Dennis Franchione, legendary college football coach, dies at 75

Dennis Franchione, the college football coach who compiled 213 wins over 30 seasons and reshaped programs at TCU, Alabama, and Texas A&M, died on Tuesday at age 75. Franchione was one of nine FBS coaches announced in June as nominees for the 2027 College Football Hall of Fame class. Franchione's career began as an assistant at Kansas State in 1978, spanning 40 years in coaching. He worked his way from NAIA Southwestern to major programs, capturing five straight conference crowns at Division II Pittsburg State before arriving at TCU in 1998. The Horned Frogs had gone 1-10 the year before and had not won a bowl game since 1957. In his first season, Franchione led TCU to a 6-5 regular-season record and a Norwest Sun Bowl victory over USC, 28-19, ending a 41-year bowl drought. TCU followed with consecutive Western Athletic Conference co-championships as tailback LaDainian Tomlinson led the nation in rushing in 1999. In 2000, the Horned Frogs rose as high as No. 9, with Tomlinson winning the Doak Walker Award and again leading the country in rushing, capping a 10-2 season at No. 21 in the AP postseason poll. It was the first time TCU finished in the final rankings since 1959. Franchione left for Alabama following the 2000 season, compiling a 10-3 record over two seasons and finishing first in the SEC West in 2001, when the Crimson Tide were ineligible for postseason play due to NCAA sanctions from the prior coaching regime. Alabama reportedly offered Franchione a 10-year contract, but with additional sanctions looming, he departed to replace R.C. Slocum at Texas A&M in 2003. His tenure there proved tumultuous. In 2003, the Aggies lost 77-0 to Oklahoma. Athletic director Bill Byrne cleared Franchione of wrongdoing. Franchione held head coaching positions at New Mexico and Southwestern College during his career. After three years in broadcasting, he returned to Texas State in 2011 to help lead the program through its transition to the FBS level, having previously coached there in 1990-91. He posted a 7-5 record in 2014, though the program was not selected for a bowl game, and retired from coaching in 2015. Throughout his career, Franchione was known as an offensive innovator. His players included Hall of Famers Tomlinson and linebacker Brian Urlacher. Franchione compiled a 213-135-2 record and won eight conference championships. He had eight bowl appearances at the FBS level and led nine teams to conference championships or bowl games. Franchione had been diagnosed with cancer in 2016 and again in 2021, but it had been in remission. The cancer returned earlier this year, and he was recently placed in hospice care in Austin. TCU coach Sonny Dykes said, "College football is in a better place for having Dennis Franchione's influence on it, and today is a great loss to all who knew him." TCU athletics director Mike Buddie added, "TCU mourns alongside the Franchione family at the passing of 'Coach Fran.' Our fortunes as a department would not be what they are today without the efforts of Coach Franchione, his staff, and players."