Out of all the possible coaches to earn the title of "all-time best", one stands out from the rest of the crowd:

Paul "Bear" Bryant (1913 - 1983)

He earns this title not only because of the things he accomplished on the field, but for his accomplishments for the entire state of Alabama. As coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, he earned the admiration of football fans across the country.

Fans from any age still recognize his trademark houndstooth hat and firm stare. Alabama loves its college football, and loves its college football coaches even more.

He coached at Alabama for 25 years, and in that time, he earned a 232-46-9 record and six National Championships. His accolades don't stop there. Bryant won National Coach of the Year three times, and had 25 Bowl appearances in his career. Of those 25 Bowl games, he brought his team 15 victories (including 8 wins at the Sugar Bowl). And if that wasn't enough, Coach Bryant was also voted SEC coach of the year a total of 10 times. He's been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Bear Bryant will forever cast his great shadow over college football in Alabama. The Crimson Tide's stadium has been named "Bryant-Denny" in honor of their favorite coach. There is also a high school and street on the U of A campus named after him. His legacy is everywhere.

But his life in football didn't begin with this team in Alabama. He first started coaching in Maryland, and then moved on to Kentucky. After that, he was at Texas A&M.

It was 1945 when he took the head coaching position at the University of Maryland, and he was there just one season. While he was there, the team had a 6-2-1 record. Bryant coached at a total of 4 colleges and U. of Maryland was the only one he didn't earn a championship. Then again, he only had 1 year to work with.

After that, he went on to Kentucky for the next 8 seasons. And thanks to Coach Bryant, the Wildcats won their first (and only) SEC title in 1950.

Later on in 1954, he was at Texas A&M where he was in the position of head coach as well as the athletic director. His first year there was his only losing season of his 38-year career. The next year he made up for it with a 7-2-1 season.

After that, he returned to his alma mater, the Alabama Crimson Tide. His first season was the hardest, but they improved dramatically after that. In 1959, he won the hearts of fans with a win over Auburn, and an appearance in a bowl game. Neither had happened for more than 10 years for the Tide.

After that, the team had 24 straight winning years, including 3 undefeated seasons.

Bryant had an endearing style of tough love that turned the tables for the team and made him famous with the fans. He retired in 1982 with a total career record of 323-85-17. At that time, he had won more games than any other college football coach in the history of the sport.

And that makes him the greatest college football coach of all-time.