TIGER TIDBIT: SAM BAILEY

When Paul “Bear” Bryant retired in 1982, The New York Times identified “one man who ha[d] worked with Bryant longer than any other.” He was a former assistant coach who’d risen to associate athletic director at the University of Alabama. He’d been on Bryant’s staff for 27 of the college football legend’s 38 head coaching seasons, including all six of his national championship campaigns. The man’s name was Sam Bailey, and he was a Ouachita alum. Listing Magnolia as his hometown, Bailey grew up in Sandy Land, Arkansas, near Smackover. A World War II veteran, he spent two years at…