{"product_id":"9780393254570","title":"The Last Coach: A Life of Paul \"Bear\" Bryant","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe explosive biography of the greatest college football coach in history.\u003c\/p\u003e When Paul William \"Bear\" Bryant died on January 26, 1983, it was the lead story on the all three networks' evening news. New York City newspapers reported his death on their front pages. Three days later, America watched in awe as an estimated quarter of a million mourners lined the fifty-five mile stretch from Tuscaloosa to a Birmingham cemetery to pay their respects as his three-mile long funeral cortege drove by.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Bryant's passing was noted with the kind of reverence our country reserved for statesmen or military leaders, though Paul \"Bear\" Bryant had insisted for much of his life that he was \"just a football coach.\" For millions he was much more, he was the greatest coach the game ever saw, the heir to the tradition established by Knute Rockne. He took his Alabama Crimson Tide teams to an unmatched six national championships. But to the players, journalists and fans whose lives he touched in his more than half a century as a player and coach, he was the last symbol of values that transcended football—courage, discipline, loyalty, and hard work.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e To his critics, Bryant represented the dark side of big-time college football—brutality, fanaticism and blind adherence to authority. The real Bear Bryant was far more complex than either his admirers or detractors knew. While maintaining a public friendship with Alabama governor George Wallace, he continually sought ways to undermine the governor's segregationist policies, finally forcing a legendary football game in Birmingham with the University of Southern California that opened the floodgates to the integration of football at the University of Alabama, including its coaching staff. Old fashioned in his politics, he was nonetheless an admirer of Robert Kennedy, whom he planning to vote for in 1968.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Allen Barra's \u003cem\u003eThe Last Coach\u003c\/em\u003e traces Paul Bryant's rise from a family of truck farmers to recognition as the most successful and influential coach in the game's history. Through it all, Bryant's influence has not only endured but prevailed as his former players and assistants continue to define the best in not only college but professional football. A \u003cem\u003eUSA Today\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/em\u003e Best Sports Book.","brand":"Norton, W. W. \u0026 Company, Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47118637400304,"sku":"9780393254570","price":15.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780393254570_p0.jpg?v=1763696942","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780393254570","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}