Post by Oneback on Jan 7, 2007 15:29:06 GMT
Bear Bryant: A Lesson About Dealing With People
======================================
At a TD Club meeting many years before his death, Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant told the following story, which was typical of the way he operated.
I had just been named the new head coach at Alabama and was off in my old car down in South Alabama recruiting a prospect who was supposed to have been a pretty good player and I was havin' trouble finding the place.
Getting hungry I spied an old cinder block building with a small sign out front that simply said "Restaurant." I pull up, go in and every head in the place turns to stare at me. Seems I'm the only white 'fella' in the place. But the food smelled good so I skip a table and go up to a cement bar and sit.
A big ole man in a tee shirt and cap comes over and says, "What do you need?" I told him I needed lunch and what did they have today?
He says, "You probably won't like it here, today we're having chitlins, collared greens and black eyed peas with cornbread. I'll bet you don't even know what chitlins are, do you?" I looked him square in the eye and said, "I'm from Arkansas , I've probably eaten a mile of them. Sounds like I'm in the right place." They all smiled as he left to serve me up a big plate.
When he comes back he says, "You ain't from around then?" And I explain I'm the new football coach up in Tuscaloosa at the University and I'm here to find whatever that boy's name was and he says, " yeah I've heard of him, he's supposed to be pretty good. " And he gives me directions to the school so I can meet him and his coach.
As I'm paying up to leave, I remember my manners and leave a tip, not too big to be flashy, but a good one and he told me lunch was on him, but I told him for a lunch that good, I felt I should pay.
The big man asked me if I had a photograph or something he could hang up to show I'd been there. I was so new that I didn't have any yet. It really wasn't that big a thing back then to be asked for, but I took a napkin and wrote his name and address on it and told him I'd get him one.
I met the kid I was 'lookin' for later that afternoon and I don't remember his name, but do remember I didn't think much of him when I met him. I had wasted a day, or so I thought. When I got back to Tuscaloosa late that night, I took that napkin from my shirt pocket and put it under my keys so I wouldn't forget it.
Heck, back then I was excited that anybody would want a picture of me. And the next day we found a picture and I wrote on it, Thanks for the best lunch I've ever had, Paul Bear Bryant.
Now let's go a whole 'buncha' years down the road.
Now we have black players at Alabama and I'm back down in that part of the country scouting an offensive lineman we sure needed. Y'all remember, (and I forget the name, but it's not important to the story), well anyway, he's got two friends going to Auburn and he tells me he's got his heart set on Auburn too, so I leave empty handed and go on see some others while I'm down there.
Two days later, I'm in my office in Tuscaloosa and the phone rings and it's this kid who just turned me down, and he says, "Coach, do you still want me at Alabama ?" And I said, "Yes I sure do." And he says, o.k.he'll come. And I say, "Well son, what changed your mind?" And he said, "When my grandpa found out that I had a chance to play for you and said no, he pitched a fit and told me I wasn't going nowhere but Alabama , and wasn't playing for nobody but you. He thinks a lot of you and has ever since y'all met."
Well, I didn't know his granddad from Adam's housecat so I asked him who his granddaddy was and he said, "You probably don't remember him, but you ate in his restaurant your first year at Alabama and you sent him a picture that he's had hung in that place ever since. That picture's his pride and joy and he still tells everybody about the day that Bear Bryant came in and had chitlins with him. My grandpa said that when you left there, he never expected you to remember him or to send him that picture, but you kept your word to him and to Grandpa, that's everything. He said you could teach me more than football and I had to play for a man like you, so I guess I'm going to."
I was floored. But I learned that the lessons my mama taught me were always right. It don't cost nuthin' to be nice. It don't cost 'nuthin' to do the right thing most of the time, and it costs a lot to lose your good name by breakin' your word to someone. When I went back to sign that boy, I looked up his Grandpa and he's still running that place, but it looks a lot better now; and he didn't have chitlins that day, but he had some ribs that 'woulda' made Dreamland proud and I made sure I posed for a lot of pictures; and don't think I didn't leave some new ones for him, too, along with a signed football.
I made it clear to all my assistants to keep this story and these lessons in mind when they're out on the road. And if you remember anything else from me, remember this - It really doesn't cost anything to be nice, and the rewards can be unimaginable. Coach Bryant was in the presence of these few gentlemen for only minutes, and he defined himself for life, to these gentlemen, as a nice man.
> Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant
===================================
And What "The Bear" Had To Say...
"How many people watch you give a final exam? [About fifty is the reply.]
Well, I have 50,000 watch me give mine - every Saturday!"
To English Professor Tommy Mayo (at Texas A&M) when questioned about his emphasis on winning and his salary.
"Stephenson was a man among children - he didn't say very much, but he didn't have to."
About Dwight Stevenson, the center on the Championship 1979 squad. Bryant also called Stevenson "the best center I've ever coached."
"Sure I'd like to beat Notre Dame, don't get me wrong. But nothing matters
more than beating that cow college on the other side of the state."
To a group of boosters before an Auburn game. This comment was widely reported, and AU upset the Tide a few days later.
"I left Texas A&M because my school called me. Mama called,
and when Mama calls, then you just have to come running."
On why he had to leave A&M with six years left on his contract.
You couldn't play four years and be good enough to cost the University of Alabama thirty yards!"
An irate Coach Bryant to a player who had just received his second fifteen yard penalty of the game.
"he can't run, he can't pass, and he can't kick - all he can do is beat you."
Speaking of Tide QB Pat Trammel.
"All I know is, I don't want to stop coaching, and I don't want to stop winning,
so we're gonna break the record unless I die."
Bryant, when asked if he would break Alonzo Staggs record of 314 college wins.
"I know one thing, I'd rather die now than to have died this morning and missed this game."
Coach Bryant after Bama's win over unbeaten Auburn in '71.
"Hell, no! A tie is like kissing your sister!"
After being asked if he had considered going for a field goal when trailing by three points.
What the hell's the matter with you people down there? Don't y'all take your football seriously?"
Coach Bryant, upon calling Auburn at 6 AM only to find out that
none of the coaches were in their offices yet.
"Here's a twenty, bury two."
Coach Bryant, after being asked to chip in ten dollars
to help cover the cost of a sportswriters funeral.
"This is the saddest day of my life."
Coach Bryant, Upon hearing of Pat Trammell's death.
"I'm just a simple plowhand from Arkansas, but I have learned over the years
how to hold a team together. How to lift some men up, how to calm others down,
until finally they've got one heartbeat, together, a team."
Bryant, when asked why he was so successful as a coach.
Bear Bryant's Three Rules for Coaching:
1."Surround yourself with people who can't live without football."
2."Recognize winners. They come in all forms."
3."Have a plan for everything."
"What matters...is not the size of the dog in the fight, but of the fight in the dog."
"Don't talk too much or too soon."
"In a crisis, don't hide behind anything or anybody. They're going to find you anyway."
"When you make a mistake, admit it; learn from it and don't repeat it."
"Football changes and so do people. The successful coach is the one who sets the trend,
not the one who follows it."
"If you don't have discipline, you can't have a successful program."
"I can reach a kid who doesn't have any ability as long as he doesn't know it."
"You have to be willing to out-condition your opponents."
"Sacrifice. Work. Self-descipline. I teach these things, and my boys don't forget them when they leave."
"When you win, there's glory enough for everybody. When you lose, there's glory for none."
"When you're number one, you don't play for the tie."
"I don't have any ideas; my coaches have them. I just pass the ideas on and referee the arguments."
"I don't hire anybody not brighter than I am. If they're not smarter than me, I don't need them."
"Every time a player goes out there, at least 20 people have some amount of influence on him.
His mother has more influence than anyone. I know because I played, and I loved my mama."
"If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, we did it.
If anything goes real good, you did it. That's all it takes to get people to win football games."
"In life, you'll have your back up against the wall many times. You might as well get used to it."
"You never know how a horse will pull until you hook him to a heavy load."
"The first time you quit, it's hard. The second time, it gets easier.
The third time, you don't even have to think about it."
"Don't give up at half time. Concentrate on winning the second half."
"One man doesn't make a team. It takes 11."
"If you were to ask me if football is a coach's game, I'd have to say it is. And always was."
"I'm known as a recruiter. Well you've got to have chicken to make chicken salad."
"The first thing a football coach needs when he's starting out is a wife who's willing
to put up with a whole lot of neglect. The second thing is a five-year contract."
"The alumni are starting to grumble, and I'm the one starting it."
"You must learn how to hold a team together. You lift some men up, calm others down,
until finally they've got one heartbeat. Then, you've got yourself a team."
"No coach has ever won a game by what he knows; it's what his players know that counts."
"There ought to be a special place in heaven for coaches' wives."
"I don't care how much talent a team has -- if the boys don't think tough, practice tough,
and live tough, how can they play tough on Saturday?."
"Winning isn't imperative, but getting tougher in the fourth quarter is."
"I had to leave Texas. As long as Gordon Wood was there,
I could never be the best coach in the state."
"Boys, I'd like to introduce you to Coach Wallace Wade. He's the man responsible
for the great tradition of Alabama football."
"When we have a good team, I know it's because we have boys
that come from good mommas and pappas."
"Age has nothing to do with it. You can be out of touch at any age."
"The price of victory is high, but so are the rewards."
"If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride - and never quit, you'll be a winner.
The price of victory is high but so are the rewards."
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS:
(1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979)
SEC TITLES:
(1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981)
BOWL RECORD:
(12-10-2)
NATIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR:
(1961, 1971, 1973)
SEC COACH OF THE YEAR:
(1960, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1979, 1981)
Bear always had a poem with him. This was one...
This is the beginning of a new day.
God has given me this day to use as I will.
I can waste it or use it for good.
What I do today is very important because I am Exchanging a day of my life for it.
When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever.
Leaving something in its place I have traded for it.
I want it to be a gain, not loss - good, not evil.
Success, not failure in order that I shall not forget the price I paid for it.
THE GREATEST COACH THAT EVER LIVED
======================================
At a TD Club meeting many years before his death, Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant told the following story, which was typical of the way he operated.
I had just been named the new head coach at Alabama and was off in my old car down in South Alabama recruiting a prospect who was supposed to have been a pretty good player and I was havin' trouble finding the place.
Getting hungry I spied an old cinder block building with a small sign out front that simply said "Restaurant." I pull up, go in and every head in the place turns to stare at me. Seems I'm the only white 'fella' in the place. But the food smelled good so I skip a table and go up to a cement bar and sit.
A big ole man in a tee shirt and cap comes over and says, "What do you need?" I told him I needed lunch and what did they have today?
He says, "You probably won't like it here, today we're having chitlins, collared greens and black eyed peas with cornbread. I'll bet you don't even know what chitlins are, do you?" I looked him square in the eye and said, "I'm from Arkansas , I've probably eaten a mile of them. Sounds like I'm in the right place." They all smiled as he left to serve me up a big plate.
When he comes back he says, "You ain't from around then?" And I explain I'm the new football coach up in Tuscaloosa at the University and I'm here to find whatever that boy's name was and he says, " yeah I've heard of him, he's supposed to be pretty good. " And he gives me directions to the school so I can meet him and his coach.
As I'm paying up to leave, I remember my manners and leave a tip, not too big to be flashy, but a good one and he told me lunch was on him, but I told him for a lunch that good, I felt I should pay.
The big man asked me if I had a photograph or something he could hang up to show I'd been there. I was so new that I didn't have any yet. It really wasn't that big a thing back then to be asked for, but I took a napkin and wrote his name and address on it and told him I'd get him one.
I met the kid I was 'lookin' for later that afternoon and I don't remember his name, but do remember I didn't think much of him when I met him. I had wasted a day, or so I thought. When I got back to Tuscaloosa late that night, I took that napkin from my shirt pocket and put it under my keys so I wouldn't forget it.
Heck, back then I was excited that anybody would want a picture of me. And the next day we found a picture and I wrote on it, Thanks for the best lunch I've ever had, Paul Bear Bryant.
Now let's go a whole 'buncha' years down the road.
Now we have black players at Alabama and I'm back down in that part of the country scouting an offensive lineman we sure needed. Y'all remember, (and I forget the name, but it's not important to the story), well anyway, he's got two friends going to Auburn and he tells me he's got his heart set on Auburn too, so I leave empty handed and go on see some others while I'm down there.
Two days later, I'm in my office in Tuscaloosa and the phone rings and it's this kid who just turned me down, and he says, "Coach, do you still want me at Alabama ?" And I said, "Yes I sure do." And he says, o.k.he'll come. And I say, "Well son, what changed your mind?" And he said, "When my grandpa found out that I had a chance to play for you and said no, he pitched a fit and told me I wasn't going nowhere but Alabama , and wasn't playing for nobody but you. He thinks a lot of you and has ever since y'all met."
Well, I didn't know his granddad from Adam's housecat so I asked him who his granddaddy was and he said, "You probably don't remember him, but you ate in his restaurant your first year at Alabama and you sent him a picture that he's had hung in that place ever since. That picture's his pride and joy and he still tells everybody about the day that Bear Bryant came in and had chitlins with him. My grandpa said that when you left there, he never expected you to remember him or to send him that picture, but you kept your word to him and to Grandpa, that's everything. He said you could teach me more than football and I had to play for a man like you, so I guess I'm going to."
I was floored. But I learned that the lessons my mama taught me were always right. It don't cost nuthin' to be nice. It don't cost 'nuthin' to do the right thing most of the time, and it costs a lot to lose your good name by breakin' your word to someone. When I went back to sign that boy, I looked up his Grandpa and he's still running that place, but it looks a lot better now; and he didn't have chitlins that day, but he had some ribs that 'woulda' made Dreamland proud and I made sure I posed for a lot of pictures; and don't think I didn't leave some new ones for him, too, along with a signed football.
I made it clear to all my assistants to keep this story and these lessons in mind when they're out on the road. And if you remember anything else from me, remember this - It really doesn't cost anything to be nice, and the rewards can be unimaginable. Coach Bryant was in the presence of these few gentlemen for only minutes, and he defined himself for life, to these gentlemen, as a nice man.
> Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant
===================================
And What "The Bear" Had To Say...
"How many people watch you give a final exam? [About fifty is the reply.]
Well, I have 50,000 watch me give mine - every Saturday!"
To English Professor Tommy Mayo (at Texas A&M) when questioned about his emphasis on winning and his salary.
"Stephenson was a man among children - he didn't say very much, but he didn't have to."
About Dwight Stevenson, the center on the Championship 1979 squad. Bryant also called Stevenson "the best center I've ever coached."
"Sure I'd like to beat Notre Dame, don't get me wrong. But nothing matters
more than beating that cow college on the other side of the state."
To a group of boosters before an Auburn game. This comment was widely reported, and AU upset the Tide a few days later.
"I left Texas A&M because my school called me. Mama called,
and when Mama calls, then you just have to come running."
On why he had to leave A&M with six years left on his contract.
You couldn't play four years and be good enough to cost the University of Alabama thirty yards!"
An irate Coach Bryant to a player who had just received his second fifteen yard penalty of the game.
"he can't run, he can't pass, and he can't kick - all he can do is beat you."
Speaking of Tide QB Pat Trammel.
"All I know is, I don't want to stop coaching, and I don't want to stop winning,
so we're gonna break the record unless I die."
Bryant, when asked if he would break Alonzo Staggs record of 314 college wins.
"I know one thing, I'd rather die now than to have died this morning and missed this game."
Coach Bryant after Bama's win over unbeaten Auburn in '71.
"Hell, no! A tie is like kissing your sister!"
After being asked if he had considered going for a field goal when trailing by three points.
What the hell's the matter with you people down there? Don't y'all take your football seriously?"
Coach Bryant, upon calling Auburn at 6 AM only to find out that
none of the coaches were in their offices yet.
"Here's a twenty, bury two."
Coach Bryant, after being asked to chip in ten dollars
to help cover the cost of a sportswriters funeral.
"This is the saddest day of my life."
Coach Bryant, Upon hearing of Pat Trammell's death.
"I'm just a simple plowhand from Arkansas, but I have learned over the years
how to hold a team together. How to lift some men up, how to calm others down,
until finally they've got one heartbeat, together, a team."
Bryant, when asked why he was so successful as a coach.
Bear Bryant's Three Rules for Coaching:
1."Surround yourself with people who can't live without football."
2."Recognize winners. They come in all forms."
3."Have a plan for everything."
"What matters...is not the size of the dog in the fight, but of the fight in the dog."
"Don't talk too much or too soon."
"In a crisis, don't hide behind anything or anybody. They're going to find you anyway."
"When you make a mistake, admit it; learn from it and don't repeat it."
"Football changes and so do people. The successful coach is the one who sets the trend,
not the one who follows it."
"If you don't have discipline, you can't have a successful program."
"I can reach a kid who doesn't have any ability as long as he doesn't know it."
"You have to be willing to out-condition your opponents."
"Sacrifice. Work. Self-descipline. I teach these things, and my boys don't forget them when they leave."
"When you win, there's glory enough for everybody. When you lose, there's glory for none."
"When you're number one, you don't play for the tie."
"I don't have any ideas; my coaches have them. I just pass the ideas on and referee the arguments."
"I don't hire anybody not brighter than I am. If they're not smarter than me, I don't need them."
"Every time a player goes out there, at least 20 people have some amount of influence on him.
His mother has more influence than anyone. I know because I played, and I loved my mama."
"If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, we did it.
If anything goes real good, you did it. That's all it takes to get people to win football games."
"In life, you'll have your back up against the wall many times. You might as well get used to it."
"You never know how a horse will pull until you hook him to a heavy load."
"The first time you quit, it's hard. The second time, it gets easier.
The third time, you don't even have to think about it."
"Don't give up at half time. Concentrate on winning the second half."
"One man doesn't make a team. It takes 11."
"If you were to ask me if football is a coach's game, I'd have to say it is. And always was."
"I'm known as a recruiter. Well you've got to have chicken to make chicken salad."
"The first thing a football coach needs when he's starting out is a wife who's willing
to put up with a whole lot of neglect. The second thing is a five-year contract."
"The alumni are starting to grumble, and I'm the one starting it."
"You must learn how to hold a team together. You lift some men up, calm others down,
until finally they've got one heartbeat. Then, you've got yourself a team."
"No coach has ever won a game by what he knows; it's what his players know that counts."
"There ought to be a special place in heaven for coaches' wives."
"I don't care how much talent a team has -- if the boys don't think tough, practice tough,
and live tough, how can they play tough on Saturday?."
"Winning isn't imperative, but getting tougher in the fourth quarter is."
"I had to leave Texas. As long as Gordon Wood was there,
I could never be the best coach in the state."
"Boys, I'd like to introduce you to Coach Wallace Wade. He's the man responsible
for the great tradition of Alabama football."
"When we have a good team, I know it's because we have boys
that come from good mommas and pappas."
"Age has nothing to do with it. You can be out of touch at any age."
"The price of victory is high, but so are the rewards."
"If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride - and never quit, you'll be a winner.
The price of victory is high but so are the rewards."
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS:
(1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979)
SEC TITLES:
(1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981)
BOWL RECORD:
(12-10-2)
NATIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR:
(1961, 1971, 1973)
SEC COACH OF THE YEAR:
(1960, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1979, 1981)
Bear always had a poem with him. This was one...
This is the beginning of a new day.
God has given me this day to use as I will.
I can waste it or use it for good.
What I do today is very important because I am Exchanging a day of my life for it.
When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever.
Leaving something in its place I have traded for it.
I want it to be a gain, not loss - good, not evil.
Success, not failure in order that I shall not forget the price I paid for it.
THE GREATEST COACH THAT EVER LIVED
