Grant Teaff, who captured two Southwest Conference titles as the head football coach of the Baylor University football team and later spent 21 years as the executive director of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), is the recipient of the American Heart Association's 2025 Paul "Bear" Bryant Lifetime Achievement Award. The honor is given annually to college football's finest coaches recognizing the outstanding achievements and extraordinary contributions made throughout their careers. The Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored this year by Texas-based Memorial Hermann Health System, will be presented during the Association's annual Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year Awards ceremony, presented by Marathon Oil in Houston, Texas.
The American Heart Association, a global force for healthier lives for all celebrating 100 years of lifesaving work, presents this award annually to celebrate Coach Bryant's legacy and raise awareness and critical funding to support breakthrough scientific research to eradicate cardiovascular disease and stroke, leading causes of death globally. The football coaching icon died from a heart attack in 1983, just 28 days after his final victory and retirement.
"At the American Heart Association, our future is about improving yours," said Nancy Brown, American Heart Association Chief Executive Officer. "Coach Teaff has touched the lives of countless young people and we congratulate him on this accomplishment.
Recognizing legendary careers of outstanding coaches honors the memory and achievements of Paul "Bear" Bryant. The culminating event where the award is given allows college football fans to fuel the mission the American Heart Association in his memory. The funds raised help the Association to continue to seek innovative and relentlessly work to better diagnose, treat and prevent heart disease."
The Lifetime Achievement Award honors a coach for outstanding career accomplishments both on and off the football field. Now in its 39th year, The Paul "Bear" Bryant Lifetime Achievement Award is given based on three areas of criteria as determined by the Bryant family and voted on by the National Sports Media Association:
- Integrity both on and off the field above reproach.
- Leadership, dedication, and developing the character, integrity, and sportsmanship of young people on and off the football field, and
- Inspiration and instruction in the development of skills of the game and physical fitness in their players.
"I am so very honored to receive this prestigious award. Growing up in Snyder, Texas, I learned so much about work ethic and values from my parents; and in high school I learned lessons from my coaches & teachers about character and winning on the field as well as off the field. There were so many people who made a positive difference in my life and prepared me for what was to come in my coaching career and at the American Football Coaches Association, where I had the honor of coaching the coaches," said Grant Teaff. " I never lost sight of where I came from because it was important to pay it forward. It was always my goal to simply make a positive difference in the lives of others. Being honored with the Bear Bryant Lifetime Achievement Award is so special not only because Coach Bryant was a friend, but because it is the type of award that I did not earn alone. My family, staff, players, administrators & friends all played a critical role in every stage of my career and my life. I share this honor with them."
Teaff joins a list of college football coaching greats that includes Lloyd Carr (2024), Bob Stoops (2023), John Robinson (2022), Howard Schellenberger (2021), Bill Snyder (2020), and Frank Beamer (2019).
Grant Teaff was hired by Baylor University prior to the 1972 season and took a program that had gone 7-43-1 in the five years prior and turned the Bears into a perennial Southwest Conference (SWC) contender, capturing a pair of SWC championships, ultimately appearing in eight bowl games, and finishing ranked in the top 25 on six occasions.
Teaff's coaching journey started at his alma mater, McMurry University (TX) and included a stint as the head coach at Angelo State ITX). Along the way, he coached and mentored numerous players who would go on to play in the National Football League (NFL) – including some of the most distinguished names in Baylor University football history, including Mike Singletary, Walter Abercrombie, Alfred Anderson, Dennis Gentry, Mark Adickes, and Santana Dotson.
After stepping down as Baylor's head coach, Teaff began his next career as the AFCA executive director. During his time, AFCA membership increased eight-fold and the organization built a new national headquarters. Teaff's leadership of the AFCA led to his being named one of the most powerful administrators of college athletics by The Sporting News in 2002, and in December 2004, Teaff was named one of the most influential people in college sports by Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal.
Teaff is enshrined in eight separate halls of fame, including the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame. In 1974, he was recognized as the National Coach of the Year by the AFCA and Football Writers Association, and in 2006, he was honored as the recipient of the Amos Alonzo Stagg award by the AFCA, which is given to an individual, group, or institution whose services have been outstanding in the advancement of the best interests of football.
Service has been a defining value of Teaff's life. He and his wife, Donell, have been deeply involved in their community, working for years with local and national service organizations including Camp Success for children with reading disabilities and decades of leadership in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. In 2023, the Teaff family established the Grant Teaff Foundation, committed to recognizing and supporting the education and development of Texas high school students in the areas of servant leadership and community service.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is one of five honors presented annually during the Paul "Bear" Bryant Awards Ceremony. This year's ceremony will be held on Wednesday, January 22, 2025 in Houston and will air on CBS Sports Network. In addition to Lifetime Achievement, additional awards will also be bestowed for Heart of a Champion, Fan Favorite, the Newcomer Coach of the Year, and the 2024 Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year.
Fans can follow Paul "Bear" Bryant Awards, track progress of the awards at facebook.com/bryantawards, twitter.com/bryantawards
