Legendary Arkansas Coach, Athletic Director Frank Broyles Dies at 92
Former Arkansas football head coach and athletic director Frank Broyles died on Monday after complications of Alzheimer's Disease, his family announced. He was 92 years old.
Broyles suffered a stroke in July.
As head coach of the Razorbacks, he led the team to seven Southwest Conference titles, an undefeated season in 1964 and a shared national championship for that season. He headed the athletic department and hired the likes of John McDonald, who won 42 national titles with the track and field team, as well as Nolan Richardson, who won the 1994 college basketball national title.
Broyles retired in 2007. The Razorbacks' football field is named in his honor.
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The Broyles family issued the following statement through the university:
“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Coach Frank Broyles. He passed peacefully in his home surrounded by his loved ones.
For 92 years John Franklin Broyles lived nothing short of a remarkable life. To all who would listen, Frank Broyles was quick to proclaim, in his unmistakable and infectious southern tone, that he was blessed to live ‘A Charmed Life’.
For more than five decades, he served the University of Arkansas and all citizens of his adopted home state in his role as a coach, administrator and goodwill ambassador for his beloved Razorbacks.
We wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to all those who helped contribute to his charmed life. Whether you were one of his players, coaches, colleagues or friends, a Razorback fan or fellow caregiver, you were an integral part of his fairy tale story. To his family, he was quite simply, our hero.
We take peace in knowing that his faith was the foundation for the impact he made on the lives of others. From innumerable private moments with his family and friends, to countless public interactions with millions in his various roles, Coach Broyles shared his attitude of gratitude and encouraged others to make a difference.
We know that this remarkable man does not want us to mourn, but to celebrate the hope and inspiration he passed along to each of us. For nearly two decades, he was a trailblazer for changing the stigma around dreaded disease which took the life of his first wife, Barbara Day, and ultimately his own. We will never know the impact that writing and publishing “Coach Broyles Playbook for Alzheimer’s Caregivers” and establishing the Broyles Foundation will have on families, but Coach considered it a win the first time it helped one person.
He was the very definition of a difference maker. It will be impossible to fill the void created by his passing. But even in our grief, our hearts are overflowing with the love, gratitude and treasured memories of the charmed life and lasting legacy of our beloved Coach.
We are planning a public celebration of his life. Once the details are finalized we will share them with you.
Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers.”
