Duffy’s 1985 Knoxville response to Bear Bryant
PHOTO: Knoxville News-Sentinel sports editor Al Browning included an interesting quote when he wrote about Duffy Daugherty receiving the 1985 Robert Neyland Trophy.
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— Click here for book review and purchase link: THE RIGHT THING TO DO, The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s and here for a purchase link to RAYE OF LIGHT, Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the Integration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans.
— Watch a three-minute video to learn about our documentary at the fundraising stage, GAME CHANGERS OF THE CENTURY, and the Investment Deck.
— Documentary synopsis: Duffy documentary snynopsis.pdf – Google Drive
— I will debate anybody, anytime, anywhere Duffy Daugherty led college football integration
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By TOM SHANAHAN
I came across a revealing Duffy Daugherty quote the Spartans’ College Football Hall of Fame coach delivered to the National Football Foundation’s East Tennessee Chapter circa 1985. The witty retort was directed at Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant.
If Daugherty, who died in 1987 at age 72, ever publicly uttered a similar comment about Bryant’s dubious views on the controversial 1966 season, I’m unaware of it.
“Bear and I are great friends,” said Daugherty from the podium. “He came on to me with that, ‘you robbed us’ stuff. When there was no way his all-white squad could have handled our squad that season. We had seven all-stars. Years later he realized that and admitted it to me.”
The “you robbed us” reference was Alabama finished No. 3 in the final polls behind No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 2 Michigan State.
Daugherty’s quote was published in the Knoxville News-Sentinel, April 27, 1985. Once again, I’ve found there is no end to Duffy Daugherty history lost in the misleading shadows of Bear Bryant folklore.
Duffy was in Knoxville to receive the 1985 Robert Neyland Trophy, an award named for Tennessee’s legendary coach hailed as General Neyland. College football historian and Memphis lawyer John Park understood the context, and he forwarded to me the story written by sports editor Al Browning.
The 1966 season, for those who need a history lesson, rose to an operatic crescendo when No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 2 Michigan State met in a quasi-national championship on November 19 at Spartan Stadium. The epic showdown drew a record TV audience of 33 million out of a population of 195 million.
But when the game ended in a 10-10 tie, controversies arose. One was Notre Dame ran out the clock to settle for the deadlock. Irish coach Ara Parseghian admitted it was his strategy to preserve their No. 1 ranking. In the poll era, the NCAA sanctioned four bodies to declare a national champion with voting at the end of the regular season.
Sure enough, the final ballots came out No. 1 Notre Dame (9-0-1), No. 2 Michigan State (9-0-1) and No. 3 Alabama (10-0-0). The Associated Press, United Press International and Football Writers Association of America crowned Notre Dame, while the National Football Foundation split the title, naming the Irish and Spartans co-champions.
PHOTO: Duffy Daugherty (left) and Ara Parseghian are seated with the MacArthur Bowl Trophy symbolic of the NFF’s national championship. The Spartans and Irish were 1966 NFF co-champions. Daugherty was joined on the dais by team captains George Webster and Clinton Jones and Parseghian by team captain Jim Lynch.
In the postseason, Alabama improved to 11-0 with a Sugar Bowl victory, but Notre Dame didn’t play bowl games until 1969 while Michigan State was barred from the Rose Bowl as two-time Big Ten champion by the no-repeat rule.
As for Duffy stating Alabama couldn’t match up, he meant the size advantage favoring his Spartans as well as Notre Dame’s size against Alabama.
Bryant’s 1960s teams fell behind the times upon the NCAA approving two-platoon football for the 1964 season. In one-platoon, players were quicker, smaller to stay on the field 60 minutes. In two-platoon, bigger players could be on the field fewer minutes. But Bryant continued to field rosters with smaller, quicker players on both sides of the ball until later in the decade.
In 1966, Alabama’s All-American offensive tackle was 6-foot-1, 202-pound Cecil Dowdy. Who was going to block Michigan State College Football Hall of Famers Bubba Smith (6-7, 280) and George Webster (6-4, 255)? Who was going to block Notre Dame College Football Hall of Famers Alan Page (6-4, 245) and Jim Lynch (6-1, 235)?
Another controversy was Bryant, a master manipulator of the media, didn’t accept consensus voting.
Bryant stirred up his fanbase into crying reverse racism. They bellyached voters punished Alabama for the 1963 racist images of Alabama Gov. George Wallace standing in the schoolhouse door, Birmingham police chief Bull Connor turning firehoses and attack dogs on peaceful youth demonstrators and the Ku Klux Klan bombing the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham.
This excuse ignored Alabama earned split national titles in the 1964 and 1965 voting.
— 1964: Alabama (AP, UPI), Arkansas (FWAA), Notre Dame (NFF).
— 1965: Michigan State (UPI, NFF, co-FWAA), Alabama (AP, co-FWAA).
Do Alabamians want us to think it took three years for football poll voters to learn George Wallace and Bull Connor were bigots and four Sunday School girls died at the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing?
What did Duffy say in 1966? He didn’t criticize Parseghian or scoff at Bryant. Duffy was a sportsman — hence the “Mr. Nice Guy” headline atop the News-Sentinel story.
Maybe Daugherty decided 1985 was the right time for his rejoinder, although the AP and UPI wire services apparently didn’t pick up the quote since the Detroit Free Press, Detroit News and Lansing State Journal lacked a typical follow-up story.
A lecture on Michigan State’s Duffy history – Tom Shanahan Report
Also note that Bryant, who died in 1983 at age 69, never publicly acknowledged what he told Daugherty. His sycophants thus continued carping about reverse racism into the 21st Century.
Alabama writer Keith Dunnavant used the marketing magic of Bryant’s name to get away with St. Martin’s Press publishing a 2006 book: “THE MISSING RING, How Bear Bryant and the 1966 Crimson Tide Were Denied College Football’s Most Elusive Prize.”
Allen Barra, another Bryant biographer, wrote a review in the Los Angeles Times on September 2, 2006. He stated Dunnavant’s claim “is based far more on emotion than logic and some of that emotion is borderline irrational.”
But the LA Times copy desk apparently didn’t read the story before slapping on this fawning headline: Hats off to ‘Bama’s Bear.’
The Notre Dame favoritism/reverse racism claims also ignored Alabama was the preseason No. 1-ranked team. The Crimson Tide gained the No. 1 nod over Michigan State, even though the 1965 split title among the four sanctioned bodies favored the Spartans with 2 ½ to Alabama’s 1 ½. The preseason voting also overlooked the Spartans returned five All-Americans: Bubba Smith, George Webster, Clinton Jones, Gene Washington and Bob Apisa.
There’s more: Sports Illustrated – the premier sports authority until its 21st Century decline – featured Bryant on its cover dated August 15, 1966. He was pictured wearing his trademark houndstooth hat with the headline: “I’LL TELL YOU ABOUT FOOTBALL. By Bear Bryant. First of a Four-Part series.”
Maybe Bryant as a coverboy boosted Alabama to No. 1 among the preseason voters. Here’s how the early voting unfolded:
In the 1966 preseason AP poll, No. 1 Alabama collected 15 first-place votes, No. 2 Michigan State 12, No. 4 UCLA six and No. 6 Notre Dame none.
In the season openers played Saturday, September 17, No. 2 Michigan State beat North Carolina State 28-10 and No. 4 UCLA defeated Pitt 57-14, while No. 1 Alabama and No. 6 Notre Dame were idle.
The September 19 poll jumped Michigan State to No. 1 while idle Alabama and Notre Dame both dropped two spots:
- Michigan State, 12 first-place votes.
- UCLA, 13.
- Alabama, 10.
- Notre Dame, 1.
On Saturday, September 24, Michigan State, Notre Dame and UCLA faced what today are labeled Power 4 opponents. Michigan State beat Penn State 42-8, UCLA defeated Syracuse 31-12 and Notre Dame upset No. 7-ranked Purdue 26-14. Meanwhile, Alabama won 34-0 over Louisiana Tech, which in 1966 it needs to be noted competed in a division that equates to today’s NCAA Division II. Louisiana Tech finished 1-9 and didn’t elevate to Division I until 1975.
Two days later in the September 26 poll voting:
- Michigan State, 22 first-place votes
- UCLA, 11
- Alabama, 2.
- Notre Dame, 2
In the October 1 games: Michigan State 26, Illinois 15; UCLA 24, Missouri 15; Alabama 17, Ole Miss 7; and Notre Dame 35, Northwestern 7.
In the October 3 poll, Notre Dame and Alabama flip-flopped:
- Michigan State, 20 first-place votes
- UCLA, 7
- Notre Dame, 8
- Alabama, 3
In the October 8 games: Michigan State 20, Michigan 7; UCLA 27, Rice 24; Alabama 26, Clemson 0; and Notre Dame 35, Army 0.
In the October 10 poll, Notre Dame climbed to No. 2 and Alabama moved back to No. 3
- Michigan State, 18 first-place votes
- Notre Dame, 15
- Alabama, 4
- UCLA, 2
On Saturday October 15, Michigan State came from behind to beat Ohio State, 11-8; Notre Dame routed North Carolina, 32-0; Alabama escaped with an 11-10 win over Tennessee thanks to Volunteers kicker Gary Wright missing a 20-yard field goal with 16 seconds to play; and UCLA routed Penn State, 49-11.
Two days later in the October 17 poll the voters punished both Michigan State and Alabama for narrow victories. Notre Dame jumped Michigan State to No. 1 and UCLA returned to No. 3:
- Notre Dame, No. 1, 31 first-place votes
- Michigan State, 10
- UCLA, 3
- Alabama, 2
UCLA remained No. 3 on October 31, but from November 7 forward, the order was unchanged: No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Michigan State and No. 3 Alabama.
As for Daugherty’s speech, the News-Sentinel story was about more than a taking a rare jab at Bryant.
“I had a simple philosophy while coaching,” Daugherty said. “I told my players, ‘Fellas, I want you to have a three-bone philosophy.
“First, have a funny bone. Display a sense of humor. Enjoy a good laugh. Make everyone brighter for having met you on a given day.”
“Then, have a wishbone. Think big. Hitch your wagon to the proverbial star. Set high ideals. Think about winning championships as a team.
“And, finally, have a strong backbone. Develop the gumption it takes to win and the desire it takes to excel. Create a willingness to your God-given talent to make your aspirations come true.”
Left unsaid was Daugherty displayed the backbone to change the face of the game in the 1960s.
Bryant didn’t stand up to recruit his first Black player until 1970. By then, Alabama was the seventh of 10 SEC schools to integrate and 33 of 37 major southern programs were integrated, including instate rival Auburn in 1969.
The 1960s began with college football divided into two camps: Segregation in the South and an unwritten quota coast to coast limiting Black athletes to a half-dozen or so elsewhere. USC, for example, won the 1962 national title with five Black players and seven in 1967 despite its campus located in populous and diverse Los Angeles.
Daugherty was the first coach to ignore the unwritten quota limitations with Black players numbering in double digits. In 1962, the Associated Press reported Michigan State’s 17 Black players were the most in major college football history. The report failed to note the Spartans broke their own records as the numbers grew into the 20s.
The Spartans’ success debunked fears Black and White players couldn’t get along in the locker room. Gene Stallings, a Bear Bryant protege, stated this as late as 1965 while he was Texas A&M’s head coach. Another concern was White players wouldn’t follow the leadership of a Black quarterback, Black linebacker or Black team captains. The 1966 Spartans had a Black quarterback, Black middle linebacker, Charlie Thornhill, and two Black team captains, George Webster and Clinton Jones.
The 1985 Knoxville quote makes you wish Duffy spoke up more often, but he wasn’t a self-promoter.
Although Bryant eventually realized he was on the wrong side of history, he never apologized. By contrast, Auburn, Alabama’s in-state rival, apologized.
Auburn signed James Owens as its first Black player a year earlier than Alabama in 1969 (a year earlier than Alabama). Auburn established the James Owens Courage Award, and officials acknowledged they should have provided more support rather than recruiting a lone Black player in an isolated environment.
The real missing ring from 1966 is Daugherty’s advancing the game socially on a parallel track to the Civil Rights movement without recognition. He instead resides in the shadow of Bryant, who resisted integration until the 1970s.
The Bryant mystique is why you see multiple documentaries promoting Bryant’s false narrative but none celebrating Daugherty’s leadership.
Daugherty needs a champion for a documentary.
I will debate this with anybody, anytime, anywhere. I have the facts on Duffy’s side.
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— My FWAA first-place story on the 1962 Rose Bowl and segregation
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I’ll put my facts on the true pioneers of college football integration versus Bear Bryant fairytales against anybody, anytime, anywhere. Watch here.
Click here for my story on the 1962 Rose Bowl and Segregation and Alabama.
— Tom Shanahan is an award-winning sportswriter with two books on college football integration, “RAYE OF LIGHT, Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the Integration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans,” and “THE RIGHT THING TO DO, The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s.” They are the most accurate accounts of college football integration in the 1950s and 1960s. They also debunk myths about the 1970 USC-Alabama game. The false narrative co-opted the stories of the true pioneers who stood up to Jim Crow and the KKK.
— Two children’s books also explain Michigan State College Football Hall of Fame coach Duffy Daugherty’s impact on integration through the Underground Railroad and the Hawaiian Pipeline: “DUFFY’S COLLEGE FOOTBALL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD” and “HOW DUFFY PUT HAWAII ON AMERICA’S FOOTBALL MAP.”
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PURCHASE LINKS, non-fiction books
— RAYE OF LIGHT, August Publications or on Amazon.
— THE RIGHT THING TO DO, August Publications or on Amazon.
PURCHASE LINKS, children’s books
— DUFFY’S COLLEGE FOOTBALL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD: Order from Barnes and Noble here and Amazon here.
— HOW DUFFY PUT HAWAII ON AMERICA’S FOOTBALL MAP. Order here:
How Duffy Put Hawaii On America’s Football Map by Tom Shanahan, Paperback | Barnes & Noble®
Amazon.com: How Duffy Put Hawaii On America’s Football Map eBook : Shanahan, Tom: Kindle Store
