A biography for Bear Bryanthasn’t been written yet.
“I think I'm telling the truth. I sat by Ray Perkins at the Hall of Fame dinner in New York, and at that time he didn't know he was our coach and I didn't either.”
“I plan on staying at Alabama for the rest of my career. I guarantee that I'll be here for you through it all, regardless of what happens.”
“No coach has ever won a game by what he knows; it's what his players know that counts.”
“Back 12 years ago, when Dr. Mathews was president here, we had a plan that when I got ready to quit, we'd bring a certain guy in and he'd take over that day and I'd leave. But as time wore on, I realized that wouldn't have been good at all.”
“I'll put you through hell, but at the end of it all we'll be champions.”
“There's no use fussing on a boy who doesn't have any ability.”
“I can remember loving to recruit. I knew I was going to do my best. But traveling and recruiting doesn't appeal to me any more. It's not as much fun as it used to be.”
“Never quit. It is the easiest cop-out in the world. Set a goal and don't quit until you attain it. When you do attain it, set another goal, and don't quit until you reach it. Never quit.”
“I want to make sure I don't interfere with the success of that team next year. I don't see any way I could go to practice like most of 'em do, and not hurt the team. I'd go nuts if I tried doing that.”
“If I miss coaching that much, I could go to some little school where they didn't recruit, where all the kids wanted to go. I believe I could find somewhere to coach.”
“Nearly every coach I've talked with tells me that the attention you get from media and other people is the thing you miss most. I don't know if that's right.”
“Show class, have pride, and display character. If you do, winning takes care of itself.”
“In a crisis, don't hide behind anything or anybody. They're going to find you anyway.”
“I'm happy with the coach we have. I think any one of the ones I asked them to consider would've been good.”
“I ain't nothing but a winner.”
“If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, we did it. If anything goes really good, then you did it. That's all it takes to get people to win football games for you.”
“If we'd beaten 'em, I wouldn't be going out.”
“You never know how a horse will pull until you hook him to a heavy load.”
“There's no substitute for guts.”
“A good, quick, small team can beat a big, slow team any time.”