A Part of the Master Plan

The voice on the phone said it was Linda Knowles, Bear Bryant’s secretary, but Al Miller knew better. Growing up just 40 miles from Bryant, Miller, a coach himself, had fallen for the ‘Bear Bryant’s on the phone’ gag before. “OK, yeah, sure,” he sarcastically replied to the imposter secretary. Then, suddenly there was another voice on the phone. “Boy, when he got on that phone, there was no denying whose voice that was,” Miller remembered with a chuckle. “I set up in that chair and took notice right quick.” With only two years of experience under his belt, Miller became Bryant’s last strength coach at Alabama in 1982. After leading the Crimson Tide to a Liberty Bowl victory that season, Bryant retired, ending his Hall of Fame career. Miller was just beginning his. “Al Miller’s been a big part of any success that I had in the National Football League,” said