Four Decades Later, Bear Bryant Still Larger Than Life: All Things CW

Tale of the tape with No. 1 Purdue; Give credit to the man who aimed to make Alabama a basketball school; and the final word on Bill O'Brien heading back to New England.

This is the week's compiled version of the All Things CW notes column by Christopher Walsh, which appeared in five parts, plus a bonus added on about the 40-year anniversary of Paul W. "Bear" Bryant's death.

Has it really been 40 years since we last saw the man known as "Bear" roaming around Tuscaloosa?

It was during this week in 1983 when he left us, January 26th to be exact, at the age of 69. His famous funeral and procession, with mourning fans lining the roads from Tuscaloosa First Methodist Church to Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham, were 40 years ago today . 

Even after all that time hardly a day goes by that most Crimson Tide fans don’t mention his name at least once, or reflect in some way, directly or indirectly, about his impact. 

Paul W. Bryant is still synonymous with college football, and the University of Alabama. He compiled an amazing record of 323-85-17, led teams to 29 bowl appearances, 15 conference championships and won six national championships (1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979). 

In the 1960s and 1970s, no school won more games than the Crimson Tide (193-32-5), and the national coach of the year award is named in his honor.

Bryant was born September 11, 1913, the 11th of 12 children, three of whom died as infants. His father was an Arkansas farmer, but after he became ill when Paul was a child, his mother, Ida Mae, took over, with the kids helping out.

After helping the Fordyce High School Redbugs to a state championship, Bryant left home for Tuscaloosa, where during his first fall at the university took high school classes to finish up his degree. In June 1935, Bryant secretly wed Mary Harmon because it was against team rules for players to marry. Their first of two children, Mae Martin, was born nine months later. Paul Jr., who would become a prominent businessman, was born in 1944.

After turning down a chance to play in the National Football League, Bryant went straight into coaching, and was an assistant at Alabama for four years, and at Vanderbilt for two, before serving in the Navy. Upon leaving the military he was named the head coach at Maryland, but resigned after one season. Instead, he took over Kentucky and guided the Wildcats to their only Southeastern Conference championship in 1950. In eight seasons, his teams went 60-23-5 and played in four bowl games, including the 1951 Sugar Bowl where Kentucky ended Oklahoma’s 31-game winning streak.

After the 1953 season, Bryant signed a 12-year contract extension with the promise from Kentucky officials that football would be the athletic department’s top priority, or at least on par with basketball. When it became clear that wouldn’t be the case, he quit. Texas A&M signed him to a six-year deal to be coach and athletic director for $25,000 a season and an unprecedented one percent of the gate receipts, one day before Southern California made a lucrative offer that almost certainly would have snared Bryant.

That first training camp with the Aggies, Bryant took his players 250 miles west to a barren army base in Junction and put them through the mental and physical equivalent of a meat grinder. More than two-thirds of the players quit, with those who endured dubbed the “Junction Boys,” but it also defined the coach’s legacy as a hard-nosed disciplinarian.

Bryant’s Aggies were closing in the 1957 national championship when he was lured away by Alabama and made his famous statement: “Mama called, and when Mama calls, then you just have to come running.” He agreed to a 10-year contract with an annual salary of $17,000 and a house.

“I ain’t never been nothing but a winner.”

Three years later, Bryant won his first national championship.

The rest is history.

Tale of the Tape, No. 1 Purdue vs. No. 2 Alabama

The Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team is No. 2 in the latest college basketball polls, the program's best ranking in 20 years.

Purdue was at No. 1, but the ballots were far from unanimous.

The Boilermakers received 39 first-place votes from the 62-person panel for the AP Top 25. Alabama climbed two spots to No. 2, picking up 23 first-place votes for its highest ranking since reaching No. 1 in 2002-03.

That's also the only time the Crimson Tide has been No. 1 in poll history.

Nate Oats has his team knocking on the door for the top spot, and if current trends continue it may not even take a Purdue loss for it to happen.

Purdue had dropped to No. 3 after four weeks at No. 1 following a loss to Rutgers on Jan. 3. The Boilermakers have won six straight, but three were by three points or fewer.

Meanwhile, it's going to be nearly impossible for Purdue to impress voters the rest of the regular season as the rest of the Big Ten has fallen off. With Rutgers dropping out, the Big Ten has just one AP Top 25 team for the first time since Feb. 16, 2004, when No. 12 Wisconsin was the conference’s lone ranked team, according to Sportradar.

Alabama? It doesn't have that problem in the SEC, with looming back-to-back games at No. 4 Tennessee and No. 15 Auburn coming up in a couple of weeks.

No. 1 Purdue Boilermakers

Record: 19-1 overall, 8-1 Big Ten

Preseason rank: Not ranked

Biggest win: Won Phil Knight Legacy by defeating then No. 6 Gonzaga 84-66, and then-No. 8 Duke 75-56.

Loss: At home to Rutgers, 65-64, Jan. 2

Current winning streak: 6

Record against ranked teams: 3-0

Quad wins: Purdue is one of two teams (Kansas) with seven quad-1 wins, five of them against teams ranked in the NCAA Net's top 30 (Gonzaga, Ohio State, West Virginia, Marquette, Duke). Six of the wins (Marquette being the other) have come away from home.

Defensive efficiency: No. 21. Purdue has held 20 straight opponents to 70 points or less, the second-longest streak in the country (Saint Mary's - 21)

Rebounding: Leads nation in total rebounding percentage

NCAA NET rankings: No. 4

Bracketology: Top overall seed

KenPom ranking: No. 5

Strength of schedule: No. 21

Remaining schedule: No ranked opponents on schedule, Purdue is the Big Ten's lone ranked team this week.

at Michigan
Michigan State
Penn State
at Indiana
Iowa
at Northwestern
at Maryland
Ohio State
Indiana
at Wisconsin
Illinois

Schedule note: Purdue is just off what it calls a historic "four-in-five" road-game stretch, winning all five games including all four on the road. In the 10 occurrences that Purdue had four road games in a five-game stretch, the Boilermakers never previously posted a 5-0 record.

The big man: Zach Edey ranks No. 1 in the KenPom POY ratings and has been the game MVP in 15 of the 19 Purdue games that he has played in (missed New Orleans with the flu). Edey has scored 10 or more points in 36 straight games, the nation's longest streak. Through his 19 games this year, he has more blocked shots (43) than personal fouls (29). Edey is averaging 21.5 points and 13.2 rebounds compared to just 1.5 fouls per game.

No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide

Record: 17-2 overall, 7-0 SEC

Preseason rank: No. 20

Biggest win: Alabama defeated then No. 1 North Carolina in the Phil Knight Invitational, and then won at then-No. 1 Houston, 71-65, to become just fourth team to ever beat two different AP No. 1s in the same season. It was the first team to so before New Year's Day since the 1955-56 season.

Losses: To then No. 20 UConn in the Phil Knight Invitational, 82-67, and to then No. 15 Gonzaga on Dec. 17, 100-90. Both defeats were on neutral courts.

Current winning streak: 8

Record against ranked teams: 5-2

Quad wins: Alabama has five Quad 1 wins this season, which is tied for third-most in the country.

Defensive efficiency: No. 10

Rebounding: Leads nation in rebounds per game and defensive rebounds. The Crimson Tide is 12th in offensive boards.

NCAA NET rankings: No. 3

Bracketology: Second overall seed

KenPom ranking: No. 3

Strength of schedule: No. 1

Remaining schedule:

Mississippi State
at Oklahoma
Vanderbilt
at LSU
Florida
at No. 15 Auburn
at No. 4 Tennessee
Georgia
at South Carolina
Arkansas
No. 15 Auburn
at Texas A&M

Schedule note: Alabama won all of its first seven SEC games by double digits, by a combined 147 points (593-446). It averages out to a +21.0 scoring margin

The big man: Brandon Miller is averaging 19.8 points per game, the most by any freshman in the country. Heading into the Missouri game he was the only freshman in the country to rank in the top 70 in points and rebounds per game (No. 69). Miller was one of six players in Division I, the only player in the SEC and the only freshman in the country that has scored 360 points and recorded 150 rebounds this season.

Initial Hot Board for Alabama Offensive Coordinator

Even though the return of Bill O'Brien to the New England Patriots only became official on Tuesday, Nick Saban has had a lot of time to think about who might be his next offensive coordinator.

O'Brien had a two-year deal with the Alabama Crimson Tide, which corresponded to the final years of Bryce Young's time in Tuscaloosa. For that short time period to be worked out beforehand is indicative of coaching contracts when everyone knows that the person won't be sticking around for an extended stay.

In other words, O'Brien basically told Saban from the get-go: "I'll give you two seasons."

Saban also tipped his hand a little near the end of last season when he said that the Crimson Tide will go back to more of a run-pass option offense next season after being more pro-set for Young.

Consequently, there are two names to especially watch moving forward, which may not get wrapped up until after National Signing Day as Saban is zeroed in on recruiting.

Joe Brady

Alabama fans are already familiar with Brady from when he was the passing game coordinator and receivers coach at LSU in 2019, when the Tigers ran the table. He was hired away to be the offensive coordinator of the Carolina Panthers under former head coach Matt Rhule, but he couldn't recreate the same magic.

Brady was the quarterback coach for the Bills this past season.

Saban usually likes his coordinators to have NFL experience, and the job might appeal to Brady as it'll give him more play-calling experience. However, there are reports that some NFL teams, including the New York Jets, are interested in him as well. Would he prefer the college game or the NFL? Another plus is that he's only 33 years old.

Jeff Lebby

Oklahoma fans were disappointed in the first year of the Brent Venables era, which ended with a 6-7 record, and put part of the blame on the offensive coordinator even though the Sooners ranked 474 yards per game (No. 13 in the nation), 219.4 rushing yards (No. 10), 254.6 passing (No. 42) and 32.8 points (tied for No. 32).

It just wasn't what they're accustomed to seeing (sound familiar?).

Lebby has coached under both Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss (2020-21) and Josh Heupel at UCF (2018-19), after developing in Baylor’s system from (2008-16). The 39-year-old is Art Briles' son-in-law.

He has a strong reputation in recruiting. However, one potential drawback is his contract, Lebby has two two years remaining on his deal that will earn him $1.9 million in 2023.

Other Names to Watch

Derek Dooley: He's the in-house candidate after serving as an analyst last season, and he has plenty of experience with Saban after being on his coaching staffs at LSU (2000-04) and the Miami Dolphins (2005). Saban also has a history of hiring former Tennessee coaches. Since his time with the Volunteers (2010-12) he's been the wide receivers coach with the Dallas Cowboys (2013-17), the offensive coordinator at Missouri (2018-19), and with the New York Giants as a senior assistant and tight ends coach.

Scott Frost: It wasn't long ago that the former Nebraska and UCF coach (remember the self-declared national championship?) was one of the hottest coaching candidates in the college football, and on paper he would seem to be a good candidate for the Saban coaching rehab program. His name was floating around Tuscaloosa a couple of months ago, however Frost and his wife recently purchased a $5.4 million home in Phoenix.

Jason Garrett: He was Saban’s quarterbacks coach for the Miami Dolphins in 2005 and 2006, and being the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys for eight seasons does look pretty good on a resume. But he's never coached at the collegiate level.

Adam Gase: His name came up when Alabama hired O'Brien, but he's been out of football since the 2020 season, when he was fired as the head coach of the New York Jets after going 9-23. He gets a mention here because when Gase graduated from Michigan State he followed Saban to LSU as an assistant, but he's strictly worked in the NFL since 2002.

Kliff Kingsbury: His name started bouncing around Tuscaloosa even before he was let go as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, where he had been since Texas Tech (2013-18). He's also worked in the SEC before at Texas A&M, where he was the position coach for Johnny Manziel when he won the Heisman Trophy in 2012. After being fired, the 41-year-old reportedly purchased a one-way ticket to Thailand.

Greg Roman: Since we're including NFL coaches who currently aren't working, Roman gets a mention after recently stepping down as the offensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens, where he worked with Lamar Jackson. He has a lot of experience with the Harbaugh brothers. He was at Stanford under Jim Harbaugh as the tight ends and offensive tackles coach in 2009-10, and then followed him to the San Francisco 49ers. After two seasons as the offensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills, he was hired by John Harbaugh in 2017.

Charlie Weis Jr.: It might be a little early for him, as Weiss was named the Ole Miss co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach this time last year, after two seasons as the offensive coordinator at South Florida. He was an offensive analyst for Alabama in 2015-16, spent a season with Steve Sarkisian and the Atlanta Falcons, and was Kiffin's offensive coordinator at Florida Atlantic in 2018-19. 

SEE ALSO: Initial Hot Board for Alabama Defensive Coordinator

Give Credit to the Man Who Aimed to Make Alabama a Basketball School

An hour before tip, the student section at Coleman Coliseum was jam-packed. That's not unusual when many of the big-name opponents are in town, but Alabama was hosting an underrated, feisty Mississippi State team, which it had already defeated this season.

It was also on a dreary, chilly Wednesday night. So fans had plenty of reasons to maybe sit this one out.

But why miss an opportunity to see this team play?

It's hard to believe that it's already year four of the Oats era in Tuscaloosa, and unless something surprising happens one has to believe that there's the potential for him to be here for a long, long time.

Season No. 2 led to a conference championship, and now we're seeing the Crimson Tide making a run for another, only this time with a roster of players Oats brought to Alabama.

He's getting the credit and recognition that's more than deserved, but it's time for the person who has really been turning Alabama into a basketball school (which some said would be nearly impossible) to take a bow, Greg Byrne.

He's the one who sold Oats on the program's potential, while simultaneously appearing to have kept Saban happy.

Additionally, plans are in place for a new arena, which is on target to become reality if and when the economy improves enough and construction costs decline. A critical part of Phase II of the Alabama Standard initiative, it's hopefully just a matter of time before more than the foundation is in place.

His latest coup was overlooked by many earlier this week when Alabama announced reaching a unique NIL deal with a sports marketing giant: Alabama Athletics Extends Multimedia Rights Relationship With Learfield.

It's a 15-year agreement that includes creating a unique hub for name, image and likeness (NIL) called The Advantage Center inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Alabama’s previous contract with Learfield, signed in 2014, was for 10 years and guaranteed the Crimson Tide more than $160 million. Financial terms of the new deal were not released, but according to Sports Business Journal, it's "believed to be one of the most lucrative in the country along with Ohio State and Texas."

It could be a revolutionary deal, and feeds into what's been Byrne's No. 1 priority since he left basketball haven Arizona for Alabama in 2017: Make sure the athletic department's success under Saban will go on, and on, and on ...

Meanwhile, Tennessee announced that it's reached a contract extension with athletic director Danny White, starting at $2.2 million annually, with a six-year rolling term. That's up from his original deal paying him $1.8 million annually.

Through White's first two years on Rocky Top, the Volunteers have captured six SEC team championships, had record fundraising in 2021-22, and hired Josh Heupel when the dysfunctional football program could only be described as a disaster (with NCAA penalties looming).

According to Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated, the deal is believed to make White the highest paid athletic director in the Southeastern Conference, and among the top eight nationally.

Yes, he's making more than Byrne, although Alabama has been good to him.

Byrne was initially paid $900,000 for his first year, and had incremental increases written into his deal. In 2022, his contract was updated for a fourth time, which will pay him an average of $1.7 million through the 2028-29 academic year.

That was last year, though, as any good agent would say.

Consider Saban, Oats and Byrne to be the university's version of the triangle offense in basketball, or the best three-man band since Rush (or Nirvana if you're so inclined). Alabama should do anything and everything it can to keep them together for as long as possible. 

Easy Draw? No such thing in 2023 SEC Tournament

Maybe it's good that Alabama basketball is getting out of the Southeastern Conference for the weekend.

Granted, so are most of the other teams as the 10th annual SEC/Big 12 Challenge will be held, featuring 10 games on Saturday including Alabama at Oklahoma.

I mean, have you seen what's been going on in the league this year?

When Alabama last faced Mississippi State, to open league play, the Bulldogs were ranked. This time they were 1-6.

Kentucky was considered the preseason favorite, but fell out of the AP Top 25, and now appears to have pulled out of the tailspin having won four straight including at Tennessee.

Texas A&M winning at Auburn on Tuesday night? Don't look now, but the Aggies are 6-1 in league play.

This is one of those years in which seeding may not matter for the SEC Tournament other than securing byes.

Do you think that Alabama wants to face Mississippi State for a third time, especially when the Bulldogs may be desperate for a win to keep their season going? Consider what Oats said during his postgame press conference:

“I have to give a ton of credit to Mississippi State. They came ready to play and I thought they had a great plan. They improved more than we improved from the first time we played them. ...

"We found a way to get a win in a tight game. We haven’t had a lot of tight games, so it’s not the worst. We have to figure out how to win close games. I told the guys about the SEC Championship tournament from two years ago. We were down 15 to Tennessee in the semifinal and had to figure out how to win games like that that aren’t going your way. We shot 18 percent from three tonight, couldn’t buy a bucket and still figured out how to beat a pretty good team. I know their record doesn’t say they’re good, but I think they’re a pretty good team and are going to upset some people. They play really hard and they had us down 11 at one point. They’re a quality team, and at this point, we’ll take the win.”

Even if Alabama secures the top seeding, and at 8-0 in conference play it's looking more and more likely with each win, it could be looking at a nasty draw. For example, the winner of that No. 8 vs. No. 9 could be an unusually tough opponent in the quarterfinals like Arkansas.

The semifinals could feature a rematch with Kentucky, or maybe a third meeting with Auburn (neither of the first two games have been played yet). The team to watch right now, though, is Texas A&M, which is off to a 6-1 start and is trying to elbow it's way into a top-four seeding.

With roughly six weeks to go until the SEC Tournament is played at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville from March 8-12, here's how the bracket is aiming to look:

Projected SEC Tournament Pairings

March 8

Game 1: No. 12 seed vs. No. 13 seed; Ole Miss vs. LSU

Game 2: No. 11 seed vs. No. 14 seed; Mississippi State vs. South Carolina

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March 9

Game 3: No. 9 seed vs. No. 8 seed; Georgia vs. Arkansas

Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. No. 5 seed; Texas A&M

Game 5: No. 10 seed vs. No. 7 seed; Vanderbilt vs. Missouri

Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs. No. 6 seed; Florida

March 10

Game 7: Winner Game 3 vs. No. 1 seed; Alabama

Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. No. 4 seed; Kentucky

Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. No. 2 seed; Tennessee

Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. No. 3 seed; Auburn

March 11

Semifinals

March 12

Championship 

Why Both Alabama and New England Fans are Pleased with O'Brien Move

You know the saying about how one man's trash is another man's treasure?

That's a little extreme for this discussion, but it's part of everyday life in the coaching world, where success can be influenced by so many things, even with a team like the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Chances are if you were on social media this week the reaction to O'Brien being named the offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots caught your attention. Let's just say that a lot of it was very favorable.

However, the same was true with Patriots fans, especially coming off an unusual 8-9 season and third-place finish in the AFC East. New England ranked 17th in the league with 21.4 points per game.

On Thursday, the Boston Herald posted a story about how bad things got behind the scenes, with the headline: "Inside the most dysfunctional Patriots season under Bill Belichick: ‘I’ve never seen anything like it.’"

According to multiple sources who spoke to the Herald anonymously, the offensive woes dated back to training camp. Per the report, the Patriots attempted to play faster offensively by condensing formations and incorporating more outside zone runs and bootleg play-action passes.

Yet as the season progressed, New England’s offense became a diminished version of former offensive play-caller Josh McDaniels, the current Raiders head coach, along with portions of Sean McVay’s system with the Rams.

The disconnect and frustration filtered into meetings, as players would get into the details about how to break down certain defenses on the field.

“Guys would ask, ‘Well, what’s going to happen if [the defense] does this?’ And you would see they [coaches] hadn’t really accounted for that yet,” one source told the Herald. “And they’d say, ‘We’ll get to that when we get to that.’

"That type of attitude got us in trouble.”

When quarterback Mac Jones went down with a high ankle sprain in October, a broader disconnect emerged between quarterbacks coach Joe Judge and offensive play-caller Matt Patricia, along with a lesser presence by Judge in position coach meetings, per the Herald.

Previously, Judge would command meetings and share play-calling sheets with Patricia and Belichick. But as New England continued to face scrutiny each week, it was not uncharacteristic for “Judge and Jones to trade profanity-laced” jabs, according to the Herald.

Another source told the newspaper, “A lot of people were frustrated with Judge.”

So with all that in mind, here are five things that caught our attention this week:

1) Jones reportedly pleased

There have already been reports out of New England that Jones is really happy with O'Brien's return, and the coach indicated at the Sugar Bowl that they already have worked together some while he was learning the Crimson Tide's system.

Note: That's a key to O'Brien that most Alabama fans have forgotten, he wasn't running his own offense under Saban.

“I think the most challenging thing for me was, when I came in here, learning this offense,” O’Brien said. “And I had a lot of people help me, people that were here before, guys on the coaching staff, obviously Bryce [Young]. I’ve said before, Mac Jones, when he was working out for the draft, helped me a little bit, which was great. So I’m really thankful to those people.”

2) The Gronk seal of approval

Former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski appeared on the Up & Adams show and explained why O’Brien was the best hire for the Patriots, especially since he'd already been with the team from 2007-11, including a year as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach (2011).

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“I love Bill O’Brien. I loved playing for him. I love the energy that he brings to the table,” Gronkowski said. "His football knowledge is through the roof, and I believe that he’s definitely going to restore the Patriot faithful on the offensive side of the ball.

“He’s going to put his players in the best position to make plays, and he’s going to come up with some creative ideas. And I think they’re definitely going to improve as an offense tremendously under coach Bill O’Brien. That’s who the Patriots had to get. They had to get Bill O’Brien. …I hope they paid head coach money for him, because they definitely had to.”

3) This could be a pre-draft trend

Safety Jordan Battle pulling out of next week's Senior Bowl will probably be the beginning of some former Crimson Tide players not participating in various pre-draft workouts and testing, especially since none of the then-departing players opted out of the Sugar Bowl.

Alabama appears to have two solid top-five talents in Will Anderson Jr. and Bryce Young, and two players who are hoping to squeeze into the first round with safety Brian Branch and running back Jahmyr Gibbs.

Everyone already knows what the first two can do, and next two will see their destinations largely determined by team needs. They probably can't improve their draft stock.

After that, who knows? Which is why tight end Cameron Latu, offensive linemen Emil Ekiyor Jr. and Tyler Steen, defensive linemen DJ Dale and Byron Young, linebacker Henry To’oTo’o and safety DeMarcco Hellams are still set to head to Mobile next week to work with NFL coaches.

Through Battle in the mix, and just about all of them could go anywhere between the lower second round, and maybe the fifth round. But not even they will do everything for scouts.

The NFL combine will be held February 28–March 6, and your guess is as good as anyone's for how many former Crimson Tide players might participate in any drills or do anything outside of interviews. The same goes for Alabama's Pro Day.

4) NFL awards

If there's one drawback to the Associated Press changing its voting system for the NFL Awards, and announcing top five finalists for MVP, and the final three for the other awards, it makes it pretty easy to tell who the winners will be.

The good news among former Crimson Tide players and coaches is that Brian Daboll will probably named coach of the year after his first season guiding the New York Giants.

The bad news is that it looks like Jalen Hurts will get left out of the major awards. Patrick Mahomes is the clear favorite to be named MVP ahead of Joe Burrow, with Hurts third ahead of Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson.

However, Jefferson is considered the frontrunner for offensive player of the year ahead of Hurts and Mahomes.

5) Talk about a swing and a miss

You probably had the same reaction as everyone else when SEC coaches voted Alabama to finish fourth in the league this season.

How long do you think it'll be before Patrick Murphy has that prominently displayed in the Crimson Tide clubhouse? 

Some of this post on Bear Bryant originated from "100 Things Crimson tide Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die," published by Triumph Books