Published On: 09.11.18 | 

By: 14236

On this day in Alabama history: Coach Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant born

Sept 11 feature

Bryant-Denny Stadium prior to the game between the LSU Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide on Nov. 5, 2011 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

September 11, 1913

Legendary University of Alabama football coach Paul William “Bear” Bryant was born Sept. 11, 1913, in Moro Bottom, Arkansas. He was the 11th of 12 children and earned his nickname for agreeing to wrestle a bear during a carnival when he was 13 years old. During his senior year, Bryant and Fordyce High School won the 1930 Arkansas state football championship. Bryant then came to Alabama, where he played from 1933 to 1935. He coached at Maryland, Kentucky and Texas A&M before returning home to lead Alabama to six national championships. He died in 1983 soon after retiring.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Alabama Legacy Moment: Paul “Bear” Bryant from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.