Coaches / Head coach / Bear Bryant
Career
99
not coaching now
Rating—recent
Peak96best 5 yrs
Career99whole career
confidence
Bear Bryant
Head coach, 1946–1982
Headline rating: as head coach. Every role he has been rated in is below.
Chemistry
—
index in development
Seasons here—
Programs4
Stints4
Career path
Head-coaching stints since 1936; assistant roles since 2016
As head coach
Rating—Peak96Career99
1946–1982 · 37 seasonsRecord 317-83National titles 7Great seasons 17 (top ~7% of all teams that year)
- Rating 96: his whole career, recent seasons weighted most, measured as how far his teams stood above their era, crediting him with half of what each program already was when he arrived (about the share that, historically, follows a coach to his next job), fading as the program becomes his own.
- Peak 96: best five-season stretch, 1971–1975 at Alabama (54-6, 5 top-10 seasons by team strength, 1 national title), taking over an average program.
- Career 99 (#1 since 1936): total accomplishment over 37 seasons (317-83), 7 national titles, 17 elite seasons; full credit for the program he inherited.
- Proven at 3 programs: Kentucky · Texas A&M · Alabama.
Rating = who he is: his whole head-coaching career (since 1936), weighted toward recent years — how far his teams stood above their contemporaries, how much he lifted programs, his great seasons and titles. Form = the last two seasons. Career = the all-time ranking number.
| Season | Team | Record | Season rank | vs contemporaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Alabama | 8-4 | #10 | +1.38 SD |
| 1981 | Alabama | 9-2-1 | #12 | +1.29 SD |
| 1980 | Alabama | 10-2 | #4 | +1.99 SD |
| 1979 | Alabama | 12-0 | #2 | +2.03 SD |
| 1978 | Alabama | 11-1 | #3 | +1.99 SD |
| 1977 | Alabama | 11-1 | #2 | +2.05 SD |
| 1976 | Alabama | 9-3 | #7 | +1.63 SD |
| 1975 | Alabama | 11-1 | #3 | +2.09 SD |
| 1974 | Alabama | 11-1 | #3 | +1.93 SD |
| 1973 | Alabama | 11-1 | #4 | +2.00 SD |
| 1972 | Alabama | 10-2 | #4 | +2.06 SD |
| 1971 | Alabama | 11-1 | #3 | +2.36 SD |
| 1970 | Alabama | 6-5-1 | #18 | +0.98 SD |
| 1969 | Alabama | 6-5 | #29 | +0.68 SD |
| 1968 | Alabama | 8-3 | #23 | +0.83 SD |
| 1967 | Alabama | 8-2-1 | #16 | +1.16 SD |
| 1966 | Alabama | 11-0 | #2 | +2.15 SD |
| 1965 | Alabama | 9-1-1 | #3 | +1.84 SD |
| 1964 | Alabama | 10-1 | #3 | +1.71 SD |
| 1963 | Alabama | 9-2 | #4 | +1.51 SD |
| 1962 | Alabama | 10-1 | #2 | +1.84 SD |
| 1961 | Alabama | 11-0 | #3 | +2.01 SD |
| 1960 | Alabama | 8-1-2 | #18 | +0.98 SD |
| 1959 | Alabama | 7-2-2 | #22 | +0.69 SD |
| 1958 | Alabama | 5-4-1 | #24 | +0.59 SD |
| 1957 | Texas A&M | 8-3 | #12 | +1.13 SD |
| 1956 | Texas A&M | 9-0-1 | #7 | +1.35 SD |
| 1955 | Texas A&M | 7-2-1 | #8 | +1.30 SD |
| 1954 | Texas A&M | 1-9 | #50 | +0.04 SD |
| 1953 | Kentucky | 7-2-1 | #13 | +1.18 SD |
| 1952 | Kentucky | 5-4-2 | #35 | +0.39 SD |
| 1951 | Kentucky | 8-4 | #8 | +1.41 SD |
| 1950 | Kentucky | 11-1 | #1 | +1.88 SD |
| 1949 | Kentucky | 9-3 | #13 | +1.17 SD |
| 1948 | Kentucky | 5-3-2 | #25 | +0.71 SD |
| 1947 | Kentucky | 8-3 | #15 | +0.97 SD |
| 1946 | Kentucky | 7-3 | #20 | +0.83 SD |
| 1945 | Maryland | 6-2-1 | #53 (wartime) | -0.50 SD |
Season rank = his team among all major-college teams that year; vs contemporaries = how far above the average team (in standard deviations).