Daily Dose of Crimson Tide: Coach J.B. “Ears” Whitworth

After Harold “Red” Drew resigned at the end of the 1954 season with a record of 45-28-7, among those mentioned as a possible replacement was former Alabama player and assistant coach Paul W. “Bear” Bryant, who was coming off a 1-9 season in his first year at Texas A&M.

Instead, the Alabama board of trustees' athletic committee opted for former player J.B. “Ears” Whitworth, who had played tackle on the football team alongside Fred Sington, was on the 1931 Rose Bowl team, and had also begun his coaching career at Alabama.

His first head coaching job was at then-Oklahoma A&M (now known as Oklahoma State). From 1950-54, the Cowboys compiled a 22–27–1 record.

He was also the coach during the famous Johnny Bright incident, a violent on-field assault against an African-American player by a white opposing player (Wilbanks Smith) after the Drake quarterback had handed off the ball on October 20, 1951.

Bright suffered a broken jaw. Whitworth didn't suspend the player. Drake ended up pulling out of the Missouri Valley Conference in protest after the league didn't take any disciplinary action. Two photographers from The Des Moines Register won the Pulitzer Prize for their progression of photos on the hit.

Oklahoma State officially apologized in 2005.

During his first season at Alabama, Whitworth was only allowed to hire only two of his own coaches and forced to retain the rest of former coach Harold Drew's assistants, including defensive coach Hank Crisp, who was also the athletic director.

The subsequent season was the worst in Alabama history, 0-10 with none of the games close. Alabama was outscored 256-48.

Whitworth didn’t get his first victory until his 15th game, 13-12 against Mississippi State, ending a non-winning streak of 20 that went back to October 16, 1954 (27-0 vs. Tennessee).

His second and third seasons resulted in identical 2-7-1 records, for a three-year total of 4-24-2.

Late in the 1957 season, school president Dr. Frank Rose visited the locker room and told the Alabama players, "Just hang in there, we're going to get you a real good coach."

They did.

After Auburn beat Alabama 40-0, and went on to win its first national title title, they went back and hired Bryant.

Some of this post originated from "100 Things Crimson tide Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die," published by Triumph Books