I've got a former music instructor who is a Facebook friend. I wish him happy birthday every year.
I still - and I haven't had a class from him for 25 years - he's Dr. Harris. Period. If I'm asked to do his funeral, he will still be Dr Harris to me.
Some of us were taught to respect others and you call them "Mr" unless told otherwise (or whatever title they have). It's still ma'am to me, mostly because my father would have beat me senseless if I had called my mother anything else when summoned.
I feel the same way with Coach Bryant. You'll notice NONE of his players ever calls him anything else. Not from any school he where he coached. My goodness, even the stubborn and classless Pat Dye calls him Coach Bryant.
I'm a little less bothered on our current coach, mostly because I called him something else when he coached the opposition and those habits die hard. But as hard as it may be for some to believe here - even predecessors to Saban whom we don't particularly recall fondly were called "coach" when they held the title here, too.
