When Bear Bryant took over the Texas A&M football program in 1954, he inherited a team that had lost its last five games by a combined score of 133-41. That season more than 100 Aggie hopefuls arrived in the small town of Junction for the first practice of a now legendary training camp. The sun bore down. The drills escalated. Trainers doled out water like gold, and meals and accommodations were horribly spartan. Ten hellish days later, only 34 remained to form the 1954 team that would only win one game, but those survivors--and that's what they were--formed the nucleus of the squad that would go undefeated just two years later.

This is the story of that team, that coach, the 10 days that shook their world, and the seasons they played together. "We lost alot (sic) of games," recalls Gene Stallings, who endured those days as a player and eventually followed Bryant as head coach both at A&M and Alabama, "but Coach Bryant knew what he was doing. Out of the yellow dust and the broiling heat of Junction, he forged a team of champions." Jim Dent's evocative recounting is so real and immediate you'll feel your throat getting scratchy as you read. You'll also feel remarkable respect for the players who toughed it out--and for Bryant, who begins as a man possessed, but, day after day, as he breaks the backs of some and helps instill true grit in others, transforms into a human being. --Jeff Silverman


From Publishers Weekly
When Paul "Bear" Bryant left the University of Kentucky to take the reins of the Texas A&M football program in 1954, his legend was already approaching Texas-size proportions (almost 30 years later, Bryant became the winningest Division I coach of all time, with most of his victories coming at the University of Alabama). The problem: he knew he had inherited an awful team. Texas sportswriter Dent (King of the Cowboys) tells how Bryant turned the A&M program around. Over 100 boys rode in three buses out to the remote west Texas town of Junction and began grueling practices on cactus-riddled gravel in 110-degree heat, with no water. Ten days later, all but 34 had quit or simply run off. The team won just one game that season; two years later, however, A&M went undefeated. Dent has produced a richly evocative chronicle of the time and place, filled with bourbon-swilling, money-rolled alumni and every conceivable form of coaching sadism (Bryan deliberately broke one player's nose with his own forehead on the first day of practice). Culled from dozens of interviews with participants, Dent's text follows the players through the training camp, the team's eventual success and Bryan's continuing influence in their lives. Dent is a smooth storyteller, and he writes with a novelistic, often gritty touch. Though he does show Bryan paying for recruits, driven by pride and savagely attacking his players, he excuses Bryan's excesses as part of what it takes to build winning character. In the end, Dent gives readers a whooping celebration of the myth of Texas gridiron machismo. (Sept.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
This is a story of courage, determination, and sheer guts based on the experiences of Paul "Bear" Bryant's 1954 Texas A&M football training camp. Bryant, the former Alabama Crimson Tide guru, is a legend in college sports. Hired by Texas A&M to save the football program, Bryant submitted 115 recruits to ten days of grueling practices in the small town of Junction. Only a handful could endure the intense Texas sun. These brave few, with the fiery passion of their coach, succeeded in rebuilding the program, leading to an undefeated season in 1957. Bryant, as his nickname suggests, was a gruff man, idolized by many who believed that the Junction experience was a test of character that forged a lifelong winning spirit. Dent, an award-winning journalist and coauthor of You're Out and You're Ugly, Too!: Confessions of an Umpire with Attitude, has produced a book sure to be enjoyed by college gridiron fans. Recommended.ALarry R. Little, Penticton P.L., BC Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
Legendary college football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant comes alive in this rollicking story of his time at Texas A&M during the mid-1950s. Dent, a Texas journalist (King of the Cowboys, not reviewed), focuses on Bryant's first-year attempt at putting together the team and pays particular attention to the grueling training camp held in Junction, Tex., during the first weeks of September 1954. The boys at this camp played under extreme conditions and most would leave after succumbing to Bryant's intensity or suffering bad injuries and near-death exhaustion. But what The Junction Boys tries to show is how Bryant and his training regime, despite all types of obstacles, did succeed, in just a few years, in creating not only a winning team (including an undefeated season in 1956), but a greatness in all the Aggies that would work to their advantage even after their playing days were over. The reader may have trouble keeping track of who's who among the many players, and Bear Bryant himself is presented rather one-dimensionally as unrelentingly tough, despite some attempts to show his kind and caring side. What the book does convey is Bryant's overwhelming passion for the sport, for the job of coaching, and for his team. Many of his famous quotes appear at the head of the various chapters and throughout the narrative, including "What matters ... is not the size of the dog in the fight, but of the fight in the dog" and "A tie is like kissing your sister." College football enthusiasts will enjoy reading about Bear Bryant and about a time when the sport was such a big part in the lives of many Americans, especially poor Texans. As one player explains why he doesn't quit: "For one thing, I ain't got the guts to face him [Bryant]. Second, I ain't got the energy to walk to the bus station. Third, they'd throw me out of Texas." (8 pages black and white photos, not seen) --©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Review
“It’s the best sports book I’ve ever read.”
- Pat Summerall, Fox Sports

"I heard the story of the Junction Boys from gene Stallings when he was on my staff with the Cowboys. Those guys were some of the toughest to ever play the game. Jim Dent has really brough the story to life in a book any football fan would like to read."
- Tom Landry, former coach of the Dallas Cowboys

"...the best book on a sports topic I've read in years."
- Furman Bisher, The Atlanta Journal Constitution

"Engaging."
- Sports Illustrated

"You'll want to laugh, you might even want to cry, but you'll know what legends are made of by the time you finish this book. They'll be talking about this book for a long time."
- Texas Aggie Magazine

"...highly readable...Dent manages to celebrate the myth and recreate the mystique of the Bear while not glossing over the consequences of the coach's uncompromising drive to win."
- The Birmingham News



Review
“It’s the best sports book I’ve ever read.”
- Pat Summerall, Fox Sports

"I heard the story of the Junction Boys from gene Stallings when he was on my staff with the Cowboys. Those guys were some of the toughest to ever play the game. Jim Dent has really brough the story to life in a book any football fan would like to read."
- Tom Landry, former coach of the Dallas Cowboys

"...the best book on a sports topic I've read in years."
- Furman Bisher, The Atlanta Journal Constitution

"Engaging."
- Sports Illustrated

"You'll want to laugh, you might even want to cry, but you'll know what legends are made of by the time you finish this book. They'll be talking about this book for a long time."
- Texas Aggie Magazine

"...highly readable...Dent manages to celebrate the myth and recreate the mystique of the Bear while not glossing over the consequences of the coach's uncompromising drive to win."
- The Birmingham News



Book Description
The legendary Paul "Bear" Bryant is recognized nationwide as one of the greatest coaches ever. So why did he always cite his 1-9 A&M team of 1954 as his favorite? This is the story of a remarkable team – and the beginning of the legend.

The Junction Boys tells the story of Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant's legendary training camp in the small town of Junction, Texas. In a move that many consider the salvation of the Texas A&M football program, Coach Bryant put 115 players through the most grueling practices ever imagined. Only a handful of players survived the entire 10 days, but they braved the intense heat of the Texas sun and the burning passion of their coach, and turned a floundering team into one of the nation's best. The Junction Boys is more than just a story of tough practices without water breaks. An extraordinary fellowship was forged from the mind-numbing pain. The thirty-five survivors bonded together like no other team in America. They profited from the Junction experience; the knowledge they took back with them to College Station, about themselves and what they were capable of, would be used for the rest of their lives.

In vivid and powerful images reminiscent of Friday Night Lights, Hoosiers, and The Last Picture Show, these young men and their driven coach come to life. The Junction Boys contains all the hallmarks of a classic sports story, and it combines America's love of college football with an extraordinary story of perseverance and triumph.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The legendary Paul "Bear" Bryant is recognized nationwide as one of the greatest coaches ever. So why did he always cite his 1-9 A&M team of 1954 as his favorite? This is the story of a remarkable team – and the beginning of the legend.

The Junction Boys tells the story of Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant's legendary training camp in the small town of Junction, Texas. In a move that many consider the salvation of the Texas A&M football program, Coach Bryant put 115 players through the most grueling practices ever imagined. Only a handful of players survived the entire 10 days, but they braved the intense heat of the Texas sun and the burning passion of their coach, and turned a floundering team into one of the nation's best. The Junction Boys is more than just a story of tough practices without water breaks. An extraordinary fellowship was forged from the mind-numbing pain. The thirty-five survivors bonded together like no other team in America. They profited from the Junction experience; the knowledge they took back with them to College Station, about themselves and what they were capable of, would be used for the rest of their lives.

In vivid and powerful images reminiscent of Friday Night Lights, Hoosiers, and The Last Picture Show, these young men and their driven coach come to life. The Junction Boys contains all the hallmarks of a classic sports story, and it combines America's love of college football with an extraordinary story of perseverance and triumph.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

When Paul "Bear" Bryant left the University of Kentucky to take the reins of the Texas A&M football program in 1954, his legend was already approaching Texas-size proportions (almost 30 years later, Bryant became the winningest Division I coach of all time, with most of his victories coming at the University of Alabama). The problem: he knew he had inherited an awful team. Texas sportswriter Dent (King of the Cowboys) tells how Bryant turned the A&M program around. Over 100 boys rode in three buses out to the remote west Texas town of Junction and began grueling practices on cactus-riddled gravel in 110-degree heat, with no water. Ten days later, all but 34 had quit or simply run off. The team won just one game that season; two years later, however, A&M went undefeated. Dent has produced a richly evocative chronicle of the time and place, filled with bourbon-swilling, money-rolled alumni and every conceivable form of coaching sadism (Bryan deliberately broke one player's nose with his own forehead on the first day of practice). Culled from dozens of interviews with participants, Dent's text follows the players through the training camp, the team's eventual success and Bryan's continuing influence in their lives. Dent is a smooth storyteller, and he writes with a novelistic, often gritty touch. Though he does show Bryan paying for recruits, driven by pride and savagely attacking his players, he excuses Bryan's excesses as part of what it takes to build winning character. In the end, Dent gives readers a whooping celebration of the myth of Texas gridiron machismo. (Sept.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

This is a story of courage, determination, and sheer guts based on the experiences of Paul "Bear" Bryant's 1954 Texas A&M football training camp. Bryant, the former Alabama Crimson Tide guru, is a legend in college sports. Hired by Texas A&M to save the football program, Bryant submitted 115 recruits to ten days of grueling practices in the small town of Junction. Only a handful could endure the intense Texas sun. These brave few, with the fiery passion of their coach, succeeded in rebuilding the program, leading to an undefeated season in 1957. Bryant, as his nickname suggests, was a gruff man, idolized by many who believed that the Junction experience was a test of character that forged a lifelong winning spirit. Dent, an award-winning journalist and coauthor of You're Out and You're Ugly, Too!: Confessions of an Umpire with Attitude, has produced a book sure to be enjoyed by college gridiron fans. Recommended.--Larry R. Little, Penticton P.L., BC Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Matthew Reed Baker - Brill's Content

Famously football-obsessed, Texans in the drought-ravaged fifties had little else to cheer about, and Dent evocatively describes the plains of dead cattle and desperately dusty towns. Many Aggie players stayed with the team to keep their scholarships and had nowhere else to go; the weather had destroyed their families's ranches. Such engrossing, warts-and-all portraits of people and places elevate The Junction Boys beyond triumph-through-hard knocks cliche to a freshly endearing story. Being an Aggie fan is not required to enjoy The Junction Boys, but becoming one after reading this book is almost inevitable.

Kirkus Reviews

Legendary college football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant comes alive in this rollicking story of his time at Texas A&M during the mid-1950s.