Bear Bryant
Bear Bryant
Paul William "Bear" Bryantwas an American college football player and coach. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. During his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach, he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships. Upon his retirement in 1982, he held the record for most wins as head coach in collegiate football history with 323 wins. The Paul W. Bryant Museum, Paul W. Bryant Hall, Paul W. Bryant Drive, and...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth11 September 1913
CityFordyce, AR
CountryUnited States of America
There is not a person alive who isn't going to have some awfully bad days in their lives. I tell my players that what I mean by fighting is when your house burns down, and your wife runs off with the drummer, and you've lost your job and all the odds are against you. What are you going to do? Most people just lay down and quit. Well, I want my people to fight back.
I have had players who are good, and who know they are good; I have had players who are bad and know they are bad; I have had players who are good, but who don't know they are good; I have had players who are bad, but who don't know they are bad. It is this last group that has won more games for me than the first three groups combined.
At Alabama, our players don't win Heisman Trophies. Our teams win National Championships.
If you whoop and holler all the time, the players just get used to it.
Everybody's got pretty good players now, more players than there've ever been. If you play poorly, you're going to get beat.
If a man is a quitter, I'd rather find out in practice than in a game. I ask for all a player has so I'll know later what I can expect.
I always want my players to show class, knock'em down, pat on the back, and run back to the huddle.
I tell young players who want to be coaches, who think they can put up with all the headaches and heartaches, can you live without it? If you can live without it, don't get in it.
It's been years since I've had a real input in the game anyway. For this game, I've just tried to keep all the other stuff away from the players and coaches.
I've had many a player tell me all through high school and right up until signing day that they were coming to Alabama, then they signed with somebody else.
Find your own picture, your own self in anything that goes bad. It's awfully easy to mouth off at your staff or chew out players, but if it's bad, and your the head coach, you're responsible. If we have an intercepted pass, I threw it. I'm the head coach. If we get a punt blocked, I caused it. A bad practice, a bad game, it's up to the head coach to assume his responsibility.
In order to have a winner, the team must have a feeling of unity; every player must put the team first ahead of personal glory.
I'll never give up on a player regardless of his ability as long as he never gives up on himself. In time he will develop.
No coach has ever won a game by what he knows; it's what his players know that counts.