Celebrity Graveland

September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983

Legendary college football coach, Bear Bryant, is widely regarded as the best coach in the history of the sport. His 38 year head coaching career garnered 6 National Championships and 15 Conference titles. He is most closely associated with the University of Alabama, where he played as a student and spent 24 years at the helm of the Crimson Tide program. He remains the youngest head coach to reach 300 career wins and 30 winning seasons. He only had one losing season in his entire career. Bryant was named conference coach of the year 15 times. Though most of his on-field success was at Alabama, he also was the head coach at Maryland, Kentucky and Texas A&M.

It was at Texas A&M where he infamously held a brutal 10-day training camp in 100° (F) weather that caused many of his players to quit. Later in his life, he showed some remorse for his treatment of the “Junction Boys” as that team came to be known. In the waning years of his life, Bryant suffered a number of health issues. He was a heavy drinker and smoker and a number of cardiac issues began to slow him down. At the end of the 1982 season, despite finishing 8-4, Bear Bryant abruptly retired citing the idea that his players deserved better coaching. He would die a month later from a massive heart attack.

Burial

Elmwood Cemetery – Birmingham, AL

Specific Location

Block 30; Grab a map, locate Block 30, the BRYANT family plot is at the northeast part of this round hill section.

This entry was posted on January 25, 2021 at 8:33 am and is filed under Elmwood Cemetery with tags Coaches, Elmwood Cemetery, Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.