of Alabama football coaching legend, Paul "Bear" Bryant, died from a heart attack in 1983. Bryant served as the chairman of the Civil War Trust. Marshall put him in contact with Harry Clifton "Curley" Byrd, the president and former football coach of the University of Maryland. University of Alabama football coaching legend, Paul "Bear" Bryant, died from a heart attack in 1983. The following year, Bryant's star back John David Crow won the Heisman Trophy, and the 1957 Aggies were in title contention until they lost to the #20 Rice Owls in Houston, amid rumors that Alabama would be going after Bryant. He may end up going back there and having a good game against them.". His moniker came from a carnival promotion where he promised to battle a caged bear when he was 13 years old. Two-thirds of the players quit before camp ended, and the Aggies went 1-9 to give Bryant his only losing season as a head coach, but those who remained formed the core of the undefeated unit that won the 1956 Southwest Conference championship. Several red-and-white banners reading "We Love You, Bear"flapped from interstate overpasses as the motorcade rolled by. A day later, when being prepared for an electrocardiogram, he died after suffering a massive heart attack. [27] The case was decided in Butts' favor in the US District Court of Northern Georgia in August 1963, but Curtis Publishing appealed to the Supreme Court. "It would definitely be awesome to play there," Paul says. In 1954, Bryants first year as a coach at Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University, College Station, the team lost 9 of 10 games. Bryants career coaching record of 323 regular season wins, 85 losses, and 17 ties broke the long-standing record of Amos Alonzo Stagg for most games won by a college coach. Half brother of Paul William Bryant. He was also known for his trademark black and white houndstooth or gingham 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. During his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach, he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships. [2] In March 2015, The Birmingham News revealed that many UA trustees worked or had relatives who worked for the Bryant Bank. Pacing the sidelines in his trademark houndstooth hat, he established the Crimson Tide as college football's team to beat over the following decade, winning the national championship in 1961, '64 and '65. Bear Bryant, byname of Paul William Bryant, (born September 11, 1913, Kingsland, Arkansas, U.S.died January 26, 1983, Tuscaloosa, Alabama), American college football coach who set a record (later broken) for more games won than any other collegiate coach, with the majority of the victories coming during his tenure (1958-82) at the University of The Crimson Tide would repeat as champions in 1965 after defeating Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. After winning a combined four games in the three years prior to Bryant's arrival, the Tide went 541 in Bryant's first season. She was 68 years old. In 1983, football coaching legend, Paul "Bear" Bryant, died from a heart attack. He played on the team that beat Stanford University in the Rose Bowl game (1935). 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 3737 at Legion Field. The 68-year-old son of the late "Bear" Bryant, who coached Alabama to six national championships, Paul W. Bryant Jr. never played a down of football beyond the youth level and never coached, but could be the most powerful man in UA athletics by virtue of his name alone. He can make every type of throw you need to make. The 1971 Alabama Crimson Tide football team went undefeated in the regular season and rose to #2 in the AP Poll, but were dominated by top-ranked Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Lauded for being the most successful coach in the history of collegiate football in the U.S., he led his team to a record 323 wins. Corrections? Almost every college football fan knows Paul William Bryant, better known as Bear, as the most accomplished coach in college football history. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. He finally was able to convince the administration to allow him to do so, leading to the recruitment of Wilbur Jackson as Alabama's first black scholarship player who was recruited in 1969 and signed in the Spring of 1970. The survivors were given the name Junction Boys. Two years later, Bryant led the team to the Southwest Conference championship with a 3421 victory over the University of Texas at Austin. [1] : 6 His nickname stemmed from his having agreed to wrestle a captive bear during a carnival promotion when he was 13 years old. The magazine claimed that Bryant and Georgia Bulldogs coach Wally Butts had conspired to fix their 1962 game together in Alabama's favor. Three-time National Coach of the Year in 1961, 1971, and 1973. The result was a return to dominance, with the Tide winning the national championship in 1973, '78 and '79. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. The following year ended with a victory in the 1963 Sugar Bowl. Upon his retirement in 1982, he held the record for the most wins (323) as a head coach in collegiate football history. Bryant's father, Monroe, was a farmer, and his mother, Ida Mae, cared for the family, which later moved a few miles south of. A day later, when being prepared for an electrocardiogram, he died after suffering a massive heart attack. 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. He passed away just 28 days after coaching his last. Bryant was honored with a U.S. postage stamp in 1996. Frank Graham, Jr. "The Story of a College Football Fix", This page was last edited on 16 February 2023, at 22:46. His favorites were his Tom Brady and Philip Rivers jerseys, and he wears Rivers' No. Super Bowl XVII was dedicated to Bryant. It should be no surprise that among the schools he's interested in is Alabama. Moved to drive education around heart disease after his passing, the Bryant family teamed up with the American Heart Association in 1986 building on the Association's Coach of the Year Award to create the Paul "Bear" Bryant Awards program. I retired from coaching with an astonishing 323 victories. [2] He serves as its chairman.[6]. They would raise two children, Mae Martin Bryant and Paul William Bryant Jr. During his playing days at Alabama, Bryant lettered from 1933 to 1935 as the team amassed a record of 23 victories, 3 losses, and 2 ties. Bear Bryant: Early Life and Family. Bryant coached at Alabama for 25 years, winning six national titles (1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, and 1979) and thirteen SEC championships. "Paul Bryant Jr: His famous father casts a long shadow, one seemingly comfortable to the son", "Paul Bryant Jr.'s bank is tie that binds UA trustees", "Alabama Booster Paul Bryant Jr. Has Ties to Insurance Fraud Scheme", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_W._Bryant_Jr.&oldid=1127610045, This page was last edited on 15 December 2022, at 18:09. As of 2015, seven trustees were executives or directors at Bryant Bank. Bryant played end for the Crimson Tide and was a participant on the school's 1934 national championship team. Paul Bryant was the 11th of 12 children who were born to William Monroe and Ida Kilgore Bryant in Fordyce, Arkansas. Mary Harmon, of Troy, Ala., was a beauty queen at the University of Alabama and Mr. Bryant's college sweetheart, and they married in 1935, a few days after she had received her degree. Bryant's win over in-state rival Auburn, coached by former Bryant assistant Pat Dye on November 28, 1981, was Bryant's 315th as a head coach, which was the most of any head coach at that time. Omissions? Paul Tyson, now 16, is a. junior quarterback at Hewitt-Trussville (Alabama) High. Bryant's humanity lives only in his family and a few aging friends, in former employees such as Knowles, in 72-year-old . Ozzie Newsome, who played for Bryant at Alabama from 1974 to 1977, played professional football for the Cleveland Browns for thirteen seasons (19781990), and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999. In 1983, football coaching legend, Paul "Bear" Bryant, died from a heart attack. 0. For instance, Bryant was Alabama's athletic director in 1969 and called Rupp to ask if he had any recommendations for Alabama's new basketball coach. The Tide ended up sharing the 1964 national title with Arkansas, as the Razorbacks won the Cotton Bowl Classic, and had beaten Texas in Austin. Cunningham rushed for 150 yards and three touchdowns in a 4221 victory against the overmatched Tide. A moment of silence was held prior to Super Bowl XVII, played four days after Bryant's passing. In 1971 he recruited the first black player on the Alabama team, and he was credited with helping to stimulate the integration of college football at mostly white Southern universities. [1]:94, In 1945, 32-year-old Bryant met Washington Redskins owner George Marshall at a cocktail party hosted by the Chicago Tribune, and mentioned that he had turned down offers to be an assistant coach at Alabama and Georgia Tech because he was intent on becoming a head coach. He finally was able to convince the administration to allow him to do so after scheduling the Tide's 1970 season opener against a strong University of Southern California team led by black fullback Sam Cunningham. Before arriving at Alabama, Bryant was head football coach at the University of Maryland, the University of Kentucky, and Texas A&M University. That's when the voice of Bear Bryant rings through the stadium, and that's when Marc Tyson would look down at his son and say, "That's Papa.". About 400 dignitaries, family members and friends packed First United Methodist Church for the service. Bryant Jr. also has clear ties to a federal insurance fraud case that drew a 15-year prison sentence for Allen W. After graduating from the University of Alabama in 1936, Bryant took a coaching job under A. These ties received national press attention when the board of trustees made the shocking decision to kill UAB football. Izvltos iestatjumus jebkur laik varat maint sada Privtuma vadklas. Bryant resigned after the president reinstated an athlete Bryant had dismissed for breaking training rules. His personal physician, Dr. William Hill, said that he was amazed that Bryant had been able to coach Alabama to two national championships in what would be the last five years of his life, given the poor state of his health. "It's something our family has always done together. A month after his death, Bryant was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, by President Ronald Reagan. Bryant wrapped up his legendary career in December 1982 with a then-college football-record 323 victories. His nickname stemmed from his having agreed to wrestle a captive bear during a theater promotion when he was 13 years old. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Bryant was an assistant coach at Alabama (193640) and at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee (194041). At the request of Bryant's family, the motorcade passed by Bryant-Denny Stadium, the Crimson Tide's home field, and drove within sight of Legion Field in Birmingham, scene of many of his biggest wins. Thirty-nine years ago, Paul William "Bear" Bryant died of a heart attack in a Tuscaloosa hospital. [3] Career [ edit] Bryant founded the People's Bank in the late 1960s, [1] and later sold it. Bear Bryant. Bryant reached a separate out-of-court settlement on both of his cases for $300,000 against Curtis Publishing in January 1964. The tanker's bow made a 70-foot (21m) hole in Uruguay's hull and penetrated her, killing 13 soldiers and injuring 50. Bear Bryant starred his football career playing for the University of Alabama. Four weeks after making that comment, and just one day after passing a routine medical checkup, on January 25, 1983, Bryant checked into Druid City Hospital in Tuscaloosa after experiencing chest pain. In the next three seasons, however, they lost only four games and won one Southwest Conference championship. Although they've been staples in the stands at Bryant-Denny for almost two decades, the Tyson boys will be hitting the road this fall and may only end up seeing one or two Alabama games. In 1971 Bryant began engineering a comeback. It's gonna be fun to call plays for him.". Paul was born to be an athlete, and he was raised that way, too. Here's a look back at Bryant's life: Sept. 11, 1913 - Paul William Bryant is born in Moro Bottom, Arkansas. 1 in final UPI balloting", Digitized speeches and photographs of Coach Bryant, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bear_Bryant&oldid=1139792042. Mary Harmon, of Troy, Ala., was a. After a sixth-place SEC finish in the 1982 season that included losses to LSU and Tennessee, each for the first time since 1970, Bryant, who had turned 69 that September, announced his retirement, stating, "This is my school, my alma mater. But in my opinion, they deserved better coaching than they have been getting from me this year." Because of the overflow crowd, the service also was piped into the First Baptist Church, which seated 1,300, and FirstPresbyterian Church, which seated600. Joakim Nilsson (born March 30, 1971) is a Swedish former All-American javelin thrower who competed for the Alabama Crimson Tide, 1991-1995. Bryants teams at Alabama averaged 9.28 victories a year, an average unequaled by any other college coach. Very few people know this about me but I only wore one piece of jewelry; a gold ring inscribed "The Junction Boys". See the article in its original context from. [2], In 2005, Bryant founded the Bryant Bank. Paul Bryant was the 11th of Wilson Monroe and Ida Kilgore Bryant's 12 children born in Moro Bottom, Cleveland County, Arkansas. Mary Harmon Bryant, widow of the Alabama football legend Paul (Bear) Bryant, died Sunday night afer suffering a stroke on Friday. After graduating in 1936, Bryant became an assistant coach at Alabama for four years and Vanderbilt University for another two. Marc Tyson and his grandfather Bear Bryant, Until about the sixth grade, Marc coached him in basketball, baseball and football. He is interred at Birmingham's Elmwood Cemetery. Paul Tyson, now 16, is a 3-star junior quarterback at Hewitt-Trussville (Alabama) High. Paul William "Bear" Bryant was born on September 11, 1913, in the community of Moro Bottom, outside Fordyce, Arkansas. The 1969 and 1970 teams finished 65 and 651 respectively. Newsome was the GM of the Ravens' Super Bowl XXXV championship team in 2000, and their Super Bowl XLVII championship team in 2012. 1 guy.". In the most prominent incident, while Bryant was on vacation, Byrd reinstated a player who had been suspended by Bryant for a violation of team rules. All rights reserved. In a few years, you might even see Bear's own flesh and blood take the field. This included abandoning Alabama's old power offense for the newly-fashionable wishbone formation. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The museum chronicles the history of sports at The University of Alabama. This included abandoning Alabama's old power offense for the relatively new wishbone formation. MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- The daughter of Alabama football coaching great Paul 'Bear' Bryant says no decision has been made on who will play the role of the late coach in a movie about his life.. "We'll be the last football team in the Southwest Conference to integrate," he was told by a Texas A&M official. "[12] In 2001. a committee of trustees met in secret, just one day after a court barred Auburn's board of trustees from doing the same thing. At Bryant-Denny Stadium, he became a mini-celebritynot only because of his heritage, but because of his proclivity for ending up on the jumbotron. 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. Paul, for his part, is already an excellent spokesman for the team. In 1942, he served as an assistant coach with the Georgia Pre-Flight Skycrackers. After the 1945 season, Bryant left Maryland to take over as head coach at the University of Kentucky. First news of Bryant's death came from Bert Bank (WTBC Radio Tuscaloosa) and on the NBC Radio Network (anchored by Stan Martyn and reported by Stewart Stogel). The legendary University of Alabama football coach, who won 323 games and six national championships, passed away on Jan. 26, 1983. Paul William Bryant Jr. was born circa 1945. And when Mama calls, you just have to come runnin'." Thousands of mourners attended Bryant's funeral in Tuscaloosa, which was so large that it was held in three churches on Greensboro Avenue. Geni requires JavaScript! In 1942 he served as an assistant coach with the Georgia Pre-Flight Skycrackers. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. Ms, Yahoo, ietilpstam Yahoo zmolu saim. On campus, you can find Paul W. Bryant Museum, Paul W. Bryant Hall and Paul W. Bryant Drive. They had two children and four grandchildren. Paul William Bryant Jr. (born c. 1945) is an American banker, investor and philanthropist from Alabama. Bear Bryant received 1 1/2 votes for the Democratic presidential nomination at the party's 1968 national convention in Chicago. Who makes up the University of Alabama Board of Trustees? [8], He has donated millions of dollars to the Alabama Crimson Tide football program.