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Matty Bell
By Ethan Levine
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Matty Bell was a college football coach for nearly 30 years in the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s, including five seasons as the head coach at Texas A&M from 1929-1933. He posted three winning season and just one losing season at A&M but never reached a bowl game with the Aggies. Bell’s best season came in 1931 when he led A&M to a 7-3 record and a third-place finish in the Southwest Conference. He left A&M after a 6-3-1 season in 1933 to take over as the head coach at SMU, where he coached for seven seasons before World War II and five more seasons after the war. Bell was a combined 24-21-3 at Texas A&M. He won three conference titles and the 1935 national championship with SMU, warranting his College Football Hall of Fame induction in 1955. Bell passed away in 1983 at the age of 84.
A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.
