Richard Copeland Slocum (born November 7, 1944),[1] better known as R. C. Slocum, was the head football coach at Texas A&M University from 1989 until 2002. He is the winningest coach in Texas A&M football history (123 wins).
Personal
Raised in Orange, Texas, Slocum attended McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana. He has two sons, Shawn and John Harvey. Shawn served as an assistant on Slocum's staff which helped his father on to his winning record and is now the Special Teams Coordinator for the Green Bay Packers. John Harvey is employed as Global Account Manager for LeTourneau Technologies. [2][edit] Personality
Slocum was also known for being a "down-home" kind of man. When on a recruiting trip in Orange, Texas in 1996, he accidentally tracked dog feces into the home of the recruit he was visiting. He got down on his hands and knees to scrub the carpet himself so that it wouldn't stain. The recruit then chose to play for A&M.Slocum has been a big comfort to his players, and to the school, in times of tragedy. After the 1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse before the game against Texas, many students wondered if the game should even be played. On the night Bonfire would have burned, the school hosted a memorial service. 100,000+ mourners carried white candles to the site of the Bonfire collapse, and then marched together to Kyle Field. Slocum then delivered a touching speech that brought comfort to the mourners and instilled pride in the school. The Aggies' win the following day over Texas was a fitting cap to the week. In 2002, freshman player Brandon Fails died unexpectedly near the end of the season. Again, Slocum stepped up to try to comfort his players.
[edit] Post-coaching
After spending 30 of the last 31 years serving Texas A&M, Slocum was not quite ready to leave. He is currently serves as Special Advisor to the president of Texas A&M University . In 2006, Slocum was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. Presently, he also serves as President of the American Football Coaches Foundation. Slocum is in the Museum of the Gulf Coast Hall of Fame and the McNeese State University Athletic Hall of Fame. He was awarded the Gen. Robert Neyland Award by the East Tennessee Chapter of the National Football Hall of Fame in 2011.R.C. Slocum has also become a close friend of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, whose Presidential Library is located at Texas A&M. The Bushes often used Slocum's suite to watch Aggie football games, and Slocum and his wife have visited the Bush family at their vacation home in Kennebunkport, Maine.
[edit] Coaching career
[edit] Early career
Slocum began his career as a football coach at a Lake Charles high school in 1968. Two years later, in 1970, Slocum became a graduate assistant at Kansas State University under head coach Vince Gibson. In 1971, he was named Head Freshman Coach.[edit] University of Southern California
Slocum spent the 1981 season as the defensive coordinator at the University of Southern California. The team was led by head coach John Robinson. Slocum's defense led the Pac-10 in total defense that season.[3] The team lost to Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl, finishing with a 9–3 record.[4][edit] Texas A&M
In 1972, Slocum was hired as a receiver coach under Emory Bellard at Texas A&M University. After one year of coaching the receivers, he was moved to defense to coach the defensive ends, and in 1976, he became linebacker coach. Coach Bellard left A&M in 1978, moving on to Mississippi State and taking defensive coordinator Melvin Robertson with him. Former A&M offensive coordinator and new head coach Tom Wilson chose Slocum as his defensive coordinator in 1979. After serving USC as defensive coordinator in 1981, Slocum returned to A&M in 1982 and became defensive coordinator under head coach Jackie Sherrill. In 1985, Slocum was elevated to assistant head coach. Slocum substituted for Sherrill and served as acting head coach for A&M's 18–0 victory over TCU during the 1988 season which was Sherrill's last.[edit] Head coach
In December 1988, R.C. Slocum was named head coach at Texas A&M. During his 14 years as head coach, Slocum led the Aggies to a record of 123–47–2, making him the winningest coach in Texas A&M history. During his career, Slocum never had a losing season and won four conference championships, including the Big 12 title in 1998 and two Big 12 South Championships, 97,98. Additionally, he led the Aggies to become the first school in the Southwest Conference history to post three consecutive perfect conference seasons and actually went four consecutive seasons without a conference loss. Slocum reached 100 wins faster than any other active coach. He has the best winning percentage in SWC history, one spot ahead of the legendary coach Darrell Royal who is number 2. Slocum helped make A&M's Kyle Field become one of the hardest places for opponents to play, losing only 12 games at home in 14 years. For over a year, A&M held the longest home-winning streak in the nation, losing in 1989 and not again until late in 1995. In the 1990s, A&M lost only four times at Kyle Field. Slocum was named SWC Coach of the Year three times during his tenure as head coach. His "Wrecking Crew" defense led the SWC in four statistical categories from 1991 through 1993 and led the nation in total defense in 1991.Over 50 Texas A&M players were drafted into the NFL during Slocum's career as head coach.
Slocum was well known for being unwilling to "bend" the rules. He inherited an Aggie football program that had just finished 7-5 and under severe NCAA sanctions, and cleaned it up quickly. He was quoted in 2002 as saying:
| “ | I wouldn't trade winning another game or two for my reputation as a person. I've said from day one I'm going to do things the way I think they should be done. There were those who said, `If you don't cheat, you're pretty naive. You can't win that way.' Well, we're going to find out. That's the way we're going to do it. I can walk away and look myself in the mirror and say, 'We did it the right way.'[5] | ” |
Slocum continually pressed Texas A&M to update the athletic facilities so that the university could compete with rivals Texas and Oklahoma in football recruiting. Officials finally listened to his pleas and began a large facility expansion project. This was too late to save Slocum. He was fired in 2002 after a 6–6 season, which included a win over number-one-ranked Oklahoma.Two of the losses (Texas Tech, Missouri) were in double overtime. He never got to use the facilities that he had worked so hard to get. He was succeeded by Dennis Franchione as head coach.
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