When the movie was nominated for 1981 Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Actor in a Supporting Role, author Pat Conroy's father called him and said, "You and me got nominated for Academy Awards, your mother didn't get squat."
According to Pat Conroy, Lieutenant Colonel "Bull" Meecham is based entirely on his own father, Donald Conroy, a Marine fighter pilot who referred to himself in the third person as "The Great Santini." After the novel was published, Donald Conroy would often accompany his son to book signings, and would autograph his son's novels with, "Donald Conroy - The Great Santini."
The movie was originally released directly to cable and airlines, under the title "The Ace." When the New York Times reviewed it very favorably, it was pulled from cable and released to theaters under the title "The Great Santini." Another factor in this release was a 1981 strike by the Writers' Guild of America, which halted new production. In order to generate any income at all, the studios needed to release previously shelved movies, and this was one such movie.
The original novel had a joke about two Bulls and a field of cows, which is where "Bull" got his nickname. This joke was repeated by Robert Duvall's character in Colors (1988).
In 2013, Pat Conroy added a sequel to the family story he told in the "Santini" book and movie with his new memoir, "The Death of Santini: The Story of a Father and His Son." In it he describes how his mother Peg, dying of leukemia, asked to be portrayed by Meryl Streep in any future movie.