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Bear The Legendary Life of Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant

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Paul "Bear" Bryant begins with Bryant's death and then flashes back to his early life growing up as a poor farm boy in Arkansas. We are presented with stories that establish Bryant's toughness, his willingness to work hard and his drive to become a winner, including the story of how he earned the nickname "Bear".

The book confirms that Bryant was a manipulative SOB who loved his Chesterfield cigarettes and whiskey, but above all loved winning. It presents him as a man who would accept nothing but the best from his players and himself. He was hard when he had to be but taught that hard work was that which made champions. The book doesn't shy away from the more controversial aspects of his coaching career, such as his tenure at Texas A&M where in his first year he drove away all of the players he considered slackers.



Fans will enjoy the book's take on college football as it evolved throughout Bryant's career, particularly the section on Texas A&M's NCAA probation for paying players. Bryant's complaint was that everyone else was doing the same, but only the Aggies were being persecuted for it. The book portrays the 'Bear' as a humble man, denying his greatness even when he surpassed Pop Warner and Amos Alonzo Stagg in all-time wins. Some of the stories about Bryant's antics will have you laughing out loud.



The only negative aspect of the book is the confusion that results when it jumps from one point in Bryant's life to the next without warning. Since it's written in a story-like style instead of a documentary format like most biographies, it's a very enjoyable read. It's understandable why the legend of Bear Bryant is very much alive and continues to grow because by the end of the book, you can't help but admire Bryant and feel much closer to him as a person.

Award-wining newswriter Don Keith presents The Bear: The Legendary Life of Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, a most unusual biography of charismatic football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. The Bear is based upon a screenplay by Al Browning, Jr. and reads like a fluid novel, yet firmly grounded in actual events and corrects common inaccuracies or misperceptions held about Paul Bryant to this day. A handful of black-and-white photographic plates illustrate this true tale of the vivacious man who turned around a struggling football program in Alabama, led the record in career victories for a college football coach, with 323 major-college wins and had the loyalty and steadfast determination to resist a $1.7 million offer to coach for the Miami Dolphins. Enthusiastically recommended reading especially for football fans.

If you are an Alabama fan you will love this book. It is a quick read and very interesting.

This is not a biography of Paul ("Bear") Bryant. Rather, Don Keith provides a profile of the legendary football coach, primarily based on Al Browning Jr.'s screenplay. Keith does not provide his material in chronological order and I think this strategy serves him well as he succeeds brilliantly when offering his response to a question many people ask: "With all due respect to Coach Bryant's numerous accomplishments throughout his coaching career, what was he really like as a person?" We learn that he loved with great passion the game of football, that he hated to lose games and hated doing so with insufficient effort even more, that he was intensely loyal to his family members and friends, that he was an astute judge of talent and an even more astute just of character, that he had an especially versatile personality (e.g. he could charm or intimidate on a moment's notice, depending on what the given situation required), and that almost all of those who coached with him and played for him loved him despite his various human flaws, not because of any success and glory they may have shared with him.

I was eager to read Keith's account in Chapter Six of the first off-campus training session Coach Bryant conducted for his Texas A&M team in Junction, Texas, prior to the 1954 season. There were more than 100 players on the original roster but fewer than that participated in the camp and only about 35 lasted all ten days of intense practice in summer heat that frequently exceeded 100º. So what did I learn about Coach Bryant in this chapter? Not much, really. Certainly nothing that had not been revealed in earlier chapters covering his previous positions at Kentucky and then at Maryland. Coach Bryant was apparently convinced that severe hardship did not develop character, it revealed it. At the Junction camp, he created conditions in which quitters would reveal themselves...and they did. It is worth noting that the team went on to lose nine of its ten games that season but its only victory was against then ranked #1 Georgia and all but one of the losses were by six or fewer points. When asked, Coach Bryant said that - if forced to make a choice -- the 1954 team was his favorite.

Note: Jim Dent has written an outstanding book, The Junction Boys, that examines the ten-day camp in detail.

Statistically, Coach Bryant's legacy includes a record of 323-232, six national championships, and selection as National Coach of the Year in 1961, 1971, and 1973. That is admirable. Two other legendary coaches spoke for their entire profession after Coach Bryant's death in 1983 at age 69. Nebraska's Bob Devaney said, "He was simply the best there ever was." Penn State's Joe Paterno observed, "Even his peers in the coaching business felt in awe of him. He had such great charisma. He was just a giant figure." That said, Don Keith adds that Coach Bryant was also "a man of great commitment and class, and a gifted motivator of men." I am grateful to him for helping me to appreciate the man as well as the legacy he left behind.

I bought this for my husband for Christmas. He was like a kid in a candy store and couldn't wait to start reading it. He savored it slowly, sharing bits and pieces of it with me over dinner. I read it after he had finished and found myself falling in love with The Bear.

I would tell anyone who has an Alabama Football fan in their family to add this to their collection. It is well written, funny, and incredibly charming.

Kudos to the author for delivering such an incredible must have for any Bama fan.

If you are a fan of football you know, at the very least, the name Paul "Bear" Bryant one of the legends of the game, either professional or college. It is no secret he loved winning and was a tough coach. This book reveals it all from how, including how he made champions and winning football teams. A revealing book on college football and more importantly Bear himself. If you have any interest in football you owe it to yourself to pick this book up and read it no matter what team you root for. Extremely well done.