Although Paul "Bear" Bryant is most widely credited with popularizing the method of numbering where defenders line up in his own words he did not invent it. As I have read in several places and verified by myself he gives credit to O.A. "Bum" Phillips for the creation of the numbering scheme.
On page 29 of "Building A Championship Football Team" his 1960 book he notes the following: "I must give credit to O.A. "Bum" Phillips a Texas high school coach, for helping work out the solution as he experimented with the numbering system with his high school football team". Here is a clipped image from the bookand the sketch of the scheme accompanying the comment.
So let's give proper credit where credit is due.