The Junction Boys: How Ten Days in Hell with Bear Bryant Forged a Championship Team [Paperback]

Jim Dent (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 9, 2000

The legendary Paul "Bear" Bryant is recognized nationwide as one of the greatest coaches ever. So why did he always cite his 1-9 A&M team of 1954 as his favorite? This is the story of a remarkable team – and the beginning of the legend.

The Junction Boys tells the story of Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant's legendary training camp in the small town of Junction, Texas. In a move that many consider the salvation of the Texas A&M football program, Coach Bryant put 115 players through the most grueling practices ever imagined. Only a handful of players survived the entire 10 days, but they braved the intense heat of the Texas sun and the burning passion of their coach, and turned a floundering team into one of the nation's best. The Junction Boys is more than just a story of tough practices without water breaks. An extraordinary fellowship was forged from the mind-numbing pain. The thirty-five survivors bonded together like no other team in America. They profited from the Junction experience; the knowledge they took back with them to College Station, about themselves and what they were capable of, would be used for the rest of their lives.

In vivid and powerful images reminiscent of Friday Night Lights, Hoosiers, and The Last Picture Show, these young men and their driven coach come to life. The Junction Boys contains all the hallmarks of a classic sports story, and it combines America's love of college football with an extraordinary story of perseverance and triumph.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When Bear Bryant took over the Texas A&M football program in 1954, he inherited a team that had lost its last five games by a combined score of 133-41. That season more than 100 Aggie hopefuls arrived in the small town of Junction for the first practice of a now legendary training camp. The sun bore down. The drills escalated. Trainers doled out water like gold, and meals and accommodations were horribly spartan. Ten hellish days later, only 34 remained to form the 1954 team that would only win one game, but those survivors--and that's what they were--formed the nucleus of the squad that would go undefeated just two years later.

This is the story of that team, that coach, the 10 days that shook their world, and the seasons they played together. "We lost alot (sic) of games," recalls Gene Stallings, who endured those days as a player and eventually followed Bryant as head coach both at A&M and Alabama, "but Coach Bryant knew what he was doing. Out of the yellow dust and the broiling heat of Junction, he forged a team of champions." Jim Dent's evocative recounting is so real and immediate you'll feel your throat getting scratchy as you read. You'll also feel remarkable respect for the players who toughed it out--and for Bryant, who begins as a man possessed, but, day after day, as he breaks the backs of some and helps instill true grit in others, transforms into a human being. --Jeff Silverman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

When Paul "Bear" Bryant left the University of Kentucky to take the reins of the Texas A&M football program in 1954, his legend was already approaching Texas-size proportions (almost 30 years later, Bryant became the winningest Division I coach of all time, with most of his victories coming at the University of Alabama). The problem: he knew he had inherited an awful team. Texas sportswriter Dent (King of the Cowboys) tells how Bryant turned the A&M program around. Over 100 boys rode in three buses out to the remote west Texas town of Junction and began grueling practices on cactus-riddled gravel in 110-degree heat, with no water. Ten days later, all but 34 had quit or simply run off. The team won just one game that season; two years later, however, A&M went undefeated. Dent has produced a richly evocative chronicle of the time and place, filled with bourbon-swilling, money-rolled alumni and every conceivable form of coaching sadism (Bryan deliberately broke one player's nose with his own forehead on the first day of practice). Culled from dozens of interviews with participants, Dent's text follows the players through the training camp, the team's eventual success and Bryan's continuing influence in their lives. Dent is a smooth storyteller, and he writes with a novelistic, often gritty touch. Though he does show Bryan paying for recruits, driven by pride and savagely attacking his players, he excuses Bryan's excesses as part of what it takes to build winning character. In the end, Dent gives readers a whooping celebration of the myth of Texas gridiron machismo. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (September 9, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031226755X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312267551
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #81,887 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #80 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Miscellaneous > History of Sports

More About the Author

Jim Dent is a New York Times bestselling author who has written nine books. "The Junction Boys'' became a NYT bestseller in 1999 and was made into a movie by ESPN in 2002. Dent covered the Dallas Cowboys for thirteen years before embarking on his book-writing career with a biography of Jerry Jones titled "King Of The Cowboys.'' His latest book, "Courage Beyond The Game,'' focuses on the life of Freddie Steinmark, who contracted cancer while playing for the Texas Longhorns in the late 1960s. Steinmark played the entire 1969 season with an osteosarcoma in his left thighbone. In spite of the tremendous pain, Steinmark left the field only once in the final regular season game against Arkansas. Texas defeated Arkansas 15-14 in the "Game Of The Century'' and went on to defeat Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl. Steinmark's story has been compared to "Brian's Song'' and is expected to reach the big screen in 2012. For more information on Dent, check out his Facebook page, or go to Superbowltexasstyle.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book Hard To Put Down, January 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Junction Boys: How 10 Days in Hell with Bear Bryant Forged A Champion Team at Texas A&M (Hardcover)

I heard about this book on sports radio in NY. Mike Francessa claimed it was one of the best books he had read and I second that remark. I am not a avid reader of books but finished this one in 2 days. If you are a sports enthusiast don't miss this epic story of the legendary Paul "Bear" Bryant. How one man created a championship program by running his new team into the ground, seeing who wished to remain standing with him on the sidelines of Texas A&M. The book shows how the strength of a coach and the courage of just a few players can overcome all odds. Jim Dent takes you to Junction, Texas and to the campus of A&M with these brave players. This book will not disappoint and it will open your eyes to what the true meaning of competition and rivalries are all about. There are so many inspiring stories that it will leave you with a lasting impression on what hard work can do for not only a team, but individuals who give their all for that team! From now on I'm rooting for the Aggies!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book Ever About Coach Bryant, December 13, 1999

By 

Fritz Steiner (Huntsville, AL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Junction Boys: How 10 Days in Hell with Bear Bryant Forged A Champion Team at Texas A&M (Hardcover)

This book, gives a wonderful insight not only into how Coach Bryant forged a championship team, but also into how he forged his own greatest coaching years.

Although the 10 days at Junction were brutal (the squeamish and soft-hearted should find another book to read)the results produced a group of players and men who were and remain both tough and successful.

The 10 days also made Coach Bryant aware that he'd probably gone too far. His practices at Texas A&M and Alabama remained as tough and demanding as any ever were in college football. But "Junction" was never repeated.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A winner, December 12, 1999

By 

Chris Han - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Junction Boys: How 10 Days in Hell with Bear Bryant Forged A Champion Team at Texas A&M (Hardcover)

Before there was Joe Paterno or Bobby Bowden or Lou Holtz, there was the incomparable Bear Bryant. Kids today act as if today's coaches are insufferable, or unbearable to work under, but most kids never knew Bear Bryant or even heard of the fabled coach.

Dent retells the tale of how 111 boys went into the Texas backwoods, and how only 35 survived. When you finish this book, it's hard to believe what the boys had to put up through, and why some of them even stayed around. Although the yarn of Junction is covered through only a few chapters, it's important to know how the Texas A&M program came from the ashes before Bryant to a respected and fear team after Junction.

From this book you'll learn the meaning of perseverance, dedication and hard work. You'll never complain about how hard something is until you've been put through Junction. A town during the mid 50's that was in drought and just about desolate.

Then you'll learn about who Bear Bryant is. A man who didn't know the meaning of quit. Who knew hard work and the will to win. If you thought Lombardi or a Parcells or even a Bobby Knight was incorrigible, then you never met Bear Bryant. If you want to pick up a great book on everything described above, then the Junction Boys is the place to start.