Broyles to Step Down as Arkansas AD
Frank Broyles announced his retirement Saturday, employing his usual lively fashion to tell stories about his old football teams and speak with pride about the athletic department as he stepped toward marking the end of five decades with the Razorbacks.
In 50 years as Arkansas’ football coach and athletic director, Broyles built a program with high-profile coaches and top-notch facilities. He told the university’s board of trustees Saturday he will retire at the end of the year, ending days of intense speculation about his future.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who played for Broyles, addressed the crowd gathered in the ballroom at the Arkansas Union. Among others attending were football coach Houston Nutt, defensive coordinator Reggie Herring, basketball coach Stan Heath and track and field coach John McDonnell.
Broyles’ career at Arkansas began Dec. 7, 1957, when school trustees hired him away from Missouri, where he had coached one year. Broyles, now 82, wore a red blazer and tie as he spoke and red-and-white balloons and banners decorated the room. One banner read, “Thanks Coach.”
White said he had asked Broyles to remain as a university consultant but said terms had not been worked out. Broyles is a noted fundraiser — recently captaining a $1 billion capital campaign for the school — and the former ABC football analyst is a popular speaker wherever he goes.
While he was coaching, Broyles became famous for hiring top assistants. More than 25 of them eventually became head coaches, including Joe Gibbs, Jimmy Johnson, Johnny Majors and Jackie Sherrill. The Broyles Award is now given each year to the nation’s top assistant football coach.
Broyles also hired Lou Holtz to replace him as football coach in 1977 and hired Eddie Sutton and Nolan Richardson as basketball coaches. Sutton took the Razorbacks to the Final Four and Richardson guided Arkansas to the 1994 national championship. McDonnell’s track teams since 1984 have won 42 NCAA championships: 11 cross-country, 19 indoor and 12 outdoor.
Broyles, a Georgia native, is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. He was a three-sport star at Georgia Tech and compiled a 144-58-5 record as a head football coach. His most memorable season was probably 1964, when the Razorbacks went 11-0 and were named national champions by The Football Writers Association of America.
That season was part of a school-record 22-game winning streak that didn’t end until the following season in the Cotton Bowl.
His 1969 team, ranked No. 2, played No. 1 Texas at Fayetteville in that year’s “Game of the Century.” President Nixon attended the game, which Arkansas lost 15-14.
White said recent controversy surrounding the football team — including the departure of offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn and a pair of top freshmen — might have played a role in the retirement decision.
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