Special to BlogHawgs.com by Brian Rogers. This is the 1st installment of our Bama Week 3-part Special Report.

A Bear of a Decision

Being a lifelong Razorback fan born and raised in the northeast portion of our state, one unanswered question in the back of my mind has always been, “Why was Fordyce, Arkansas, native and college football icon Paul “Bear” Bryant never the head football coach at the University of Arkansas”?

As the BlogHawgs.com College Football History front man, I set out recently to answer the question, and was surprised with the underreported answer that I found.

While the phrases “Hook ‘em Horns” and “Roll Tide Roll”, are seemingly emblematic of barriers to Arkansas’ rocky ascension to the college football mountaintop, a phrase that appears to have been every bit as impactful is  “Tora! Tora! Tora!”.

Following the 1941 football season, Arkansas head coach Fred Thomsen was fired after a pedestrian 13-year run  in which the Razorbacks’ record was 56-61-10.

Bryant, a young, up-and-coming 2^nd-year assistant coach at Vanderbilt was contacted and, in the first week of December, 1941, verbally accepted the position to become Arkansas’ 16^th head coach.

But, while traveling to Fayetteville, along with fellow Arkansas native and Hall of Fame New York Yankees catcher Bill Dickey, Bryant heard the news of the bombing of Pearl Harbor on the radio.

Rather than continue on to Northwest Arkansas, Bryant and Dickey reversed course and returned to Nashville. Shortly thereafter, Bryant enlisted in the Navy (Dickey later did so, as well, in 1945).

And, so, with one swift, courageous response to “A Date Which Will Live in Infamy”, Bryant unknowingly, yet permanently, altered college football history.

An UnBearable Era

While Arkansas was not a national force in college football prior to that point, the Razorbacks were winning at a respectable 57% clip.

Without its would-be leader, Bryant, Arkansas was seemingly lost adrift from 1942-1957 winning only 44% of its games and cycling through 7 different coaches in that span.

When Bear unexpectedly, but understandably, joined the Navy, Arkansas had to quickly change course, as well, and turned to assistant coach George Cole to guide the Razorbacks in the 1942 season.

Cole, a former Arkansas quarterback posted a record of 3-7, 0-6, before also leaving to serve in WWII (He returned as an Arkansas assistant coach following the war and eventually took over for the legendary John Barnhill as the U of A athletic director in 1970).

Then, Arkansas’ next head coach, John Tomlin, only made it through the 1943 season as he was dismissed after a 2-7 record that culminated with a 61-0 loss to Tulsa.

Glen Rose became Arkansas’ third head coach in as many years, and was at the Arkansas helm for the remaining two years of WWII. Rose’s squads went a combined 8-12-1 to give Arkansas a 13-26-1 WWII era record.

Ironically, Arkansas’ program finally caught  a break in 1946 when it nabbed a hot name in coaching circles—Barnhill—thanks to his interim wartime title.

Barnhill guided Tennessee to a stellar 32-5-2 record as a placeholder while college football icon General Robert Neyland served in the war.

Barnhill served as Arkansas’ coach from 1946-1949, with a disappointing 22-17-3 record. He then retired to a position in the athletic department due to health reasons and his replacement, Otis Douglas, lasted 3 seasons and led Arkansas to a  9-21 record.

Arkansas hired Bowden Wyatt for the 1953 season only to see Wyatt leave after just two seasons to return to his alma mater, Tennessee.

There have been some reports that at this point Bear expressed interest in returning to his home state. But, per those reports, Jack Mitchell was chosen over Bryant due to some off-the-field issues with Bear.

In 1958, Bear made his final coaching move accepting the head coaching job with his alma mater, Alabama, while another Hall of Fame southern coach—Frank Broyles–accepted the position at Arkansas.

The rest is well-known history. Broyles’ hiring led to stabilization of the Arkansas football program, its only football national championship (1964) and, given the size of the state, the creation (with Broyles as AD) of an impressive football (and overall athletic) program.

Bear’s return to The Capstone became the stuff of legend as he led Alabama to virtually countless national championships (when you consider those Bama claimed in addition to the ones it earned).

As Arkansas and Alabama get set for a showdown Saturday, it’s doesn’t take a quantum leap to come to the conclusion that the history of the two programs was largely (re) written by one of the darkest days in American history.

To find out what might have been, check back tomorrow for Part 2 of this Series as we examine what would have happened if Bear Bryant had continued on with his trip to Fayetteville in 1941 and taken the job as the head football coach at the University of Arkansas.