Darrell K Royal (July 6, 1924 – November 7, 2012) was an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

from 1954 to 1955, the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

in 1956, and the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

from 1957 to 1976, compiling a career record of 184 wins, 60 losses and five ties. During his 20-year tenure as the head coach of the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

, Royal's teams won three national championships and 11

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

titles while finishing ranked in fifteen seasons. He amassed a record of 167–47–5 while in Austin and won more games than any other coach in

Texas Longhorns football The Texas Longhorns football program is the intercollegiate team representing the University of Texas at Austin (variously Texas or UT) in the sport of American football. The Texas Longhorns, Longhorns compete in the NCAA Division I Football B ...

history. Royal never had a losing season as a head coach for his entire career. Royal played college football as an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

from 1946 to 1949 under coach Bud Wilkinson. Following graduation, he worked as an assistant coach at

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...

and the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

. Royal also coached the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

of the

Western Interprovincial Football Union The West Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League (CFL), its counterpart being the East Division. With a few exceptions, a senior men's football championship has been contested in Western Canada since 1911 ...

, the predecessor to the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL), for one season in 1953. From 1962 to 1980, Royal assumed the role of

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

at Texas, succeeding Edwin Olle. Royal stepped down as head football coach after the 1976 season; two of his former assistant coaches, Fred Akers and David McWilliams, helmed the team for the next 15 years. In 1980, Royal moved to an advisory role under his successor DeLoss Dodds, before retiring in 1990. He was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1976, and the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

as a coach in 1983.

Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium (formerly War Memorial Stadium, Memorial Stadium, and Texas Memorial Stadium), located in Austin, Texas, on the campus of the University of Texas, has been home to the Texas Longhorns football, Longhorns football ...

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, where the Longhorns play their home games, was renamed in his honor in 1996.

Early life

Royal was the youngest of six children born to Burley Ray and Katie Elizabeth ( Harmon) Royal in

Hollis, Oklahoma Hollis is a city in and the county seat of Harmon County, Oklahoma, Harmon County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,060 at the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census. History The city was named for George W. Hollis, a local busine ...

. His middle initial "K" was given in honor of his mother, who died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

when he was an infant. Due to the stigma surrounding the disease at that time, Royal was led to believe until he was an adult that she had died giving birth to him. Burley Ray, a peace officer at the Harmon County jail, re-married five times after Katie's death. During Royal's childhood, the town of Hollis was severely impacted by the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and bore the brunt of several devastating dust storms. Royal worked a paper route and picked cotton alongside his three older brothers, Glenn, Ray Jr. and Don, to help his family make ends meet. In 1940, Burley Ray migrated to California with Darrell and his brother Glenn, settling in the town of Porterville within the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; Spanish language in California, Spanish: ''Valle de San Joaquín'') is the southern half of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. Famed as a major breadbasket, the San Joaquin Valley is an importa ...

. However, after failing to make the varsity football team at Porterville High School, Royal hitch-hiked back to Oklahoma, where he enrolled at Hollis High School. A multi-sport athlete, Royal played quarterback and punter on Hollis' varsity football team and earned first team All-State honors in 1942 during his senior season.

Playing career

After graduating from Hollis High School, Royal served in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

from 1943 to 1946. He was initially trained as a rear gunner on a B-24 bomber, and later received training for photo reconnaissance missions before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

came to a close. In the fall of 1945 Royal played football for the

Third Air Force The Third Air Force (Air Forces Europe) (3 AF) is a Numbered Air Force, numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). Its headquarters is Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It is responsible for all U ...

football team, and was spotted and recruited by scouts for the University of Oklahoma Sooners football program. He played

and

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

at the

under his mentor, coach Bud Wilkinson, from 1946 to 1949. While attending Oklahoma, he joined the Delta Upsilon fraternity. Royal was most noted for his prowess as a defensive back, where his 18 career interceptions and his three interceptions in the 1947 game against Oklahoma A&M (now

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

) are still Sooner records. Royal's part-time contributions as quarterback had a similar impact, despite the fact that he shared time with Jack Mitchell and Claude Arnold at the position. He threw a 43-yard pass against

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

in the 1949 Sugar Bowl. Royal holds the fourth-best winning percentage in school history (minimum 15 starts) with a 16–1 mark as a part-time quarterback starter. His 11–0 mark as a starter in 1949 ranks as one of the best seasons in school history. In 1992, Royal was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.

Coaching career

Early positions

Royal served as an assistant coach at North Carolina State,

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

and

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

. He coached the

of the

, and in

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

, he returned to Mississippi State for his first collegiate head coaching job. After two seasons, he left for Washington in the

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a collegiate athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (includin ...

, but stayed in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

for less than ten months.

University of Texas

Royal took over as head coach at the

(UT) on December 18, 1956. The team went from a 1–9 record in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

, their worst record ever, to a 6–4–1 mark in

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

and a berth in the Sugar Bowl. Within two years, Royal had the Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl as the number-four team in the country. In Royal's 20 years as head coach, Texas never had a losing season. Royal posted a record at Texas, and his overall record was . Some of his most memorable games were against the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkans ...

, and fellow College Football Hall of Fame head coach Frank Broyles. With Royal at the helm, Texas won the school's first three national championships (

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

and

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

), won or shared 11

championships, and made 16

bowl A bowl is a typically round dish or container generally used for preparing, serving, storing, or consuming food. The interior of a bowl is characteristically shaped like a spherical cap, with the edges and the bottom, forming a seamless curve ...

appearances. His 1963 and 1969 teams finished the season undefeated and untied—something no Longhorn team would do again until

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. Royal's teams were known for being very run-oriented. The quote, "Three things can happen when you pass, and two of them are bad," is often attributed to Royal, but Royal himself attributed it to another run-first coach,

Woody Hayes Wayne Woodrow "Woody" Hayes (February 14, 1913 – March 12, 1987) was an American college football coach and player. He served as the head football coach at Denison University from 1946 to 1948, Miami University in Oxford, Ohio from 1949 to 195 ...

. Royal's coaching tactics were the subject of criticism in Gary Shaw's exposé of college football recruiting and coaching practices, ''Meat on the Hoof'', which was published in 1972, six years after Shaw left the Texas football program. Beginning in 1962, Royal also served as Texas'

. He retired from coaching in 1976 and remained director of athletics until 1980. He then served as special assistant to the university president on athletic programs. During his tenure, Royal oversaw the integration of African-Americans into the UT athletics program. At that time, while UT began admitting black students in 1956 and opening the athletics program to them in 1963, there were no black student-athletes well into the late 1960s. In a confidential University of Texas memo dated November 10, 1959 which related to how various coaches at the university felt about black players, it was stated that "Coach Royal has coached Negro students, but says they create problems. White players particularly resented Negro boys coming in their room and lounging on their beds. Darrell was quite pronounced in not wanting any Negroes on his team until other Southwest Conference teams admit them and until the housing problem is solved or conditions change." In 2005, Royal retrospectively noted that "things they are a-changing. But they weren't changing that quickly around here at the time." He offered a scholarship to Julius Whittier (1950-2018) of

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

after the last recipient dropped out due to poor academic performance, and Whittier became the first black student-athlete to play for the

team. Whittier went on to graduate from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs in 1976 with a master's degree and worked as a chief prosecutor with the

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

District Attorney's Office. Royal also coached Freddie Steinmark, who was a member of the 1969 Longhorns National Championship team and subsequently died from bone cancer. Steinmark has been the topic of several books and a 2015 movie, '' My All American'' where Royal was portrayed by Aaron Eckhart. In 1996, the University honored Royal by renaming Texas Memorial Stadium as

. Royal was elected to the

in 1983. Coach Royal was famous for the inspirational Royalisms he deployed as motivational tools. These sayings include: * "God gives talent, size, speed. But a guy can control how hard he tries." * "I want to be remembered as a winning coach, but I also want to be remembered as an honest and ethical coach." * "You've got to think lucky. If you fall into a mud hole, check your back pocket—you might have caught a fish." * "Punt returns will kill you quicker than a minnow can swim a dipper." * "Don't matter what they throw at us. Only angry people win football games."

Late life and death

Royal spent his retired years enjoying life with his wife, Edith, and close friends such as former president

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

and noted musician

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

. He enjoyed playing golf and spending time in nature. In 1991, Royal paid $117,350 for Willie Nelson's Pedernales Country Club after it was seized by the

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

due to Nelson's tax debt. He, along with professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player Pete Runnels, also helped found a co-ed summer camp, Camp Champions in Marble Falls, Texas, which is still in existence today. Royal died on November 7, 2012, due to complications of Alzheimer's disease. He is interred at the

Texas State Cemetery The Texas State Cemetery (TSC) is a cemetery located on about just east of downtown Austin, downtown Austin, Texas, Austin, the Capital (political), capital of the U.S. state of Texas. Originally the burial place of Edward Burleson, Texas Revo ...

. Royal was survived by his wife Edith (1925-2024), whom he married on July 26, 1944. They have a son, Sammy Mack, and two predeceased children, Marian Royal Kazen (1945–73) and David Wade Royal (1952–82), both of whom died in automobile-related accidents.

Head coaching record

College

Canadian football

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Royal, Darrell 1924 births 2012 deaths American football running backs American football quarterbacks College football announcers Edmonton Elks coaches Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaches NC State Wolfpack football coaches Oklahoma Sooners football players Texas Longhorns athletic directors Texas Longhorns football coaches Tulsa Golden Hurricane football coaches Washington Huskies football coaches College Football Hall of Fame inductees United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II People from Hollis, Oklahoma Coaches of American football from Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma Burials at Texas State Cemetery Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Texas Presidents of the American Football Coaches Association Delta Upsilon members