A LEGEND

Paul "Bear" Bryant was a fantastic football coach. He has gone down in history as the "winningest" college football coach of all time. But looking around the Paul W. Bryant Museum at Alabama it is easy to see that Bryant is more than just a coach.

To many here at Alabama, he is a god. Fans of the Tide are constantly looking around for the next Bear. When we get off to a good start you hear things around campus like " We haven't played this well since Bryant was coach!" It isn't surprising that no one has lived up to the expectations of the die hard fans yet, and I don't think anyone ever will.

But really, Bryant doesn't have all that much to do with football. I mean when we start displaying Waterford crystal hats I think we are moving away from the topic of football. Bryant has been immortalized. He is remembered by students everyday who wear houndstooth coats, hats, boots, dresses, and anything else you can imagine. Chances are these students can't name the years that Bryant led the Tide to national championships and very few actual facts about the man. The legacy of Bryant has more to do with local pride than football.

The Bear gave something to the University of Alabama that can never be taken away. Houndstooth will forever be synonymous with Alabama's football dominance, but maybe that's not the most important thing. Reading some of the Bear's quotes got me wondering that maybe he would rather Alabama football players and fans pass down his legacy of having "class".

As the Bear said "As long as we have class, well, we'll be alright." In a time where more and more players are being punished for scandals like reselling text books for profit or getting into trouble on the strip, one wonders if the Bear wouldn't be disappointed in his school. How would the Bear feel watching disgruntled Bama fans shower a visiting team with trash? I have a feeling that the Bear would prefer us to improve our school's image off the field before worrying about how we look on field.