Former Texas coach Fred Akers, who was tasked with replacing the legendary Darrell Royal as the head coach of the Longhorns, died Monday, the school announced. He was 82.
After serving as an assistant to Royal from 1966 to 1975, Akers got his first head-coaching job at Wyoming. After going 8-4 and leading the Cowboys to the Fiesta Bowl, Akers returned to Austin, Texas, when Royal retired following the 1976 season.
Over the next 10 years, Akers went 86-31-2 in Austin. In 1977, his first season at the helm, he eschewed Royal’s famed Wishbone attack for the I formation to feature star running back Earl Campbell. The pairing proved to be a success.
“Coach Akers told me on Thanksgiving Day, walking down the tunnel to [Texas A&M’s] Kyle Field, ‘If you give me 120 yards, I guarantee you you’ll win the Heisman Trophy,'” Campbell told ESPN.com recently. Campbell ran for a career-high 222 yards and three touchdowns that day in a 57-28 win over the Aggies. Campbell won the 1977 Heisman after leading the nation in rushing with 1,744 yards and 19 touchdowns, and Akers was named the national coach of the year.
Akers brought Texas to the brink of a national title. In 1981, the Longhorns finished No. 2 in the AP poll after a 10-1-1 season, and they finished 11-1 in 1983, when Texas’ 10-9 loss to No. 7 Georgia in the Cotton Bowl ended its hopes for a national title. The Longhorns finished No. 5.
Akers had three 10-win seasons and four top-10 finishes with the Longhorns but won just two Southwest Conference titles, a contrast to the seven won by Royal in the previous decade. Akers was fired after a 5-6 season in 1986, the Longhorns’ first losing season in 30 years. His 86 wins rank third on the all-time UT victory list behind the totals of Royal and Mack Brown.
In all, Akers spent 19 years on the Texas staff. Following his dismissal, he became the head coach at Purdue but went just 12-31-1 in four seasons and returned to Austin to retire.