Comments on: The Legend of Bull Sullivan

By: BG hOLMES

BG hOLMES — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 19:24:56 +0000

I was a senior at Foley [AL] High School in the March 1950. We had a good football team and somehow Coach Sullivan learned of me and three of my fellow seniors. He invited us for a week of sring practice with the EMJC team. We arrived in an old truck on Sunday afternoon. As soon as we got there Coach had us in full pads on the football field. We worked with the team all week and on Saturday we played a game against Bethel College up in Tennessee. Along the way our bus stopped to let off some other high school players who I guess did not make the cut. Anyway, I played mostly nose tackle in that game even though I thought I was a wide receiver and DE. We bear Bethel [a 4 year college] about 4 tds. We went back to Scooba and Sunday as we were leaving Coach Sullivan said you boys have scholarships if you come back in the fall. He then reched in his pocket and gave us $20. for gas money. I did not go back but two of my teammates did. I thought Coach S. was an outstanding man and a fair bit firm coach.

By: Waylon Temple

Waylon Temple — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 01:35:29 +0000

Mike Townsend, Kells Parker and myself (Waylon Temple) graduated from West Lauderdale High School in 1966 and the three of us recieved scholarships to play football for Coach Bull Sullivan. Mike Townsend went on to make All-State his sophmore year. Kells made the All-State Team and played at Jackson Memorial Stadium with Elwin James from Meridian and then played at East Mississippi Junior College under Coach Sullivan. I’m sorry to say that Kells and myself quit after playing about 6 games into the season. Something, I regret to this day. Glenn Frazier (my cousin) had also played under Coach Sullivan along with Bill Bulkner. The book acurately describes the Bull! He was the meanest coach I ever played for. He demanded your respect and you gave him the respect he deserved. Thanks to Ike Ethridge and Coach Keys Currie I was given the opportunity to play basketball on a scholarship at EMCC. Thanks to the great men who were such an influence on our lives!

By: Kyle Patterson, grandson of Ernest and MaryAgnes Sturat

Kyle Patterson, grandson of Ernest and MaryAgnes Sturat — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 22:13:41 +0000

My uncle played for Bull! My grandparents lived in Wahalik (SP) just down the road from scuba! Ive heard all the stories from pushing the team bus after a loss, or making the team swim in a lake w an alligator in it!! We need that kind of toughness at Florida this yr. 2010

By: JD Thompson

JD Thompson — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 01:47:39 +0000

Dad played for Bull in the ’56 season. Grew up hearing magnificent stories of Coach Sullivan’s tactics. He once got so mad at his defense he took the team to a local pond, lined the D up in the pond and said, “When you stop the offense from getting wet, we will call it a day.”

By: JD Green

JD Green — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 20:29:33 +0000

My dad Paul Green played for Coach Bull No doubt he had a profound effect. The new book is out I received it yesterday my dad mailed it to me. Even though I had to get up at 4am this morning for work I read till way past midnight. I coach youth football in Texas and I always share the SI article with my fellow coaches. I don’t have the right words but his Family should know that Coach Bull Sullivan’s story has touched way more lives than just those that were privleged to have played for him. Heres a link to the book http://www.lemuriabooks.com/index.php?show=book&isbn=BULLSULLIVAN

By: Hank Springer

Hank Springer — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:19:06 +0000

I could add, maybe just a little, to the story of this magnificent man, but why would I want to interfere in an accurate and well written history. GOD has Bull now and the thanks of those of us who shared him.

By: Dan Walker

Dan Walker — Sat, 01 May 2010 15:55:51 +0000

I’m a football history fan with a particular appreciation for coaches who have, or had, the nerve to try formations and approaches which few others had the courage to attempt — obviously Coach Sullivan was an innovative coach. I’m also a bit of a nut about tactics, formations, play diagrams, etc.

So – if anyone reading the comments on this thread has any old playbooks, play diagram-cards, or simply recollections of interesting or unorthodox plays devised by Coach Sullivan, I welcome hearing from you directly. Also, if you’re in a position to photocopy any printed materials you have, do let me know; I’d gladly pre-pay you for any photocopying and postage expense to send me photocopies of those playbooks or other materials.

Feel free to fire off a line to me at flfreedom@yahoo.com; I’d appreciate hearing from you.

Dan Walker
(Tallahassee, FL)

By: Scott

Scott — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 02:58:32 +0000

Our local newspaper, The Kemper County Messenger, has a “Looking Back” section that reprints from its archives news items dating back to as far as fifty years. In this week’s (April 8, 2010) edition, the following was the lead item, from April 6, 1950:

Coach Bob Sullivan, formerly assistant coach at the University of Oregon, has accepted the position of head coach at East Mississippi Junior College.

Coach Sullivan was born in Aliceville, Ala. After graduation from Aliceville High School, he entered Union University, Jackson, Tenn. After two years there Coach Sullivan’s college career was interrupted by the war. He entered the Marines and served two and [a] half years. After his discharge from the Marines he entered the University of Nevada and finished his college days.

After college Coach Sullivan played professional football. After two years of this he accepted a coaching position at the University of Oregon. From there he came to us.

By: Jeff Perkins

Jeff Perkins — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 09:46:10 +0000

I Grew up in columbus ,ms and graduated from New Hope High in 1984. Growing up in columbus you were introduced to the legend of Bull Sullivan at an early age. We knew the stories long before the SI article came out. It was neat when the story came out because I knew several people mentioned in the article. I played baseball at scooba from 84 to 86. During that time I got to know Randle Bradberry the football coach at that time. Im certain that this story was told to me by him ,but Im not sure. Scooba used to play some games at the magnolia Bowl in columbus. Bull would use this opportunity to scout the high school talent in the area. On one such occasion bull situated himself high in the stands to watch a scrimmage at New Hope High. usually coach sullivan would not stay long at high school practices because he didnt want to be a distraction. But on this day the scrimmage was spirited with a lot hard hitting which coach sullivan loved. At some point during the scrimmage a fight broke out between the entire offense and defense. It took several minutes for the New Hope coaches to get things under control and when they did practice was called and the players were escorted into the locker room. A few minutes later the door to the locker room came bursting open and coach Sullivan came charging through and bellowed."I'll take every damn one them." I've never seen this story in print and felt it should be. I hope my facts are accurate, If not, feel free to edit Thanks to all that have posted here, I've really enjoyed the reading.

By: Bob Sullivan

Bob Sullivan — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:59:04 +0000

Roy, I think my Daddy believed what Coach Drew told him about you and he found a way, as he always seemed to, to bring it out of you. I remember several occasions when he did that to inspire players to perform as he thought they could. He also told me one time he’d often thought of adopting Johnny Vaught’s policy at Ole Miss to not have married players but he never did. Vaught was famous, or infamous according to some, for taking away scholarships if a guy got married and he supplied several players to other schools as a result. College football has changed so much when it comes to coaching philosophy and I miss the good old days when mentors like my Daddy and Coach Paul Bryant were in the sport. Now it seems to be more business than anything else.

Bob