Paul "Bear" Bryant Museum in Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Few college football teams are such a fundamental part of the sport in general as Alabama State, and few coaches in the history of the game have been as influential as former Crimson Tide coach, Paul William "Bear" Bryant. A museum on the UA campus dedicated to this historic sports figure remembers the man, the myth and the legend, along with the history of Alabama football in general.

Paul William Bryant, known simply as Bear Bryant since the age of 13, came from humble, Southern beginnings. Bryant was born as the 11th of 12 children in a farming family from the rural area of Moro Bottom, Arkansas, and attended school in the nearby town of Fordyce, Arkansas. Due to his impressive size, Bear Bryant started playing football at an early age, and by his Senior year was leading the Fordyce High School football team to a State Championship victory.

Following his State Championship victory, Bryant received a full sports scholarship to the University of Alabama where he went on to play End for the Crimson Tide. During his time in Tuscaloosa, Bryant saw the team to win the National Championships in 1934.

Following his impressive career as a player, Bear Bryant went on to coach at a number of different universities. Bryant held coaching positions at Maryland, Kentucky and Texas A&M before returning to the University of Alabama.

"Mama was calling", Bryant later remarked, and he had no choice but to answer that call.

Bryant's time as Head Coach for the Crimson Tide was so impressive that the university later constructed the Paul W. Bryant Museum to honor the memory of Bear Bryant, as well as the entire history of Crimson Tide football, dating back as far as 1892.

The museum was the brainchild of Bryant himself, who petitioned the university after setting the record for most career wins. However, Bryant envisioned a museum about the Crimson Tide and the previous coaches that made his success possible, but the university had other ideas, and made Bryant the central figure of the museum.