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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/city-of-stars on 2025-05-08 13:54:15+00:00.

“HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS. WELCOME ABOARD”

A congratulatory telegram sent by Texas A&M head coach Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant to newly hired Texas head coach Darrell K Royal in December 1956.

Darrell K Royal and Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant were good friends for much of their coaching careers, and Bryant gave Royal an endorsement when the latter was interviewing for the Texas job in December 1956. Bryant had been coaching at A&M since 1954 (the year of the infamous summer practices at Junction, Texas) and already had a SWC title under his belt in 1956, but two years of NCAA probation had prevented A&M from playing in a bowl game. Royal, meanwhile, was a 32-year old former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback from Hollis, OK who had head coaching stints at Mississippi State and Washington and was considered one of the brightest young coaches of the game. After the Longhorns had suffered through a dismal 1-9 season in 1956, athletic director Dana X.Bible reached out to Michigan State’s Duffy Daugherty, Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd and Texas A&M’s Bryant. All three enthusiastically recommended Darrell K Royal, who was coaching in Washington at the time, for his knowledge of the Split-T offense he had ran under Oklahoma coaching legend Bud Wilkinson.

“One night we were in bed and I got a phone call. I picked up the phone and the voice on the other end said, ‘Darrell, this is D.X. Bible from the University of Texas,’ and I remember covering up the phone and I said, this is it Edith, it’s the University of Texas calling.” – Darrell K Royal

During the subsequent 1957 season, Texas had an up-and-down 5-3-1 start while Texas A&M won its first eight games and rocketed to No. 1 in the polls. But after defeating Southern Methodist on November 9th to retain the No. 1 ranking, A&M head coach Bear Bryant had a secret meeting with Alabama president Dr. Frank Rose in Houston. The Alabama football program had won just four of its last 30 games under beleagured head coach J.B. Whitworth, and after a humbling shutout loss to Tulane, Rose visited the locker room and told the Alabama players, “Just hang in there, we’re going to get you a real good coach.” Rose then flew to Houston and offered Bryant the head coaching job in Tuscaloosa.

At the Houston conclave, Bear agreed only to consider the offer. In return, he asked for one concession: that no one mention anything about the impending deal. Games against Rice and Texas remained in the regular season, plus, Bryant hoped, a New Year’s Day bowl game. He fretted that loose talk might cost him a national title. Within days, however, the chatter began. Long before Bear accepted the offer, rumors had packed his bags and trucked them northeast to Tuscaloosa. The day before the Rice game, the Houston Post headlined “Bear Goes to Bama,” and Bryant had to field more questions about the future than the present.

The Aggies lost to Rice, 7-6. That night, Bear sat silently through a funereal dinner at Houston’s Cork Club with his wife and several friends. An A&M graduate approached the coach, briefly mentioned what was on everyone’s lips and extended his hand. “Bryant ignored it,” a person at the table recalled, “lifted his glass and took a long, slow drink.” After the man crept off, a woman in Bryant’s group scolded, “Paul, I believe that was the rudest thing I have ever seen. You made that man feel like a fool.” “Good!” Bryant replied. “That’s exactly how I wanted him to feel.”

That Thanksgiving, Royal picked up the first big win of his career at Texas, knocking off Bryant and the fourth-ranked Aggies in his very first season as head coach. The win cost A&M the Southwest Conference championship, and knocked the Aggies out of what would have been their first Cotton Bowl appearance in 16 years.

  • November 29th, 1957: Texas def. #4 Texas A&M, 9-7 | Box Score

From The New York Times: Longhorn Kicking Scores 9-7 Upset

COLLEGE STATION,. Tex., Nov. 28 (4) — Superb kicking by Bobby Lackey and Walter Fondren, Texas quarterbacks, beat Texas A. and M. 9-7 today in a tense renewal of an ancient series. The defeat knocked the Aggies out of the Southwest Conference race. A great quick-kick by Fondren set up Texas for a touchdown and. a 28-yard field goal by Lackey was the clincher. As a result, the Longhorns, arising from football’s scrap heap, slashed into second place in the conference race. The Longhorns can win the title if Rice, which leads by half a game, should lose to Baylor Saturday. Texas, using a trap play that baffled the Aggies most of the afternoon, outplayed them thoroughly and richly deserved the victory. However, the Aggies furnished the great star of the game — the mighty John Crow — who did everything except beat Texas single-handed. A crowd of 42,000 rocked and swayed with the gripping struggle—the sixty-fourth in the oldest football rivalry in the Southwest.

The Aggies were able to pierce the Texas 30-yard line only once. That was through the individual efforts of Crow, who figured in a 57-yard pass play that set up the Aggie touchdown. The Longhorns scored in the first period as Lackey, who made all the Texas points, pounded over the line. In the third period, Lackey stepped back and, with Fondren holding, planted the ball between the goal posts from the Aggies’ 28-yard stripe. Texas A. and M., once the No. 1 college football team in the country, was No. 4 entering today’s game. It would have lost by a bigger margin had it not been for Crow, who three times prevented Texas touchdowns with his pass defense and was the top ground-gainer of the game. Texas is unranked in the national football list but probably will move into the select circle now. Texas scored in the first nine minutes after Fondren’s 62-yard quick-kick to the Aggie 3.

In the first half, Texas A. and M. was unable to get past midfield. Texas pierced the Aggies’ 20 four times. Once the Longhorns rolled to the Aggies 7 and twice more they reached the 10, only to lose the ball on fumbles. The Aggies did better in the second half, Early in the fourth period, Osborne, seemingly trapped by Robert E. Lee, a Texas guard, passed to Crow on the Texas 40. The big halfback slashed to the Texas 9. Crow lost 5 but then powered to the Texas 2. After Osborne got a yard, Crow climbed over guard for the touchdown. Lloyd Taylor kicked the extra point.

Game report from the 1958 edition of the Cactus Yearbook

After the game, Bryant gave the now-infamous quote; “They just seem to hate us more than we hate them.” He also publicly admitted he was considering leaving A&M for the head coaching job at Alabama.

“When you are out playing as a kid, say you heard your mother call out. If you thought she just wanted you to do some chores, you might not want to answer her. But if you thought she needed you, you’d be in a hurry. I feel the same way about this.”

Shortly afterward, Bryant made the move official. A&M suffered through a lean period after the departure of Bryant, enduring nine consecutive losing seasons, and would never again reach the No. 1 ranking.

During Bryant’s tenure at Alabama, he would meet Royal three more times, starting with an uneventful 3-3 tie in the 1960 Bluebonnet Bowl.

However, by the time Bryant and Royal next faced off, both head coaches had national championships on their resume. Royal had led Texas to its first national title in 1963, while Bryant captured championships with the Crimson Tide in 1961 and 1964. The two teams clashed in a thrilling encounter in the 1965 Orange Bowl.

From The New York Times: Texas Defeats Alabama; No. 1 Team Halted on One-Foot Line

MIAMI, Jan. 1 – Alabama, the top-ranking college team in the nation, was beaten in the Orange Bowl tonight by Texas, 21 to 17, despite a phenomenal passing performance by Joe Namath that fell a foot short of victory. Transcending the downfall of the previously invincible Crimson Tide and the tremendously powerful running of Ernie Koy, who scored two Texas touchdowns, was the unbelievable accuracy and fidelity with which the injured Joe Namath hit his receivers. The 72,647 who filled the Orange Bowl Stadium were privileged to witness an exhibition that has hardly been surpassed in artistry, unruffled poise and deadly targetry. Slowed by the recurrence of the knee…

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