Texas Athletics pioneer Bill Sansing passes away
AUSTIN, Texas – A pioneer in the world of college athletics and public relations, Texas Athletics’ first full-time sports information director BillSansing passed away on Thursday, May 14. He was 100 years old.
Sansing, a Dallas, Texas native, graduated from The University of Texas in 1941 after spending two seasons as a manager with the Men’s Basketball program (1939-40) and competing in multi-events on the Track and Field squad in 1940.
A former sports editor ofThe Daily Texan, Sansing started his career as a sports writer for theFort Worth Star Telegram before entering the military in 1942, serving as a combat intelligence officer with the 15th Air Force in Italy. He entered the service as a private and was discharged as a major. In 1945, Texas Football head coach and Athletic Director Dana X. Bible offered Sansing the job as the school’s first full-time sports information director, a role he served in from 1945-49. During his tenure, he helped guide the collegiate careers for two of the all-time UT greats – All-American quarterback and future Pro Football Hall of Famer Bobby Layne and eventual Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Slater Martin.
Sansing left UT to join the Humble radio network, which broadcasted all Southwest Conference football games at the time. He returned to Austin in 1970 and immediately became associated with a growth campaign for Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine. Before retiring in the 1990s,Sansing formed Anamark, a public relations consultancy, working with only three clients – Jack Nicklaus, the Dallas Cowboys and, as a labor of love, the coaches’ television shows at The University of Texas.
He was inducted into the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor in 1986 and the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Hall of Fame in 2009 as part of the inaugural induction class of the CoSIDA Veterans Hall of Fame.
Sansing, who was residing in San Antonio, turned 100 on February 15 this year. More information will be provided when arrangements have been determined by the family.