Junction Boys The Junction Boys is the name given to the “ survivors ” of Paul “ Bear ” Bryant ’ s 10 day summer football camp in Junction , Texas beginning September 1 , 1954 . The ordeal has achieved legendary status and has become the subject of a 2001 book " The Junction Boys " by Jim Dent and a television movie produced by ESPN . 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 break s . 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 . List of " survivors " . The list of “ survivors ” varies from 27 to 35 . The Junction Boys listed by writer Jim Dent were : There were three freshman from Alice , Texas who began training with the Junction Boys . Two of them completed the camp but are not listed among the survivors ! Joe Rowell of Citronelle , AL was also a survivor . However he is not listed in the official record . He quit the team after finding out that he would not play against Georgia that year in accordance with an agreement between the two head coaches . Rowell would not play in the GA game if GA would rescind his commitment allowing him to enroll at A & M instead It has often been portrayed that over 100 players made the trip to Junction . In fact , a smaller number actually went to the camp . Although Bryant started out with over 100 players on the roster , many had already quit or been cut by the time of the Junction camp . Accounts of the exact number that left for Junction vary , but all the survivors insist that it was less than 100 . In 1954 , Richard Vick had his photograph taken with Bear Bryant . The photo was featured on the cover of the " Houston Chronicle " magazine . Today , the photo of Richard Vick and Bear Bryant , as well as Vick ' s uniform , can be seen at the Texas A & M Sports Museum at Kyle Field . In 2008 , nineteen of the Junction Boys had a 54th anniversary reunion at a ranch in Brenham , Texas . The remaining members have agreed to have a reunion every 5 years . In April 2010 , The Junction Boys will be honored by The Texas Children ' s Cancer Center at " An Evening with Texas Legends " in Houston , Texas at the Hilton Americas Hotel . The Junction Boys will be interviewed by legendary sportswriter Mickey Herskowitz at this special event . Impact . Although the " survivors " , as they came to be called , were mentally tougher after the experience , this new strength did not translate into immediate success on the field . In 1954 , Texas A & M won only one game against nine losses , the only losing season in Bryant ' s 38 years as a head coach . 1954 Schedule and Results . In 1955 Texas A & M went 7 - 2 - 1 , and in 1956 , the team went 9 - 0 - 1 and won the Southwest Conference . Many of the Junction Boys went on to great success in various fields after college . Jack Pardee and Gene Stallings would go on to become head coaches in the NFL . Pardee was a two - time All - Pro with the Los Angeles Rams ( 1963 ) and the Washington Redskins ( 1971 ) . Stallings would also become the head coach of Texas A & M and later took over Bryant ' s Alabama Crimson Tide and won a national championship in 1992 .