Kentucky Football Countdown: The 1946 Wildcats

Forty-six days. That’s right, we are just 46 days away from the start of the 2022 Kentucky football season. As some fans may remember, the year 1946 was an important one for the Wildcats.

The 1946 Kentucky Wildcats Football Team

Though more than half a century ago, the year 1946 is still perhaps one of the most notable in Kentucky football history. It’s not because of their final record or any championships they won, though. Rather, it’s because it brought one of the most influential names in the program’s history to Lexington.

The University of Kentucky hired Paul “Bear” Bryant to be its head football coach in January of 1946. Bryant had previously been at the University of Maryland, where he led the Terrapins to a 6-2-1 record. His time there would be short-lived, though. He stayed just that one season at Maryland before heading to the Bluegrass.

The season before his arrival, the Wildcats went 2-8 (0-5 SEC) under first season head coach Bernie Shively. Luckily, Bryant came to Lexington ready to get to work. He made an immediate impact, leading the ‘Cats to a 7-3 (2-3 SEC) record. Not bad for a team that had won just one conference game in the previous three seasons, right?

Bryant went on to lead the Wildcats to their first bowl appearance in 1947 — just two years after his arrival. He would also win them their first SEC title in 1950, where they finished with a school-best 11-1 record and ended the season with a Sugar Bowl victory over the No. 1 ranked Oklahoma Sooners. He also led the ‘Cats to appearances in the Great Lakes Bowl, Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl Classic.

Alas, there is always trouble in paradise. I mean, surely we all know the story by now. Or does anyone really fully know it?

Bryant wasn’t the only star head coach in Lexington at the time. Adolph Rupp was in his 16th year as the Kentucky head basketball coach — and he was pretty good at it. His Wildcats were coming off a conference and NIT championship in 1946 when Bryant arrived, gaining all kinds of love from the university and fans.

Though there is some controversy as to its accuracy, the famous Bryant/Rupp story came to a head in the weeks leading up to Bryant’s matchup with the Sooners. “The other night we had a joint basketball-football banquet and Adolph Rupp was presented with a big four-door Cadillac,” Bryant is quoted by the AP saying to Oklahoma head coach Bud Wilkinson. “All I got was a cigarette lighter.”

Though many have proved that it isn’t exactly correct, that story and quote have made the rounds on Kentucky fan sites and message boards throughout the years in the forms of conspiracy theories and “what ifs.” Some might even use the word “haunted,” in fact. For the record, though, Bryant cleared things up several times after leaving Kentucky by calling Rupp a good friend.

Regardless of why, Bear Bryant left Lexington for a head coaching position at Texas A&M in 1954. As most of us know, he ended up returning to his alma mater Alabama Crimson Tide in 1957. He won six national championships in Tuscaloosa (sigh).