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One For The Ages... Remembering Coach Frank Broyles
Frank Broyles, who guided Arkansas to its lone national football championship after winning the 1965 Cotton Bowl Classic and later molded the overall program as athletic director, has died at the age of 92.
Broyles passed away Monday from complications of Alzheimer's disease, according to a statement from his family.
“Coach Broyles will forever be remembered for his tremendous accomplishments on and off the field,” Rick Baker, Cotton Bowl Athletic Association President/CEO said. “As a coach, commentator, athletic director, husband and father, few have left such a legacy. College football lost a giant, and the Cotton Bowl lost a friend. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Broyles family.”
Inducted into the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame in 1999, Coach Broyles was one of college football’s most dynamic coaches and leaders. His Razorbacks won or shared five Southwest Conference titles during the 1960's and earned three bids to the Cotton Bowl Classic, and four in his career at Arkansas. Overall as head coach and athletic director, he directed the Razorbacks to the Cotton Bowl nine times.
One of his greatest victories was a stirring 10-7 defeat of Nebraska in the 1965 Classic. It was a victory that earned the Hogs a piece of their first national championship and extended the Arkansas winning streak to 12 games. The figure swelled to 22 by the end of the next season, and to no one’s surprise Broyles had his Hogs back in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl.
He won almost 71 percent of his games as Razorbacks football coach for 19 years, which included four Cotton Bowl appearances (1961, 1965, 1966 and 1976).
Broyles became the school's athletic director in 1974 while still coaching, eventually retiring from the gridiron to focus on administrative duties following the 1976 season.
As athletic director, Broyles led an overhaul and upgrade of Arkansas' facilities -- as well as leading the school in its move to the SEC.
"We wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to all those who helped contribute to his charmed life," Broyles' family said. "Whether you were one of his players, coaches, colleagues or friends, a Razorback fan or fellow caregiver, you were an integral part of his fairy tale story. To his family, he was quite simply, our hero."
Broyles’ record speaks for itself…an innovative leader as a player, coach, athletic director, and Emmy-award winning television analyst. Frank Broyles personified the essence of college athletics.
