Junction Boys - The Camp

The Camp

Texas A&M University hired Bear Bryant as head football coach in 1954, replacing former coach Ray George. Bryant arrived in College Station on February 8, 1954 and began cleaning house. He felt that many of the players on the team were weak and not properly trained or coached. He decided that his players needed a camp away from the distractions on campus; thus, he arranged for the camp to be held at the 411-acre (1.7 km²) adjunct campus of Texas A&M at the small town of Junction (now the Texas Tech University Center at Junction).

At the time of the camp, the Texas hill country was experiencing an epic drought and heat wave. The drought, the worst in the recorded history of the region, had lasted four years and would last another two after the camp was over. According to the National Climatic Data Center, all 10 days of the camp saw hot temperatures with a couple of days topping 100 °F (38 °C).

The oppressive heat combined with the brutal practice schedule caused many players to drop out of the football program from illness or disgust. The situation was compounded by Bryant's refusal to allow water breaks. This practice, which is now widely recognized as dangerous, was at the time commonly employed by athletic coaches in an attempt to "toughen up" their players. The only relief provided the players were two towels soaked in cold water; one towel was to be shared by the offensive players, and one by the defense. One of the Junction Boys, future NFL coach Jack Pardee, would later say in an interview that losing 10% of your body weight in sweat in a day was not unusual.

Practices began before dawn and usually lasted all day with meetings in the evening until 11:00 PM. The conditions were too much for many players and each day, there would be fewer and fewer players at practice as men would quit the team. By the end of the 10-day camp, only a fraction of those that started were left.