Good read but factually inaccurate. Coach Bryant did not win a national championship at A&M and Alabama did not call to offer him the job in 1959, it was '57. Started at Bama in '58.
> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Behalf Of kurtrasmussen > Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 8:03 PM > To: undisclosed-recipients: > Subject: [RollTideFan] A tale of a cigarette lighter and a Caddy > > > http://story.theinsiders.com/a.z?s=48&p=2&c=297610 > > GAMEDAY: A tale of a cigarette lighter and a Caddy > /By Franz Beard > <javascript:location.href='http://search.theinsiders.com/a.z?s=48&; > p=4&c=1&search=1&sskey=%22' > + escape('Franz Beard') + '%22&sssiteid=48';> GatorCountry.com/ > Date: Sep 22, 2004 > > The fate of Kentucky football was perhaps forever sealed in the spring > of 1953. > > With the arrival of Paul “Bear” Bryant in 1946, the Wildcats had emerged > as a true national power. They played in the first four bowl games in > school history and in 1951, they defeated national champion Oklahoma in > the Sugar Bowl (the vote for the national champion was taken before the > bowl games in those days, otherwise the Wildcats would have won the > national championship). > > > Everything was looking up for Kentucky football. Bear Bryant was one of > college football’s bright young coaching stars. The best players in the > nation at that time played in Ohio and Pennsylvania, both close enough > to Lexington to make Kentucky a viable option, and the Kentucky boosters > were organized, wealthy and powerful. > > Nothing short of football suicide could stand in the way of the Wildcats. > > Well almost nothing. There was this small problem named Adolph Rupp. > > Rupp was the basketball coach of the Wildcats, the best coach in the > country and already a legend. Rupp didn’t like Bryant and made no effort > to hide his dislike for a football coach whose popularity might steer > booster money away from his basketball program. Publicly Rupp was barely > cordial to Bryant. Privately, he made every effort to disparage the > football coach to boosters. > > At the school’s athletic banquet in the spring of 1953, the football > awards were given out first, and when all the individual awards had been > presented, the president of the university made a very big deal about a > “special” gift he was going to give Bryant. He brought the coach to the > head table and gave him a small box. In it was an engraved sterling > silver cigarette lighter. > > It was a small gift but since Kentucky had only gone 5-4-2 in the 1952 > season, a rebuilding year after four straight bowl games including three > of what then was the big four of bowls (Orange, Sugar and Cotton), > Bryant really didn’t expect a large gift of appreciation. > > Next came the basketball awards. Kentucky was on probation that year, a > combination of NCAA violations and fallout from a national point shaving > scandal in which some Kentucky players had been implicated. > > The president asked Rupp to come to the head table for a special “gift” > and he handed the coach a box the exact same size as the one he had > handed Bryant a short time earlier. Only when Rupp opened his box, there > were keys to a brand new Cadillac, not a sterling silver > cigarette lighter. > > “That was the end right there,” says John Baldwin, a two-way tackle on > the 1950-52 teams and now a longtime Florida booster who lives in > Gainesville. “Coach Bryant didn’t say anything that night, but you could > see it on his face that if he wasn’t appreciated, he would find > someplace else to go.” > > Since it was spring and Bryant had made a commitment to the Kentucky > players, he wouldn’t quit immediately. He stayed for the fall football > season, taking the Wildcats to a 7-2-1 record. Kentucky was a fine team > but there were only a limited number of bowls in those days, so they > weren’t quite good enough to qualify for a bowl invitation. Still, there > was an excellent nucleus of outstanding young players on the roster. > Bryant had made the decision to leave Kentucky in the fall and he made > sure that when he left, there was a full cupboard for his successor. > > “Kentucky football has never been the same,” says Baldwin. “Coach Bryant > built Kentucky football and gave the school something it had never had > before. He felt he should have been every bit as appreciated as Coach > Rupp, especially since Coach Rupp’s team was on probation.” > > Bryant went to Texas A&M where it took him four years to win a national > championship, then he left for Alabama, his alma mater, where he won six > more national titles. > > As for Kentucky, the Wildcats have had just six bowl teams in the 50 > years since Bryant departed Lexington. Bryant was at Kentucky for eight > seasons, won 60 games, lost 23 and tied one. He is still the all-time > winningest football coach in Kentucky history. > > Of the nine coaches who have followed Bryant at Kentucky, only one, > Bear’s successor Blanton Collier (who later coached the Cleveland Browns > to the 1964 NFL championship) has posted a winning career record > (41-36-3). There have been only 13 winning seasons. > > Kentucky would win one more national championship in basketball under > Rupp (1958), the same year Bryant won his national title at Texas A&M. > Bryant would become the football coach and athletic director at Alabama. > He would make a commitment to building a strong all-around athletic > program at Alabama. To build the basketball program, he hired a former > Kentucky player who had been a star under Rupp, C.M. Newton. > > “We often wonder what might have happened with Kentucky football if not > for that cigarette lighter,” said Baldwin. “I think that Coach Bryant > would have gone back to Alabama in 1959 when they called to offer him > the job, but if he had been at Kentucky those few extra years, I think > he might have built Kentucky football into something strong enough that > it would still be strong today.” > > ______________________________________________________ > RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List > > Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup! > > To join or leave the list or to make changes to your subscription visit > http://listinfo.rolltidefan.net > > New AOL.com addresses are NOT allowed on this list. Get a real ISP. > > > ______________________________________________________ RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup! 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