The Southern Line
Dennis Franchione, who coached Alabama and Texas A&M, dies at 75
Franchione won 213 games over 30 seasons as a head coach, led Alabama to a 10-3 finish in 2002 and spent five years in College Station.
Dennis Franchione, a 40-year college coach whose head-coaching stops included Alabama and Texas A&M, has died at 75, his family announced Tuesday. ESPN and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that his cancer, in remission after diagnoses in 2016 and 2021, returned earlier this year and that he had recently entered hospice.
Franchione went 213-135-2 in 30 seasons as a head coach and took nine teams to conference titles and bowl games. He was among nine FBS coaches nominated in June for the College Football Hall of Fame class to be announced in January.
Two SEC stops
His run in the conference was short and eventful. Franchione took the Alabama job after the 2000 season, arriving at a program under NCAA sanctions from the previous regime. In 2002 the Tide went 10-3 and finished first in the SEC West while barred from the postseason. He left after two seasons for Texas A&M.
In College Station he replaced R.C. Slocum and went 32-29 over five years. The 2007 season soured when Franchione acknowledged that his personal assistant had been selling inside information to boosters through a paid email newsletter. Athletic director Bill Byrne largely cleared him, and Franchione announced his resignation after a 38-30 win over Texas that made the Aggies 7-5.
The TCU years
His best-remembered work came before the SEC. He inherited a 1-10 TCU team in 1998 and won its first bowl game in 41 years that December. With LaDainian Tomlinson leading the nation in rushing, the Horned Frogs won back-to-back WAC co-titles and reached No. 9 in 2000. Brian Urlacher played for him at New Mexico.
He also coached at Pittsburg State, Southwestern College and Texas State, where he retired in 2015.
