Stark County football men remember former Glenwood, Ohio U quarterback Cleve Bryant

Cleve Bryant, who died Tuesday at age 75, was one of Stark County football's big names during one of the golden eras.

Retired coach Jack Rose recalls their playing days.

Glenwood and its star quarterback, Cleve Bryant, took on Central Catholic and its ace QB, Bob Belden.

Bryant drove Glenwood to an early touchdown. Rose returned the ensuing kickoff for a score.

"We played them at their place, on 44th Street," Rose said. "They had a good running back and a good team. Dan Dierdorf was one of their linemen.

"There was quite a bit of hype going on because of the quarterbacks. Bob was pretty good. We passed more than they did. We were pretty coached up on Cleve Bryant."

Central Catholic won that game, but Bryant led Glenwood to the Federal League championship in the league's debut season, 1964.

When Bryant was a senior in the 1965 season, Glenwood's only league loss was to a 10-0 Jackson team.

By 1968, Bryant was Mid-American Conference Player of the Year on what stands as arguably Ohio University's greatest team.

With Bryant at quarterback, the Bobcats went 10-0 in the 1968 regular season, placing 18th in the final UPI (coaches') national poll, three spots behind Michigan. Ohio State was national champion with a lineup that included one of Bryant's high school rivals, Ted Provost of Fairless.

Ron Blackledge was a young coach at Canton South and Timken in the early 1960s before going to Ohio University as a graduate assistant.

"I coached Ohio U's freshman team along with Bucky Wagner, and Cleve was our quarterback," Blackledge said. "Todd Snyder, who was Coach Jim Snyder's son, was a very good freshman wide receiver.

"We thought Cleve was going to be good, because he was such a good player at Glenwood for Jim Reichenbach. Our Ohio U freshman team went undefeated, and Cleve was terrific."

The next season, 1967, Bryant became the varsity starter on a team that went 5-5. His big year was 1968, when he passed for 1,524 yards and 14 touchdowns and ran for 734 yards and eight TDs.

Blackledge has fairly vivid memories of Bryant the college player.

"He could run," Blackledge said. "He sprinted out and he could throw it whether he was going to the right or the left.

"His hands were so big. I remember Bucky Wagner and our head coach, Bill Hess, showing him how they wanted him to get the snap from center. 'Put your hand under there and have your other hand ready to clamp the football.'

"The ball was snapped. Cleve just grabbed it with that big right hand and dropped back.

"He was a good player and just a peach of a kid, too."

Ohio U finished at 5-4-1 when Bryant was a senior and rising star Chuck Ealey quarterbacked an unbeaten Toledo team. The Mid-American Conference had two Black stars at quarterback, Bryant and Ealey, in an era when the NFL didn't send out its first starting Black QB, James "Shack" Harris, until 1969.

The 1970 draft is remembered for quarterbacks. Terry Bradshaw went first overall to Pittsburgh, and Mike Phipps went third overall to Cleveland. The Broncos picked Bryant at No. 271, but he never got a chance to play quarterback. He didn't make the team at his new assigned position, defensive back.

Bryant migrated to coaching, working college jobs at Miami (Ohio) and North Carolina before landing with the New England Patriots from 1982-84. After three years with head coach Ron Meyer, Ohio University hired him as head coach.

He spent five years back in Athens but was fired with a 9-44-2 record.

"I was at Kent State while he was the head coach at Ohio U," Rose said. "I went up to him and introduced myself, but he remembered the game we played in high school. He was very friendly."

Ron Moss recalls Bryant as both a high school opponent and an Ohio U classmate.

"I was at OU when Bryant played," Moss shared in an email. "Magical season in 1968. I remember one game where he got hurt and Bill Hess, the head coach, went on to the field, picked up Bryant, put him over his shoulder and carried him off the field.

"During a JV game, where I was a player for Canton South, Bryant dunked the ball during warmup. I thought to myself, we're in trouble, and we were. Sad to see the passing of a Canton native and great Bobcat."

Bryant stayed in coaching as an assistant at Illinois, Texas and North Carolina across eight years before landing a job in athletic administration at Texas.

He held the title of associate athletic director, overseeing football, from 2000-11. He left in 2011 amid a sexual harassment complaint. According to an ESPN story posted on Oct. 20, 2011, Bryant denied all allegations against him, but the University of Texas paid an athletics department administrative assistant $400,000 to settle the harassment complaint.

Bryant was known as a right-hand man to longtime Texas head football coach Mack Bryant. Their working relationship included the 2005 season in which the Longhorns went 13-0 and were declared national champion.Bryant's death first became widely known Tuesday following a Twitter post by Brown. It read:

"Saddened to learn of the passing of our dear friend Cleve Bryant. Our deepest condolences go out to his wife Jean, their children and all of Cleve’s family and friends. We miss you already. Rest easy, my friend."

Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Stark County football quarterback icon Cleve Bryant dies