Because Real Men Wear Houndstooth, this is a link to the original “Supercoach” article from Time Magazine in 1980 which featured Bear Bryant, the “demigod of the autumn religion,” just two years before his death.
What fascinates Bryant about winning football games is not diagramming plays or deciding when to kick a field goal or gamble for a first down, but the challenge of melding 95 very young men into a whole, making each man’s vision of himself interdependent with those of his teammates. For all its excesses—and football has more than its share of faults—the sport can be, at its best, a social compact of a high order. Creating this bond is what Bear Bryant excels at, and for this he draws on insights and instincts he has developed over 35 years.
The goal is becoming the best at something, even if it is a game. “I’m just a plow-hand from Arkansas,” Bryant insists, “but I have learned over the years how to hold a team together. How to lift some men up, how to calm down others, until finally they’ve got one heartbeat, together, a team.”
Great site. What style hat was Bear Bryant’s houndstooth cover up?
Thanks so much.
Candace