Former TCU football coach Dennis Franchione dies, aged 75
Dennis Franchione, a longtime college football coach who led the program at Texas Christian University in the late 1990s, has died, according to an announcement from the university's athletics department. He was 75 years old.
TCU's announcement said Franchione was credited with beginning the rebirth of the Horned Frog football program. He was hired in December 1997 after serving as the head coach at the University of New Mexico. The season prior to his arrival in Fort Worth, the Horned Frogs finished 1-10, and by then the program had not won a bowl game since 1957.
Franchione's first season with the Horned Frogs was an immediate turnaround; he led the team to a 6-5 record and an invitation to the 1998 Norwest Sun Bowl, where TCU won 28-19 over USC.
"TCU mourns alongside the Franchione family at the passing of 'Coach Fran,'" said Director of Athletics Mike Buddie in a statement. "Our fortunes as a department would not be what they are today without the efforts of Coach Franchione, his staff, and players. Beyond his talent as a football coach, he was a beloved father, mentor, and friend to so many. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Kim, and the entire Franchione family."
"Our program's thoughts and prayers are with the Franchione family as well as all those whose lives he impacted," said head football coach Sonny Dykes. "Coach was a true gentleman who loved his time at TCU and set the program on the path to all of the great success that has followed. 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."
Franchione, a native of Kansas, stayed in Fort Worth for two more years. During that time, TCU noted he led the Horned Frogs to consecutive Western Athletic Conference co-championships and, in 2000, a Top 25 finish after a 10-2 season in which TCU rose to No. 9 in the polls. That marked the first time TCU finished the season in the final rankings since 1959.
After the 2000 season, TCU said Franchione's career took him to the University of Alabama after that. He also coached at Texas A&M and then Texas State, retiring from coaching in 2015. His final stop at Texas State was his second time coaching in San Marcos; he had previously coached the Bobcats when the university was known as Southwest Texas State University.
Franchione's head coaching career also included stops at Southwestern College and his alma mater, Pittsburg State University, both in Kansas. Throughout his career, TCU noted he earned 213 wins as a college head coach and six coach of the year honors. The Horned Frogs also note that he was inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2017, and is currently on the coaches ballot for the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame.