In honor of Coach Bryant

GP for Bama

All-American
Feb 3, 2011
4,328
1,090
187
Such a sad day when he died

Those next few days were filled with emotion. I have read of the out pouring of emotions by southerners when Robert E. Lee died. In a certain way the losses were similar.
 

TIDE-HSV

Senior Administrator
Staff member
Oct 13, 1999
84,527
39,616
437
Huntsville, AL,USA
This was my feeling. I always equated him with my dad. Both had a big impact on my life.
I know what you mean. My dad died when I was a freshman, on February 28, 1958, but he died knowing that Coach Bryant was coming back and one of the last statements he made to my mom was that Alabama was going to be all right, because Coach Bryant was coming home. There was more than a passing resemblance between them. They were both massive men, Coach Bryant maybe an inch or so taller. Both were recruited for Bama by Coach Crisp. My dad turned down the offer, although it was very generous and legal at the time. Dad's first wife died young and very unexpectedly, leaving him with a young son, my older half-brother. Dad had one year of HS to finish, which he could have done at Tuscaloosa HS, with child care for my brother. He declined the offer, after weighing the alternatives. I guess if he had taken, it I wouldn't be writing this now. My dad would have been several years ahead of Coach Bryant. What amazes me is that, when I matriculated, in the mid 50s, Coach Crisp was still employed and was managing the campus facilities, including the gym at Northington Campus, where I spent many hours. Coach Bryant took care of him to the end of his life...
 

dirtroadlizard

All-SEC
Nov 3, 2011
1,226
110
87
Bunker Creek , FL
I loved Coach Bryant . I had worked my crew in a cold drizzle that day and had a two hour drive home from the jobsite . I arived home wet and sick and my wife met me at the door with the news . The last I heard , he was in the hospital and doing ok . I sat on the floor and cried . I'll never forget him to my dying day . Roll Tide Coach . You will always be my hero !
 

CrimsonNan

BamaNation Hall of Fame
Oct 19, 2003
6,501
46
0
Vestavia Hills, Alabama, USA
I was in Nashville when I heard the news about Coach Bryant. I'd gone up there for an ice skating lesson, and was about to leave for the trip back to Birmingham. I called a friend who just happened to be a Bama fan, although she lived in Nashville. She asked me if I'd heard about the "Bear". I said, "No" what happened? She told me. I cried all the way home to Birmingham.

I had met him - sorta -at the bookstore, where I was working at the time, in the book department. He came to autograph the book he'd written "Bear". I got my autographed copy and of course still have it.

Still miss you "Bear".
 

TideWatcher

All-SEC
Dec 11, 2006
1,814
11
62
newton county, ms
Bama fans who grew up with Coach Bryant revered him. I was in junior college playing baseball. A teammate came over to me and said Coach Bryant died, and it was like a hammer. Don't know if he was the best football coach ever; maybe; probably; but the thing you can't explain about Coach Bryant makes him different and unique from any other coach. He was the toughest and the classiest; an uncommon union of attributes that made him stand out from all the rest.
 

Cannon

BamaNation Citizen
Jun 1, 2004
65
0
25
Hamilton, AL USA
watvc.com
Coach Bryant

While reading and viewing video about Coach Bryant, I still pass tears. One video had Bo Jackson who said something like, "When Coach was with us there was only one person in Alabama ahead of him. GOD."

He often mentioned Jasper's Ellis Taylor on his TV show. I went into a bank just east of campus while he was there. I asked if he had heard about Ellis. He said no. I told what I had heard which was a funny incident involving poker. I would love to have been a fly on the wall when he called Ellis.

I am now 71 and I can cry with the best. I still miss him that much today.
 

exiledNms

Hall of Fame
Aug 2, 2002
5,443
7
0
Hattiesburg, MS (USA)
Re: Coach Bryant

I remember it clearly. (When one's lifelong hero dies, it leaves an impression. My childhood dream was never to play in the NFL; it was to play linebacker for Coach Bryant. Alas, when one is all of 5'5" on HS graduation day, and is slow, and not a small degree of wimpy,...I had to settle for watching his last 3 years at the helm.) I was born shortly after "Mama called" him back to UA. What a grand time to be a UA fan the 60s & 70s were! Sort of like now, actually. :)

I know exactly where I was when I heard: I was in the record store on the Strip not studying for any classes. :blush: I recall just freezing in place & staying frozen there, open-mouthed for a long time. We all sort of shuffled out & went on our way. I attended Coach's funeral downtown (can't recall which of the alternate church sites I sat in).

I too, equated Coach w/ Dad, because my Dad was a HUGE fan, & Dad died when I was 15. Football aside, this world seemed that much less like home. As the cheesy song said, "hero of little boys and their Dads." True in the house I grew up in!
 

wishbonedays

1st Team
Mar 30, 2003
663
4
0
Hanceville, AL, USA
www.wfl1974.com
"Numb" is a good description...
I agree...I was in between classes and was trying on some golf shoes at the store when I hear it on the radio, when the announcer broke in with the news...just went numb...I just sat there for a while...went back to my apartment and watched the coverage on TV with my wife of barely 10 months...He was the only Alabama coach I had ever known and it was quite a shock...we all miss him.
 

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