"Our phone was ringing off the hook with his parents and coaches calling our house. "He spent the night and we talked for hours," Buttimer said. Frustrated about his playing time, Buttimer said Searcey walked out of practice and ended up at his front door with a big bag of clothes - having hitchhiked all the way from Tuscaloosa. He was always so gracious with my mom, and my nine brothers and sisters."īuttimer said he was living in Marietta with his parents when Searcey was a sophomore at Alabama. "It was a special gesture he made to me for going out to his games and supporting him," Buttimer said. Searcey often invited Buttimer to see him play at Alabama, and even brought him up to Bryant's office to meet the legendary coach in person, just the three of them - a moment Buttimer will never forget. I think he squatted 640 pounds in high school." "I told him I might need some help with that. "Billy was just a junior, and one day he wanted to me to spot him as he benched 400 pounds," Buttimer said with a laugh. So coach got to have a feast before signing one of the strongest players Alabama ever had."īuttimer said Searcey motivated him to hit the weights, and the duo worked out at Howard Cohen's gym. Bear Bryant showed up to Bill's house in a black Cadillac to sign him, and Bill's mom made a big lasagna dinner for Coach Bryant. "He was big time at BC, and then he went on to Alabama. "Billy was a guy who loved to laugh and cut up we had a lot of great times," Buttimer said.
He also won a Southwestern Conference championship with the Aggies in 1956.Mark Buttimer was a teammate and classmate with Searcey at Benedictine, and stayed close with him through the years at Alabama and beyond. He was a 12-time SEC Coach of the Year and won 14 SEC titles. At the time of his death in 1983, he was Alabama’s athletics director.ĭuring his career, Bryant won six national championships as a coach and one as a player. He began his coaching career in Tennessee as an assistant at Union College in 1936.īryant was later an assistant at Alabama (1936-40), Vanderbilt (1940-41), Georgia Pre-Flight (1942) and North Carolina Pre-Flight (1944). He landed his first head coaching job at Maryland in 1945, guiding the Terrapins to a 6-2-1 record.īryant was head coach at Kentucky from 1946-53 before becoming head coach and athletics director at Texas A&M (1954-57).īryant was the Crimson Tide’s head coach and athletics director, serving as head coach between 1958-82. In 1953, the Wildcats downed the Vols, 27-21.īryant would hold the upper hand against Tennessee later in his career as head coach at Alabama, posting a 17-7-2 record against the Vols.īryant was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1986 after winning 323 games. While in Lexington, Bryant beat Tennessee only once. Their only loss came to the Vols that season, with UT prevailing, 7-0. The Wildcats went 10-1 and beat Oklahoma, 13-7, in the Sugar Bowl. Kentucky was also crowned as national champions that year by Sagarin Ratings. Kentucky was once coached by Paul “Bear” Bryant.īryant, who played end at Alabama, opposite of Hall of Famer Don Hutson, served as the Wildcats head coach between 1946-53, leading Kentucky to its only outright SEC championship in 1950. Saturday’s contest will mark the 117th meeting with UT holding an 81-26 advantage in the all-time series. EDT and the game will be televised by ESPN2. The two schools will rekindle its rivalry Saturday at Kroger Field in Lexington.
Bear bryant series#
The all-time football series between the Volunteers and Wildcats dates back to 1893. Tennessee and Kentucky are longtime Southeastern Conference rivals.
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