Former Texas Longhorns football coach Fred Akers dies at 82

Fred Akers, who succeeded Darrell Royal as Texas head football coach and twice came within a bowl victory of a national championship, died of complications from Alzheimer’s on Monday, his wife, Diane, said. He was 82.

The Blytheville, Arkansas, native relied on great defense and special teams to carve out an impressive 86-31-2 record with the Longhorns but could never rally a fickle fan base that had wanted Royal’s defensive coordinator Mike Campbell to replace the legendary coach after the 1976 season.

After getting fired by Texas after the 1986 season following a 5-6 record, the school’s first losing season in 30 years, Akers took the Purdue job for four seasons before retiring. He posted a record of 108-75-3 in 16 seasons as a college head coach, including two years at Wyoming before he arrived in Austin.

Akers, who is survived by his wife Diane, was a star player at Arkansas as a halfback, punter and kicker. He became one of the youngest high school football head coaches in Texas when he took a job in Edinburg at age 24. When he was interviewed for the job, school officials asked him about his youth, and he replied, “Are you wanting a head coach or to fill out an age requirement?”

Akers started fast out of the gate in Austin, riding the momentum of an 8-4 season at Wyoming and a Fiesta Bowl appearance to convince Texas school president Lorene Rogers and board of regents chairman Allan Shivers to hire him. The two clashed with the Royal faction and chose the dapper, buttoned-down Akers after tiring of Royal’s recruiting failures against Oklahoma and association with the country western crowd.

Under Akers, who abandoned the option offense for a more progressive I-formation, Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell and a strong defense paced by All-American defensive tackle Brad Shearer, the Longhorns had a perfect regular season and earned the No. 1 national ranking in 1977. That season ended with a painful 38-10 loss to fifth-ranked Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl that cost the Longhorns their fourth national championship.

Akers came close again in 1983 with one of the best defenses in school history led by All-America safety Jerry Gray and linebacker Jeff Leiding.

For the second time, his team swept through the regular season without a blemish, but fell to No. 7 Georgia 10-7 in the Cotton Bowl to deny Texas the national title.