"His nickname was Bear. Now imagine a guy that can carry the nickname Bear," says Joe Namath on ESPN Classic's SportsCentury series.

After breaking the record for career victories by a college football head coach, Paul (Bear) Bryant called himself a tired old man who never got tired of football. When Bryant finally retired, he didn't receive an opportunity to enjoy life away from the game, if that were possible for him. He died 28 days after coaching his last game.

While Bryant's 323 major-college victories have been eclipsed by Penn State's Joe Paterno and Florida State's Bobby Bowden, Bryant left a legacy that encompassed more than 37 winning seasons overall and five Associated Press national championships at Alabama. No college coach in the second half of the 20th century commanded a bigger presence. Bryant became an icon, a symbol of strength and moral righteousness as much as success.

"Even his peers in the coaching business felt in awe of him," Paterno said. "He had such charisma. He was just a giant figure."

Bryant's record in 38 years at Maryland, Kentucky, Texas A&M and Alabama was 323-85-17 (.780). He took 29 teams to bowl games and led 15 to conference championships. In the 1960s and 1970s, no school won more games than Alabama (193-32-5).

"He was simply the best there ever was," former Nebraska coach Bob Devaney said.

Distinguished by the houndstooth hat he wore on the sidelines, Bryant molded teams in his image, focusing on aggressive defense and execution on special teams. As a player at Alabama, Bryant demonstrated his toughness by playing against Tennessee with a broken leg.

Bryant's first training camp as Texas A&M coach did much to write his legacy as a disciplinarian: Bryant took his "Junction Boys" to a small Texas town and ran a boot camp in which more than two-thirds of his players quit.

"I don't want ordinary people," Bryant said. "I want people who are willing to sacrifice and do without a lot of those things ordinary students get to do. That's what it takes to win."

He was born Sept. 11, 1913 in the community of Moro Bottom, outside Fordyce, Ark. Paul was the 11th of 12 children, three of whom died as infants. His family was poor. Bryant's father, Monroe, was a farmer and his mother, Ida Mae, tended to the family. Monroe became ill when Paul was a toddler, forcing his wife to run the farm. Chores were plentiful for all the children.

By 13, Paul already stood 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds. He earned the nickname that would stick with him for life by accepting a challenge to wrestle a bear at a carnival for $1. Although Bryant had his ear bitten, the carnival never paid him.

Bryant's football career began as an eighth-grader playing for Fordyce High School. He had never seen a game when he played in his first, as an offensive end and defensive lineman. Considered a fierce hitter, Bryant earned All-State honors as a senior and led Fordyce to a state championship.

Despite failing to graduate with his class, Bryant accepted an athletic scholarship to Alabama. Upon arriving in Tuscaloosa in 1931, he enrolled in high school for the fall semester to earn his degree while practicing with the Crimson Tide.

Considered the other end to future Hall of Fame receiver Don Hutson, Bryant helped Alabama go 23-3-2 from 1933 to 1935. He was a second-team All-SEC selection in 1934 and a third-team pick in 1935.

In June 1935, Bryant secretly married Mary Harmon. Their first of two children, Mae Martin, was born nine months later. Paul Jr. was born in 1944.

After graduating in 1936, Bryant was an assistant coach with Alabama for four years and Vanderbilt for two. Just when it appeared as if he might become Arkansas' head coach, the U.S. entered World War II. Bryant served in the Navy, on the U.S.S. Uruguay, before becoming the head coach of a preflight training school football team in North Carolina. When the war ended, Bryant was named head coach at Maryland.

The Terrapins went 6-2-1 in 1945, but Bryant resigned after the season because he deemed the school's president as meddlesome. Hired by Kentucky, Bryant immediately revived a dormant program, leading the Wildcats to a 7-3 mark in 1946.

In eight seasons, Bryant's Wildcats went 60-23-5 and earned four bowl berths. The highlight was an SEC championship in 1950 and a 13-7 upset of No. 1 Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl.

After the 1953 season, Bryant signed a 12-year contract extension at Kentucky, with hopes of making football the school's primary sport. Within weeks, however, he realized popular basketball coach Adolph Rupp was also ready to receive an extension. Bryant had earlier been told by the school's president that Rupp would be fired for rules violations. Feeling as if he had been duped, Bryant quit.

Paul Bryant (1913)