Last Coach: A Life of Paul "Bear" Bryant
When Paul William "Bear" Bryant died on January 26, 1983, it was the lead story on the all three networks' evening news. New York City newspapers reported his death on their front pages. ("Crimson Tears," read the headline in the New York Post, "Nation weeps over death of legendary Bear Bryant, 69.") Three days later, America watched in awe as an estimated quarter of a million mourners lined the fifty-five mile stretch from Tuscaloosa to a Birmingham cemetery to pay their respects as his...
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The explosive biography of the greatest college football coach in history. The Washington Post - Larry Moffi If you're from anywhere but Alabama, Paul "Bear" Bryant is merely one of the greatest football coaches of all time. For Alabamians, Bryant is the only coach, and for good reason. Allen Barra, himself an Alabamian and a gifted writer, doesn't go quite that far, but his comprehensive and endearing biography, The Last Coach: A Life of Paul Bear Bryant, substantiates the legend—yes, he did once wrestle a bear—without sidestepping some less pleasant issues, including racial segregation.
IntroductionxiiiProloguexxviiPart 1Chapter 1Up from the Bottom3Chapter 2You've Got to Be a Football Hero34Chapter 3Coach in Progress73Part 2Chapter 4New Kentucky Home109Chapter 5Gone to Texas156Chapter 6The Second Coming206Part 3Chapter 7Bear Accused249Chapter 8High Tide308Chapter 9Ebb Tide343Part 4Chapter 10Bear Redux383Chapter 11The Bear in Winter429Chapter 12Like Having John Wayne for Your Grandfather493Appendix 1Bud and Bear505Appendix 2Was Bear the Greatest Coach Ever?509Appendix 3Bear by the Numbers516Appendix 4Chronology522Acknowledgments531Notes537Bibliography544
\ From Barnes & NoblePaul "Bear" Bryant (1913-83) was perhaps the greatest coach in college football history; he was certainly the most charismatic. Tight-lipped, gutsy, demanding, ruthlessly competitive, Bryant personified gridiron determination. "I don't want ordinary people," he said. "I want people who are willing to sacrifice and do without a lot of those things ordinary students get to do. That's what it takes to win." Bryant's teams won; in 38 years of coaching, he suffered only one losing season. This rich, full-scale 600-page biography captures "the best coach there ever was" in his full glory.\ \ \ \ \ Buzz BissingerHe's best when the book takes a breath from those monotonous season-by-season regurgitations and finds a theme. The section dealing with one of Bryant's biggest controversies off the field, the successful undertaking of a libel suit against The Saturday Evening Post over unproven allegations that he conspired to fix the 1962 Alabama-Georgia game, is thick and revealing. Even better, truly superb, is Barra's evenhanded recounting of the role Bryant played - or, more precisely, did not play, given his remarkable influence in the state of Alabama - in hastening the integration of the football program.\ — The New York York Times\ \ \ Larry MoffiIf you're from anywhere but Alabama, Paul "Bear" Bryant is merely one of the greatest football coaches of all time. For Alabamians, Bryant is the only coach, and for good reason. Allen Barra, himself an Alabamian and a gifted writer, doesn't go quite that far, but his comprehensive and endearing biography, The Last Coach: A Life of Paul Bear Bryant, substantiates the legend—yes, he did once wrestle a bear—without sidestepping some less pleasant issues, including racial segregation.\ —The Washington Post\ \ \ \ \ Publishers WeeklyThis meticulous, fascinating look at the life of the legendary "Bear" Bryant (1913-1983), longtime head football coach of the University of Alabama's fearsome "Crimson Tide," will further enhance the reputation of Barra (Clearing the Bases) as one of America's finest sportswriters. It begins with a powerful and unsentimental view of Bryant's difficult childhood in Moro Bottom, Ark., an area Barra describes as "the reality of which Al Capp's Dogpatch, the home of L'il Abner, was the hideous caricature." It ends with a moving description of Bryant's death, just 27 days after his final game and retirement, and the three-mile-long funeral procession viewed by an estimated quarter of a million people. In between, Barra covers Bryant's rise as a cultural and sports icon whose influence helped transform college football "from a game with a large cult following into the most lucrative spectator sport in the world." Among the many incidents Barra deftly explores are Bryant's hesitancy--followed by his thoroughness--in integrating the Alabama team (in 1971), and his visionary use of televised games in the early 1960s--which he accomplished with ABC sports broadcasting superstar Roone Arledge, then a 29-year-old rookie--to establish himself and his team (including flamboyant players such as Joe Namath) in the minds of a national sports audience. Throughout, Barra illuminates the complexities of what he sees as Bryant's legacies: "his intensity and will to win and his unshakable belief that these qualities, when applied to a higher purpose, can make you a better person." Photos. Agent, Jay Mandel. (Sept.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ Library JournalBoth arrogant and self-critical, Paul "Bear" Bryant was a man of contradictions, which makes it easy to focus on the extremes of his personality. Sports journalist Barra (Brushbacks and Knockdowns: The Greatest Baseball Debates of Two Centuries), however, provides a balance between the college football legend's flaws and strengths in this satisfying account of the real man. All the stories are here: his humble beginnings; his ruthless competitiveness; his colorful and often quoted language; the boot camp-style practices in Junction, TX; his alcoholism; his steadfast refusal to coach in the NFL; and his prediction that he would die without football. What makes this work particularly rich is Barra's careful attention to detail and history. Bryant's life is framed within the context of his time and the culture of the South. Readers will experience an array of emotions-humor, sadness, inspiration, awe-as Barra reveals his subject's contributions to college football and ability to touch and inspire people long after their associations with Bryant ended. Anyone who loves football will further enjoy this book for its glimpse into the game before it became the multimillion-dollar business it is today. Highly recommend for both public and academic libraries.-Kimberley Robles-Smith, California State Univ. Lib., Fresno Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.\ \
