By Bill Curry
Special to ESPN.com
My very first game as a head coach was for Georgia Tech vs. Alabama in 1980, in Birmingham. It was 105 degrees and we were dehydrated before the Crimson Tide trotted out their legions onto Legion Field. Even in my infancy as a coach, I knew one thing about pregame ritual: I was supposed to shake Bear Bryant's hand. According to legend, I should have been able to locate him under the goalposts, wearing his houndstooth hat, legs casually crossed, leaning against the standard. When he wasn't there, I went about the business of stretching our team until I sensed a large mass of humanity moving toward me.
In the middle of the gaggle of reporters, photographers, and state patrolmen, was The Man, wearing an odd looking hat with a refrigerator brand name on the front. "Hell, boy, can't you say hello to somebody when you come to visit?" intoned the Growl. I shook his giant hand and noted that he had not been in his customary spot, and that he was wearing the wrong hat. "Oh, that thing," he said. "It's too hot to wear that thing."
From that day until this I have wondered about sideline hatting. Here are my conclusions:
If some company will pay a large amount of money so their hat or brand name can be associated with the coach, the coach will most likely accept it. Do you want to argue with Coach Bryant?
If the coach is into throwing things, then the visor is preferable. Ease of replacement is the key to this, since a manager can keep a ready supply of visors in his backpack.
If a headset is used, then a bare head is preferable, since the hat invariably gets turned to ridiculous angles, making the coach resemble a teenager who forgot to turn his hat all 180 degrees.
In sensitive and important issues such as sideline headwear, it is good to remember the undergirding principle of coaching fashion statements: win...then wear anything you wish.
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By Rod Gilmore
Special to ESPN.com
Bill Snyder has it all over Bob Stoops: caps are much cooler than visors. Of course, neither chapeau compares to the natty hats of Tom Landry or Bear Bryant. But, if you're going to step down in attire, don't step so low as to go with a visor.
A visor is for tennis. At a country club. There is nothing macho about a visor, just as there is nothing macho about a nice friendly game of mixed doubles. Football isn't country club, and you can sweat in a hat.
Moreover, visors are for guys with ego. They're saying, "I have good hair and want to show it." Check out Stoops and Steve Spurrier. They both have lots of thick hair they can run their hands through for emphasis. Showoffs.
Guys who wear hats signal they have no ego -- or no hair. They don't worry about how they look, nor do they comb their hair. They just put on a hat. Snyder will not run his hands through his hair Saturday night. A hat signals you're ready to do business; your head is covered and you're stepping into battle -- like a gladiator.
Besides, if you have no hair, the hat provides protection from the embarrassing head sunburn, or cold steam rising from your head in inclement weather.
However, the most important reason why hats are better than visors is that you can't wear a visor backwards. Try it. Not cool at all. But you can turn that hat around all day.
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