Dennis Franchione, coach at Texas A&M, TCU and Alabama, dies at 75 — SkimNews
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- Dennis Franchione died at 75, his family confirmed Tuesday to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram; he had recently been placed in hospice after a cancer diagnosis from 2016 — and again in 2021 — returned.
- Franchione compiled a 213-135-2 record across 30 seasons as a head coach and 40 total years in coaching, starting as a Kansas State assistant in 1978 and leading nine teams to conference championships and bowl games.
- TCU was the program Franchione transformed most dramatically, taking the Horned Frogs from a 1-10 record to a 7-5 mark featuring a Sun Bowl upset of USC — the program's first bowl win since 1956 — and a No. 21 final AP ranking in 2000.
- LaDainian Tomlinson and Brian Urlacher, both Pro Football Hall of Famers, were among the notable players Franchione coached during stops across his career.
- Franchione resigned from Texas A&M in 2007 after reports that his personal assistant was selling emails with inside information to boosters for $1,200 per year, ending his tenure with a 32-29 record in College Station; athletic director Bill Byrne had cleared him of personal wrongdoing.
- Alabama was a brief stop — just two seasons (2001-2002), including a 10-3 campaign — before Franchione left for Texas A&M while the Crimson Tide were barred from the conference championship and postseason due to sanctions from the prior coaching regime.
Why it matters: Franchione's 213-135-2 record across six head-coaching stops — including TCU's first bowl win since 1956 and the development of two Hall of Famers — cements him as one of the more accomplished journeymen of his era, but his 2007 resignation from Texas A&M over a $1,200-per-subscriber booster email scandal is the footnote that complicates that reputation.
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