Feb. 14, 2006

As part of its celebration of Black History Month, the Mid-American Conference is honoring former student-athletes, coaches and administrators at its member schools. Former Ohio quarterback and head football coach Cleve Bryant is the second Bobcat to be recognized by the MAC.

Andy Daniels Profile

By Katie Brandt

Of all the schools chasing Cleve Bryant when he began his college search 40 years ago, only one trusted him enough to invite him on as the football team's star role - quarterback.

Bryant's large hands and fascination with the game kept him interested in the sport after he first picked up a football at seven years old.

"Back then it was just a game. We were always just playing games," he said. "But it was always on TV, and I became fascinated with it. It has that team nature, not like golf. You have to get 11 people to do one thing, and that's difficult."

As quarterback in junior high school, Bryant led his team through nine undefeated games, with only one team scoring against them the entire season. At Glenwood High School in Canton, Ohio, he stood out on the field as one of the team's most outstanding players, if not the best. But when college recruiters came to view games, they saw more than Bryant's talent. They saw the color of his skin.

It was his African ancestry that caused schools to jump at Bryant with offers of wide receiver and running back positions but to hold back on the possibility of quarterback.

"Many people just didn't think blacks were smart enough," Bryant said from his Austin, Texas home, his voice smooth and matter-of-fact after decades of perspective. "It was a challenge, and I was stubborn, bound and determined."

Only Ohio University differed from the norm. Bryant accepted the quarterback offer the school put in front of him, and traveled to the tree-covered hills and brick-laden streets of Athens, where he defied the stereotype of the time, launching repeated touchdown passes across Peden Stadium and leading the team to infinite victories.

When he crossed the field's white boundary lines for his first game, his nerves didn't distract him in the least.

"I knew we were going to win," he said. "If anything, I was anxious, but not nervous. We were a great group of individuals that pulled for one cause."

Since that first game, Bryant has experienced the sport from every angle - as a player on the field, a coach on the sidelines and an administrator at an office desk. He has coached college and professional teams across the United States and now functions as associate athletics director for football operations for the University of Texas Longhorns, the National Champions.

Through the years, Bryant has witnessed numerous evolutions in the game. He said now there are more black players on the field than when he was recruited and that in general, players are noticeably larger and faster.

Bryant also has seen a transformation in how he views the game. From a player's standpoint, he said he had a "direct impact on the outcome of the game," while as a coach he felt more like he was "handcuffed." However he added, "A coach is only as great as the relationships he forms with his players. He has to care about them on and off the field."

And Bryant has accomplished just that. After graduating from OU, he was drafted by the Denver Broncos but opted to neglect his on-field career after undergoing a second knee surgery. Coaching, though, was something he knew he wanted to do. As such, his career meandered across the Midwestern and Eastern United States. He has coached at Miami University, the University of North Carolina and the University of Illinois, Ohio University and for the New England Patriots.

"I've had some great jobs, and I wouldn't change a thing," Bryant said of his career. "Life is full of learning experiences. And you know how you can think of the glass as half full or half empty? I'm always half full," he said.

Bryant's approach to the game reflects that philosophy too.

"Football brings out the character in a person. It's like life. It's not the win or the lose, it's how you handle it."

And how does Bryant handle a loss? After a lifetime in football, he said with a laugh, "I never like to say we lost. We just ran out of time."

Katie Brandt is studying magazine journalism and Spanish at Ohio University and will graduate this March. She enjoys photographing her bird, decorating people's yards, and of course watching lots of football - even in the off-seasons.