Vito Ragazzo, an assistant football coach at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, dropped by the Sports Information Office one afternoon to see Bob Quincy, the director. I worked there after class and I heard this exchange.
Ragazzo, who coached ends, told Quincy that he had just gotten a phone call from “Bear” Bryant, the legendary University of Alabama coach whose team had just won the national championship.
“What did he want,” Quincy asked.
“He wanted ends,” Ragazzo replied.
“I hope you didn’t give him any of ours,” Quincy said.
“He doesn’t want our ends,” Ragazzo said. “Coach Bryant wanted to know if I knew of any good ends we couldn’t get in school.”
Ragazzo said he told the Alabama coach that he knew of a couple of good ones but he said he told Bryant they were dumb as a post.
He said Bryant told him, “I’m not looking for students. I’m looking for ends.”
Coming Friday: How Times Have Changed