News Article: Former Crimson Tide star John Croyle: Bear Bryant 'died of a broken heart' after retiring from coaching Daniel Taylor | 05.15.23

[selmaborntidefan]

Yeah, but that iron bowl though *chefs kiss*... I can't imagine how irate auburn fans were after that game.

Well, they DID beat themselves by getting too caught up in the moment.

Here's what I think fans kinda forget - and it was hard to deal with all the trauma that year. Look at our records at the time:

1981: 9-2-1
1982: 8-4
1983: 8-4
1984:
1985: 9-2-1
1986: 10-3

Then remember:
a) Kerry Goode went down with an injury in the third qtr after accounting for 295 all-purpose yards in the opener
b) we had three one-score losses (Boston College, Tennessee, LSU)
c) we gave up 15 points in the final 5 minutes to lose to the Vols
d) despite having the worst scoring offense in the SEC, we thumped Tennessee and LSU statistically in everything except the final score and turnovers.

While I hate the "but Colt" excuse, it's not unreasonable to think Goode would have been worth enough to win those 3 games, which would have made us.....

1981: 9-2-1
1982: 8-4
1983: 8-4
1984: 8-4
1985: 9-2-1
1986: 10-3

Granted, I think it would have helped if Ray had settled on a quarterback, too. In a way, the 1984 season was sorta like the 2004 season, except nobody had us contending for the national title in 2004. Goode's injury in 1984 and Brodie's in 2004 stifled plans.


One thing I'll admit, though...winning that 1984 Iron Bowl washed away most of the bad taste of that season and helped us look forward to 1985.

 

[HighlandOak]

I didn't read the article, but he prophetically said he'd die within a year if he ever quit coaching ball. He died within about a month.

I remember that.

 

[deliveryman35]

Immoderate use of alcohol, over a long period of time, will usually shorten your life. I am of the opinion that is exactly what happened to Coach Bryant.

 

[HighlandOak]

Immoderate use of alcohol, over a long period of time, will usually shorten your life. I am of the opinion that is exactly what happened to Coach Bryant.

He was a great man, but he was never a bastion of healthy living. Of course, very few men of his generation were.

 

[PaulD]

Not to be "that guy" but it was actually a "probably croak in a WEEK," and he wasn't off by very much. That - and Pete Maravich's "I don't want to play ten years in the NBA and die of a heart attack at 40" (which he died) - have always been rather eerie with me.

I know it's poignant, and I'm privileged enough to have some memories of when Coach Bryant was running the show, and I'm sure it gets John Croyle (who played before my time but with whom I'm familiar thanks to Brodie) and the remaining Tide players through the years, but (and I don't say this to in any way be mean) Coach Bryant was a heavy smoker (unfiltered Chesterfields, the "man's" cigarette) and drinker who had already had a heart attack about 15 or so years earlier when he was younger than I am now, he visited a lot of homes and (I'm sure) ate a lot of Southern fried foods and generally abused and worked himself to death. He didn't sleep enough, and the truth is he DID give his life for Dear Ole Alabama. Coach Saban's big "sin" is he eats Little Debbie cakes for breakfast (well, and he murders other programs, but I digress).

Having said that and swayed the crowd that thinks Caesar was ambitious, let me now sway the crowd that Brutus is a murderer.

I absolutely DO believe there is SOMETHING to the whole "retirement has killed more people than hard work ever did" simply because I've seen it. By the same token, I've seen a lot of people retire and live for a long time - sometimes, sadly, too long from their vantage point.

I close with this, and I know it will sound kinda crazy BUT - I was 13 when he passed and living in Germany, so I didn't actually find out he had died until Thursday morning (it's 7 hours ahead, and IIRC he died between 1 and 2pm, so I was preparing for bed), when just as I was about to walk out the door for school, I handed my Mom "The Stars and Stripes" newspaper delivered every morning before six, and she opened it up and bellowed the news to me. And then? I just went on to school like it was just another day. BBBUUUUTTTT....

There IS a part of me that has always been glad, not that he died, but that he never had to see another coach on that sideline in his place IN A GAMEW, even if it was his handpicked successor. To exaggerate a bit, "I think that alone woulda killed him," and in all honesty that's about the same thing John Croyle is saying.

================


Want trauma? I returned to the USA in 1984 for my first full Alabama season where I could see or hear every single game.


I said 1984 y'all. THAT. was trauma.

In January 1983, I was stationed in Oklahoma. Our master sergeant was from Sylacauga and came to tell me that his sister back in Alabama had called to tell him. It's amazing to think how disconnected everyone was back then compared to now.

Retirement can be very stressful when you HAVE to retire when you really don't want to and I think that was the case with Coach Bryant. When you hear Coach Saban talk about life after coaching I don't think it's something he looks forward to.

 

[JohnD]

There IS a part of me that has always been glad, not that he died, but that he never had to see another coach on that sideline in his place IN A GAMEW, even if it was his handpicked successor. To exaggerate a bit, "I think that alone woulda killed him," and in all honesty that's about the same thing John Croyle is saying.

I would have loved to hear him tell stories for 10 or more years after his retirement. Like a lot of good storytelling coaches have been able to do. Think of the audio gold that would have been.

 

[twofbyc]

I’ve been told by those that would know that influential people around the program recognized Bryant’s alcohol issues and in the late 1970’s got him into treatment. By “treatment” in those days I mean primarily detox or “drying out”. That lasted for about week before he checked out. So attempts were made to get Coach Bryant some help.

Bryant was chronologically age 69, but physically he was age 89.

One of best friends from HS graduated from Bama. I remember him telling me, summer of 72 or 73, about him watching (I believe he said State Troopers) carrying him off the practice field because he was inebriated.
I’ve personally known two heavy drinkers who passed away at a much younger age.
IMO, doesn’t diminish in the least the positive influence he had on thousands of lives. He was one of kind and one of the best ever.

 

[mdb-tpet]

I agree Coach Bryant's heart was broken, but it wasn't from retiring. He just overworked his heart from every direction possible until it just couldn't handle the stress anymore.

 

[Crimson1967]

The unfiltered Chesterfields probably didn’t help his lifespan much, either.