Razorback Legend to be Honored

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Former Arkansas head coach Frank Broyles has been named the recipient of the AFCA’s 2018 Amos Alonzo Stagg Award. The award is given to those “whose services have been outstanding in the advancement of the best interests in football,” and will be presented, posthumously, to Broyles at the American Football Coaches Awards show on January 9 during the 2018 AFCA Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. Coach Broyles passed away on August 14, 2017 at the age of 92.

After playing quarterback at Georgia Tech under legendary head coach Bobby Dodd, and earning Southeastern Conference (SEC) Player of the Year honors, Broyles began his coaching career in 1947 as an assistant coach at Baylor. He would spend three years with the Bears before following head coach Bob Woodruff to Florida. After one season with the Gators, Broyles returned to Georgia Tech in 1951 to serve as offensive coordinator under Coach Dodd. Broyles assisted his former head coach for six seasons before landing his first head coaching job at Missouri. He guided the Tigers to a 5-4-1 record and a tie for third place in the Big Seven Conference in his only season at Missouri.

In 1958, Broyles landed the head coaching job at Arkansas, a place he would never leave. During his 19 years, Broyles turned the Razorbacks into a national power in college football. In only his second season, Broyles led Arkansas to 9-2 record, a share of the Southwest Conference (SWC) title and a win in the Gator Bowl. The Razorbacks added two more SWC titles in 1960 and 1961.

Broyles greatest year came in 1964 when he guided Arkansas to an 11-0 record, his fourth SWC title and a 10-7 win over Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl Classic to earn the national championship. He was named AFCA National and Regional Coach of the Year for his efforts that season. Broyles would lead Arkansas to three more SWC titles and earn three more AFCA Regional Coach of the Year honors during his tenure as head coach.

Broyles retired from coaching after the 1976 season, finishing with an overall record of 149-62-6 with 10 bowl game appearances. He still holds the Arkansas record for most victories by a head coach with 144. Before he stepped down from coaching, Broyles was named athletic director at Arkansas in 1973. He continued that post until 2007, overseeing 43 national championships, 57 SWC titles and 48 SEC championships. Broyles was instrumental in Arkansas leaving the Southwest Conference for the Southeastern Conference in 1990.

From 1977 to 1985, Broyles served as the primary color commentator for ABC Sports coverage of college football, normally alongside play-by-play man Keith Jackson. His distinct Georgian accent was easily recognizable to college football fans across the country, and he focused his commentary on the play calling and strategy of the coaches on the sidelines.

Broyles’ legacy as a great football coach and mentor is evident from his many former players and assistants who would go on to serve as head coaches themselves. Over 30 of his former players or assistants would go on to great coaching careers, including Barry Switzer, Johnny Majors, Joe Gibbs, Hayden Fry and Jimmy Johnson. The Broyles Award, which was established in 1996 to honor the former Arkansas head coach, goes to the top FBS assistant coach each year.

Broyles was inducted into the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and is also a member of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame, the Gator Bowl Hall of Fame, the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame, the Orange Bowl Hall of Fame, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Hall of Fame, the SWC Hall of Fame and the State of Georgia Hall of Fame among others.

Broyles served on the AFCA Board of Trustees from 1964 to 1970, serving the association as president in his final year. He was honored by the National Football Foundation as the 2000 recipient of the John L. Toner Award for outstanding achievement as an athletic director and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette named him the most influential figure in athletics in the state during the 20th century. In 2007, the field at Razorback Stadium was dedicated as Frank Broyles Field.

The Award

The Amos Alonzo Stagg Award is given to the “individual, group or institution whose services have been outstanding in the advancement of the best interests of football.” Its purpose is “to perpetuate the example and influence of Amos Alonzo Stagg.” The award is named in honor of a man who was instrumental in founding the AFCA in the 1920s. He is considered one of the great innovators and motivating forces in the early development of the game of football. The plaque given to each recipient is a replica of the one given to Stagg at the 1939 AFCA Convention in tribute to his 50 years of service to football.

Amos Alonzo Stagg

Amos Alonzo Stagg began his coaching career at the School of Christian Workers, now Springfield (Mass.) College, after graduating from Yale University in 1888. Stagg also served as head coach at Chicago (1892-1932) and College of the Pacific (1933-1946). His 41 seasons at Chicago is one of the longest head coaching tenures in the history of the college game. Among the innovations credited to Stagg are the tackling dummy, the huddle, the reverse play, man in motion, knit pants, numbering plays and players, and the awarding of letters. A long-time AFCA member, Stagg was the Association’s 1943 Coach of the Year. According to NCAA records, Stagg’s 57-year record as a college head coach is 314-199-35. He was 84 years old when he ended his coaching career at Pacific in 1946. He died in 1965 at the age of 103.

Past Amos Alonzo Stagg Award Winners

1940 Donald Herring, Jr., (Princeton player) and family

1941 William H. Cowell (posthumously), New Hampshire

1946 Grantland Rice, sportswriter

1947 William A. Alexander, Georgia Tech

1948 Gilmour Dobie, North Dakota State, Washington, Navy, Cornell, Boston College; Glenn S. “Pop” Warner, Georgia, Cornell, Carlisle, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Temple;

Robert C. Zuppke, Illinois

1949 Richard C. Harlow, Penn State, Colgate, Western Maryland, Harvard

1950 No award given

1951 DeOrmond “Tuss” McLaughry, Westminster, Amherst, Brown, Dartmouth

1952 A.N. “Bo” McMillin, Indiana

1953 Lou Little, Georgetown, Columbia

1954 Dana X. Bible, Mississippi College, LSU, Texas A&M, Nebraska, Texas

1955 Joseph J. Tomlin, founder, Pop Warner Football

1956 No award given

1957 Gen. Robert R. Neyland, Tennessee

1958 Bernie Bierman, Mississippi A&M, Tulane, Minnesota

1959 Dr. John W. Wilce, Ohio State

1960 Harvey J. Harman, Haverford, University of the South, Pennsylvania, Rutgers

1961 Ray Eliot, Illinois

1962 E.E. “Tad” Wieman, Michigan, Princeton, Maine

1963 Andrew Kerr, Stanford, Washington & Jefferson, Colgate, Lebanon Valley

1964 Don Faurot, Missouri

1965 Harry Stuhldreher, Wisconsin

1966 Bernie H. Moore, LSU

1967 Jess Neely, Southwestern, Clemson, Rice

1968 Abe Martin, TCU

1969 Charles A. “Rip” Engle, Brown, Penn State

1970 Lynn “Pappy” Waldorf, Syracuse, Oklahoma City, Kansas, Oklahoma A&M, Kansas State, Northwestern, California

1971 Bill Murray, Delaware, Duke

1972 Jack Curtice, Stanford

1973 Lloyd Jordan, Amherst, Harvard

1974 Alonzo S. “Jake” Gaither, Florida A&M

1975 Gerald B. Zornow, business executive

1976 No award given

1977 Floyd “Ben” Schwartzwalder, Muhlenberg, Syracuse

1978 Tom Hamilton, Navy, Pittsburgh

1979 H.O. “Fritz” Crisler, Minnesota, Princeton, Michigan

1980 No award given

1981 Fred Russell, sportswriter

1982 Eddie Robinson, Grambling

1983 Paul W. “Bear” Bryant, Maryland, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Alabama

1984 Charles B. “Bud” Wilkinson, Oklahoma

1985 Duffy Daugherty, Michigan State

1986 Woody Hayes, Denison, Miami (Ohio), Ohio State

1987 Field Scovell, Cotton Bowl

1988 G. Herbert McCracken, Allegheny, Lafayette

1989 David Nelson, Delaware

1990 Len Casanova, Oregon

1991 Bob Blackman, Denver, Dartmouth, Illinois, Cornell

1992 Charles McClendon, LSU

1993 Keith Jackson, ABC-TV

1994 Bob Devaney, Nebraska, Wyoming

1995 John Merritt, Jackson State, Tennessee State

1996 Chuck Neinas, College Football Association

1997 Ara Parseghian, Miami (Ohio), Northwestern, Notre Dame

1998 Bob Reade, Augustana (Ill.)

1999 Bo Schembechler, Miami (Ohio), Michigan

2000 Tom Osborne, Nebraska

2001 Vince Dooley, Georgia

2002 Joe Paterno, Penn State

2003 LaVell Edwards, Brigham Young

2004 Ron Schipper, Central (Iowa)

2005 Hayden Fry, North Texas, SMU, Iowa

2006 Grant Teaff, McMurry, Angelo State, Baylor

2007 Bill Curry, Georgia Tech, Alabama, Kentucky

2008 Bill Walsh, San Francisco 49ers, Stanford

2009 John Gagliardi, Carroll (Mont.), St. John’s (Minn.)

2010 Darrell Royal, Mississippi State, Washington, Texas

2011 Bobby Bowden, Samford, West Virginia, Florida State

2012 Fisher DeBerry, U.S. Air Force Academy

2013 Frosty Westering, Parsons, Lea College, Pacific Lutheran

2014 R.C. Slocum, Texas A&M

2015 Ken Hatfield, Air Force, Arkansas, Clemson, Rice

2016 John Cooper, Tulsa, Arizona State, Ohio State

2017 Don Nehlen, Bowling Green, West Virginia