Legendary Razorback coach and athletic director Frank Broyles passed away in hospice care in Fayetteville on Aug. 14, 2017 at the age of 92.
John Franklin Broyles was born on Dec. 26, 1924 in Decatur, Ga. And later played quarterback at Georgia Tech where he was the SEC Player of the Year in 1944.
He took his first head coaching job at Missouri and was there for one season until the Arkansas job came open in 1958, which is where he saw an opportunity to unite an entire state around the Razorbacks.
In 1964, the Razorbacks were the only team in the country to finish undefeated, and the Football Writers Association of America named the Razorbacks the national champions – the only football national championship in school history.
The Sporting News and American Football Coaches Association named him Coach of the Year after that season. Broyles also led the Hogs to Southwest Conference Championships in 1959, 60, 61, 64, 65, 68 and 75. Broyles won at least nine games in eight of his 19 seasons as the Arkansas head coach, a time when they only played 10 or 11 games.
His final three seasons as head coach, Broyles also began his career as the school’s athletic director, a title he would hold the next 33 years, giving him a total of 50 years of service to the University of Arkansas.
His coaching tree is vast, with names like Jimmy Johnson, Hayden Frye, Joe Gibbs, Barry Switzer, Johnny Majors, Pete Carroll, Butch Davis, Ken Hatfield Houston Nutt and Fred Akers having played or coached under him.
Broyles also hired legends like Lou Holtz to coach the team and also coached Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Broyles was also the main color man for ABC Sports from 1977 to 1985, where he worked closely alongside fellow Georgia native Keith Jackson.
