Bruce Arians is know as one of the sharpest head coaches in the NFL, with his Arizona Cardinals set to win the NFC West and potentially make a deep run into the playoffs.

But behind the story of every successful head coach is a long list of coaches that helped mold them along the way.

Arians was one of the lucky ones to get to learn from one of the best of all time, spending two years as a running backs coach at Alabama under legendary Crimson Tide coach Paul “Bear” Bryant back in 1981-82.

Arians was recently featured in an episode of “A Football Life”, during which he revealed some of the wisdom he learned while working under Bryant.

Thanks to CoachingSearch.com, here’s a transcription of some of the last words that Arians remembers hearing from Bryant before he stepped down and passed away a short time later:

“He was the master of personnel,” Arians said. “Coach didn’t coach X’s and O’s. He coached people … His last words to me were, ‘Coach them hard and hug them later.’ To this day, that’s been who I’ve tried to be.”

Arians later returned to Alabama as offensive coordinator in 1997, but has been a coach in the NFL ever since.