You know...there are only two other college football coaches who come to mind that were very close to winning National Championships at two different schools.
Coach Bryant (Kentucky in 1950 went 11-1)
Coach Wade (Duke in 1938 almost won the Rose Bowl)
I'm not surprised both coaches won multiple titles while at Alabama.
Are there any other coaches who have done anything similar?
There are two others I can think of who came VERY CLOSE.
Dan Devine won the 1977 national title at Notre Dame (a sore spot I know). His 1960 Missouri team was ranked #1 late in the year and wound up with one loss and a #5 finish.
Howard Schnellenberger won the 1983 title at Miami. In 1990, his Louisville squad finished #14 after a rousing thumping of us. I know #14 is not so high, but they did only have a loss and tie. Howard is probably stretching it, but Devine came about as close as anybody.
You have to remember, though, that this very accomplishment SHOULD be rare. After all, when a coach wins a national title he's pretty much untouchable for the rest of his career (insert Larry Coker exception here) barring NCAA sanctions. That's why Bobby Bowden stayed around about six years too long.
Bear Bryant himself would probably tell you that he stayed around a year or two too long as well. We lost twice in 1981 (with a tie) - a down year for us - but it was not so much that we lost as HOW we lost (and tied) that set fans back. We somehow lost to a terrible Ga Tech team coached by Bill Curry (I think that was their only win that year) and then we called a timeout and actually gave USM time to set up their game-tying FG.
And the painful game that sent the Old Man out was no doubt the Southern Miss debacle of 1982. But that's another story.
