Legendary Texas A&M Coach To Be Honored With Kyle Field Statue

Mike Elko is climbing the ranks in terms of all-time great Texas A&M head football coaches, but even if he should make his way up to the near top of the list, his career will still be compared to whom many would list as A&M's coaching "GOAT," Richard Copeland Slocum, better known as R.C.

The College Football Hall of Fame inductee led the Maroon and White from 1989 to 2002, having previously served as the team's defensive coordinator as well as an assistant on both sides of the line of scrimmage.

And now, almost 25 years after leaving the sidelines, the coach will be immortalized in Texas A&M history ahead of the Aggies' season opener.

Texas A&M To Unveil R.C. Slocum Statue at Kyle Field

Thursday evening, it was announced that the university would be honoring their legendary former coach with a statue in front of their home stadium on Friday, September 4, in front of their 2026 opener against the Missouri State Bears that next day.

In 1972, Slocum landed his first job in College Station as an offensive assistant. The following year, he was switched to defensive assistant, a job he held for five years until he was upgraded to defensive coordinator for the 1979 and 1980 seasons.

After spending the 1981 season as defensive coordinator at the University of Southern California (USC), Slocum would return to College Station for another six-year reign as defensive coordinator before getting the big call up to head coach in 1989, a position he held until 2002.

Slocum's record during his time was 123-47-2, the most by a head football coach in A&M's history and included a Big 12 Conference Championship in 1998.

The Hall of Famer has been credited with making Kyle Field the intimidating and imposing environment it is today, only suffering 12 home losses during his 14 years as A&M's head coach.

His tenure in College Station also saw him field some of Aggieland's most notable alumni, such as linebacker Dat Nguyen, punter Shane Lechler, and wide receiver/return specialist Dante Hall.

After his coaching days ended, Slocum then took over the role of special assistant to the president of the university, which included short stints as the interim athletic director in 2019 and 2023 before Ross Bjork and Trev Alberts, respectively, were hired as the full-time directors.

In January 2025, Slocum officially retired from all roles at the school, capping off 50 years of service to Texas A&M University.

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