This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Texas chapter.
Cheering the Longhorns to victory in DKR stadium was a bit more somber with the death of Darrell K. Royal, former University of Texas football coach. UT football players will ran the “wishbone” formation during the first offensive play and donned “DKR” decals on their helmets to honor the deceased coach. The 2012 Iowa State showdown was the first game without Royal.
Royal died Wednesday, Nov. 7 due to complications from cardiovascular disease at the age of 88. DKR leaves the UT community a proclaimed hero to many with a legacy that can never be forgotten.
A memorial service will be held at the Frank Erwin Center on Tuesday, Nov. 13 to commemorate the former coach.
Sunday, Nov. 11, Austin Auction Gallery auctioned a slew of Royal’s memorabilia. A portion of the funds will be donated to DRK’s Alzheimer’s Research Fund, a disease Royal battled for years. The “Royal” collection includes everything DKR imaginable including an autographed football, championship rings, and other historical artifacts.
Royal came to UT in 1956 and turned a football team destined for another failing season into a team winning three national championships, 11 conference
championships, 167 wins–the most in Longhorn history–over his 20 years coaching UT football. Royal also played a role in integrating the football team in 1970 with the university’s first African-American football player, Julius Whittier.
Royal coached Longhorn football for 20 years until he retired in 1976 after recruiting the university’s current football coach, Mack Brown, to take over the
reigns. Brown deemed Royal a hero and mentor.
In 1996 Texas Memorial Stadium was renamed in honor of Royal’s coaching era. After years of renovations, the state-of-the-art stadium seats over 100,000 fans. The crowd of 101,851 that attended the game against West Virginia earlier this year was the largest in the Big 12 conference. The stadium is also the sixth largest in the NCAA and ninth-largest non-racing stadium in the world, because everything is bigger in Texas.
Although an Oklahoma native, Royal was responsible for winning 12 of the first 14 games versus the University of Oklahoma. Royal also racked up 17 wins against Texas A&M University within the first 18. Even after A&M left the conference, these two teams still serve as the Longhorn’s hugest rivalries.
Royal believed in running the football instead of passing. In the words of Royal, “Three things can happen when you pass, and two of ‘em are bad.” Will
the Longhorns take the former coach’s advice and run the ball, or pass the ball downfield to victory? Either way, Longhorn fans will remember the Longhorn’s most famous coach with their horns up and clad in burnt orange.