Football's Supercoach

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This season's Alabama team, picked No. 1 in most early-season polls after a convincing 26-3 win over Georgia Tech, last week beat the University of Mississippi 59-35 and seems certain to continue Bryant's inexorable march into the record books. With eight veteran defensive starters on the squad, including four preseason All-Americas, Alabama boasts a swarming, solid defense. But nine starting players on the offensive unit graduated last year, and the team's Wishbone is being rebuilt. Says Alabama Assistant Athletic Director Charlie Thornton: "Last year the defense was green and the veterans were on the offensive unit. This year it's the reverse. These cycles come and go, and you just have to count on one unit buying time for the other."

Bryant's ability to shape successful teams from the constantly changing lineups has made him a one-man institution of higher learning for football: 42 of his former assistants and players have become head football coaches in the colleges and pros, among them the Houston Oilers' Bum Phillips, L.S.U.'s Paul Dietzel, the Washington Redskins' Jack Pardee, the New York Giants' Ray Perkins and the University of Pittsburgh's Jackie Sherrill. More than 60 former Bryant players have gone on to the pros (including five last year alone), among them former Jets Quarterback Joe Namath, Houston Quarterback Kenny Stabler, former Dallas Linebacker Lee Roy Jordan, New England Patriot Star Offensive Guard John Hannah and current Jets Quarterback Richard Todd.

At 67, Bear Bryant is a massive presence, a powerful man, 6 ft. 3½ in., 205 lbs., with sharp eyes and a sharper wit carefully sheathed by a down-home demeanor. His face is seamed and sunbaked from a lifetime on practice-field towers and stadium sidelines. His voice, a rich Southern drawl, is rarely raised; there is seldom any need.

Alabama's players may not feel close to Bryant ("I don't have time to coach individuals any more. I organize; my assistants coach"), but they are devoted to him. Remarks Defensive End E.J. Junior: "Coach Bryant is a father figure to the team. There's never much rah-rah talk, just plain common sense. In that respect, he's one of the best philosophers of life I've ever met."

The eagerness of impressionable youth? Bryant can dominate grown men the same way. Houston Oilers Coach Phillips recalls staff meetings during his days as one of the Bear's assistants at Texas A & M: "There'd be 16 of us, counting everybody on the staff, and we'd all be talking. When he'd walk in, everyone would just stop right in the middle of a sentence. He'd sit down, take out a pack of cigarettes, beat one on his thumb to pack it down, light it and smoke the whole damn thing without saying a word. He just had that magic about him: if he was going to say anything, you were going to be sure you didn't miss it."