Honors Theses

Date of Award

2010

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

History

First Advisor

Charles Ross

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

This thesis is a comparison and contrast of the sources of the on-the-field success of Paul Bear” Bryant, head coach at the University of Alabama and John Vaught, head coach at the University of Mississippi, in their respective coaching careers in college football. The first two chapters of the thesis simply give a brief biographical background of the two coaches. In Chapter Three, their respective coaching styles as it pertains to game planning and strategy, practice, and their adjustment to the changing style of the college game in their careers are analyzed and compared and contrasted. Chapter Four is an analysis of other keys to their success as coaches over long periods of time including how they chose to lead and manage their assistant coaches and how they dealt with the recruitment of new players. Chapter Five addresses the issue of integration at Vaught and Bryant’s respective universities and in the Southern region as a whole as well as how each coach integrated or failed to integrate his own teams. The final chapter. Chapter Six addresses what the author believes to be the ultimate foundations of the success of both Bryant and Vaught and which subsequently led to their present-day status as two of the all-time greats. These were the intangibles that guided them throughout their coaching careers including the ability to lead, motivate and inspire loyalty. The thesis is concluded with a final review of all the main points which are analyzed.

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