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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Paul 'Bear' Bryant
b. Sept. 11, 1913, Fordyce, AR
d. Jan. 26, 1983
PAUL W. BRYANT
Awarded by
President Ronald Reagan
February 23, 1983
In many ways, American sports embody the best in our national character--dedication, teamwork, honor and friendship. Paul "Bear" Bryant embodied football. The winner of more games than any other coach in history, Bear Bryant was a true American hero. A hard but beloved taskmaster he pushed ordinary people to perform extraordinary feats. Patriotic to the core, devoted to his players and inspired by a winning spirit that never quit, Bear Bryant gave his country the gift of a legend. In making the impossible seem easy, he lived what we all strive to be.
Biography
1913-1983
 Paul "Bear" Bryant, the coach who made the houndstooth hat famous, shared many exciting moments in the College Football.
Bryant started at end for the University of Alabama from 1933 through 1935, then served as an assistant coach at Alabama and Vanderbilt University. After rising to the rank of lieutenant commander in the Navy during World War II, he became head coach at the University of Maryland in 1945 and had a 6-2-1 record.
In 1946, Bryant went to the University of Kentucky. He had a 60-23-5 record in 8 seasons there, then took over at Texas A & M in 1954. His first team won only 1 of 10 games, but Bryant had a 24-4-2 record over the next 3 seasons. His 1957 team lost to Tennessee 3-0 in the Gator Bowl.
Bryant returned to Alabama as head coach in 1958 and became the winningest coach in NCAA Division I history in 1981, breaking A. A. Stagg's record of 314 victories. He spent 25 seasons at Alabama, winning 232 games while losing 46 and tying 9. Bryant's teams won or shared 13 Southeastern Conference championships and were named national champions in 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, and 1979.
He retired after the 1982 season with an overall record of 323-85-17. He holds the record for most major bowl games, 29, most bowl game wins, 15, and most losses, 12.
As a teen-ager, Bryant once wrestled a bear in a traveling show for a dollar a minute. He later said he never got paid, but he did get a nickname for the feat.
A tough, stern disciplinarian, Bryant left Maryland after one season because he had suspended a player for breaking training rules and the college president reinstated him without consulting Bryant. Bryant also suspended star quarterback Joe Namath in 1963 and Namath missed the 1964 Sugar Bowl game. Alabama beat Mississippi 12-7 without him. Lee Roy Jordan, an All-American linebacker at Alabama in 1962, said of Bryant, "His feeling for people--whether one needs stroking or another needs chewing out--is uncanny. You loved him, yet you respected and feared him."
Though he had a reputation for running a conservative, ball control offense, Bryant could also coach a passing team when he had the right quarterback. With Vito "Babe" Parilli at quarterback in 1950, Kentucky set a record for touchdown passes with 27, and Bryant also had fine passing teams with Namath and Ken "Snake" Stabler at Alabama.
College Football Hall of Fame
Coaching Record
Year School W L T
1945
Maryland
6
2
1
1946
Kentucky
7
3
0
1947
Kentucky
8
3
0
1948
Kentucky
5
3
2
1949
Kentucky
9
3
0
1950
Kentucky
11
1
0
1951
Kentucky
8
4
0
1952
Kentucky
5
4
2
1953
Kentucky
7
2
1
1954
Texas A&M
1
9
0
1955
Texas A&M
7
2
1
1956
Texas A&M
9
0
1
1957
Texas A&M
8
3
0
1958
Alabama
5
4
2
1959
Alabama
7
2
2
1960
Alabama
8
1
2
1961
Alabama
11
0
0
1962
Alabama
10
1
0
1963
Alabama
9
2
0
1964
Alabama
10
1
0
1965
Alabama
9
1
1
1966
Alabama
11
0
0
1967
Alabama
8
2
1
1968
Alabama
8
3
0
1969
Alabama
6
5
0
1970
Alabama
6
5
1
1971
Alabama
11
1
0
1972
Alabama
10
2
0
1973
Alabama
11
1
0
1974
Alabama
11
1
0
1975
Alabama
11
1
0
1976
Alabama
9
3
0
1977
Alabama
11
1
0
1978
Alabama
11
1
0
1979
Alabama
12
0
0
1980
Alabama
10
2
0
1981
Alabama
9
2
1
1982
Alabama
8
4
0 Totals
323
84
17
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Medal History
