Alabama has had some great winners over the years, and has churned out out some of the most elite athletes that college football has ever seen, not one of them can compare to one coach who changed the face of college sports forever, and that is Paul "Bear" Bryant.

Paul "Bear" Bryant

The first person that you most likely think of when you hear something about Alabama football, it is likely you think of Bear Bryant. At one point, Bear Bryant was the winningest coach in college football ever. This legendary coach served the Crimson for 25 years. In this period of time, Brian was phenomenal with six national championships and 13 SEC conference championships.

As a head football coach, Bryant had several college head coaching jobs such as the University of Maryland, University of Kentucky, and Texas A&M University before he finally had the opportunity to give back to his alma mater, Alabama. So moved was Bear Bryant, that he notably was quoted as saying, "Mama called. And when Mama calls, you just have to come runnin'."

It was the year 1958 that Paul Bryant became head coach , and began leading it to its former Rose Bowl-style success but achieved even to greater heights. Producing famous players like Pat Trammell, Joe Namath,Big John Hannah, Snake Stabler, Lee Roy Jordan, Billy Neighbors, Johnny Musso, Bob Baumhower, and many others.

No doubt, Bear Bryant was a prodigious motivator and understood how to make his teams to do what he needed them to accomplish. Florida A&M coach, Jake Gaither said of Bear Bryant, "He can take his'n and beat you'n, and he can take your'n and beat his'n." The inspiration wasn't just on the field, the inspiration carried into real life as well by the character he instilled in his players like big John Croyle, who founded the faith-based Christian Big Oak Ranch for troubled kids in Springville, Alabama.

The last year that he coached the Crimson Tide, 1982, was a down year for Alabama and Bear couldn't see himself coaching Alabama into mediocrity. He constantly said that if he give up coaching that he "wouldn't last a week." In fact, he didn't last a great deal longer than that, only 37 days. On January 26, 1983, Bryant died of a heart attack at age 69 and many mourned his death. Public officials projected that between a half-million to a million individuals were lined along the 53 mile stretch from Tuscaloosa to the memorial park in Birmingham that was mere blocks from Legion Field.

Bear's Legacy

Bear's heritage lives in the players that are now growing older and the fans that evoke his championship spirit. Not only that… He helped shatter segregation in the South's football universe, and in doing so, turned the state around from racism to magnificence. Not only that, he changed the world to a better place. Roll Tide!

Read more on Coach Paul Bryant at Alabama Crimson Tide.