Legends of the Hall • Frank Broyles

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With 119 chapters and over 12,000 members nationwide, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, a non-profit educational organization, runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in today’s young people. NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., Play It Smart, the NFF Center for Youth Development Through Sport at Springfield College, the NFL/NFF Coaching Academy, and annual scholarships of nearly $1 million for college and high school scholar-athletes. Each month American Football Monthly will profile a member of the College Football Hall of Fame – our September subject is legendary Frank Broyles.

1924 - Born in Decatur, Georgia

1944-1946 - Quarterback at Georgia Tech

1944 - Named Southeastern Conference Player of the Year

1947 - Graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in Industrial Management - Began coaching - Assistant Coach at Baylor University

1957-Named Head coach at University of Missouri

1958 - Named head coach at University of Arkansas

1964 - Arkansas goes undefeated and won Cotton Bowl against Nebraska - Named AFCA Coach of the Year along with Ara Parseghian

1973 - Became Arkansas Athletic Director

1976 - Won Cotton Bowl vs. Georgia- Retired from coaching after the season, but remained the athletics director

1983 - Inducted into College Football Hall of Fame

1992 - University of Arkansas moved from Southwest to the Southeastern Conference

1996 - Broyles Award established to acknowledge assistant coaches

2003 - Broyles given a five-year contract extension as athletics director

Frank Broyles is considered to be the University of Arkansas’ most influential sports figure. Although he was born in Georgia and starred as a quarterback at Georgia Tech, he will forever be remembered as the coach of the Razorbacks. He graduated from Tech in 1947 with a degree in Industrial Management, but he began a career as assistant football coach at Baylor University in the fall.

Broyles changed locations as an assistant several times, but he became head coach at the University of Missouri in 1956. Although he had a winning season there, he left to begin a 19-year tenure at the University of Arkansas in 1958. Broyles quickly became one of the country’s most beloved college football coaches as a Razorback. He guided his undefeated 1964 team to a Cotton Bowl victory against Nebraska and a national championship. It was also the year that he was named College Coach of the Year along with Notre Dame’s Ara Parseghian.

Under Broyles’ leadership, the Razorbacks appeared in ten Cotton Bowls with an overall record of 144 wins, 58 losses and five ties. After the 1976 season, which ended with another Cotton Bowl victory, Broyles retired from coaching. However, he would continue as Arkansas’ athletics director, a position he currently holds.

He later worked alongside Keith Jackson as a commentator for ABC television and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983. In 1992, Broyles played a significant role in the Razorbacks move from the Southwest Conference to the Southeastern Conference. In 2000 Broyles received the prestigious John L. Toner Award for his exemplary contributions as an athletic director.

More than 40 of Broyles’ former players and assistant coaches have become head coaches of either college or professional teams. His success with assistants led to an award named after him in 1998. The Broyles Award recognizes an outstanding assistant coach yearly and is considered to be one of the most prestigious awards in college football. With his performances as head coach, assistant coach and player, Broyles is a member of the Orange Bowl, Gator Bowl and Cotton Bowl halls of fame. He recently was awarded with a five-year extension as the Razorbacks athletic director.

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