Coach Bryant inducted to Hall of Fame
Brendan Block
Issue date: 2/3/10 Section: News
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"I don't know if I have a clue over what I said," said Coach Bryant the next day.
As one of the 15 individuals being inducted with former Kansas City Chiefs Coach Marty Schottenheimer, and NFL Hall of Famer Kellen Winslow Sr., Bryant had the largest support group at the banquet.
Nearly 80 members of the Bolivar community, ex-players from every decade of his coaching career and SBU Faculty and staff all came to be a part of this special night.
Coach Bryant was the first to be inducted to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame for his accomplishments at SBU.
Former players and guests came as far as Oklahoma and Texas to be at the event. Dr. Taylor's son-in-law and former tennis player Dr. Adam Austermann came with his wife Charla Austermann.
"Coach Bryant brings us longevity… he brings not only excellence from the tennis courts but is an outstanding mathematics professor," said President C. Pat Taylor. He's influenced a number of young men and now young women with his tennis expertise. A lot of times the tennis makes more headlines because they are so successful but he really changes lives in the classroom."
A man who played a part in Coach Bryant's longevity at Southwest Baptist, Dr. Bev Harris, the head of the math department 44 years ago, was at the event and said, "I hired him to come teach mathematics and he wound up a tennis coach."
Bryant's coaching accolades range from playing in 19 consecutive National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national tournaments and winning the NAIA national championship in 1984.
In 1990, SBU tennis joined the NCAA Division II, and since then his teams have been to 19 national tournaments.
He has had considerable success in the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Association, and in 2008 both the men and women's tennis teams were MIAA champs, marking the first time in SBU history that any women's sport won an MIAA tournament. Both teams made nationals.
Something that doesn't generate headlines is equally worth talking about-the 99 percent graduation rate his players have.
As he went to give his acceptance speech in front of 1,500 guests, Coach Bryant was nervous.
According to Bryant, tennis coaches don't commonly find themselves in these positions for recognition.
"It's amazing for me to be up here and sitting over here are all of you folks [players] who are responsible and deserve this award," said Bryant.
Bryant also gave advice to coaches in his speech saying, "You coaches, take care of your students. They'll come back into your life."
Near the end of his speech, Bryant showed his appreciation for his wife Judy.
"She has cooked more meals and talked more players down off from tall buildings the last 44 years and she is the person who makes this thing go."
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