Dennis Franchione dies at 75: Former Alabama, Texas A&M, TCU coach won more than 200 games across career

A coaching career spanning more than 30 years featured eight conference titles and memorable head coaching stops at TCU, Alabama and Texas A&M Oct 6, 2026 at 11:56 am ET • 1 min read Longtime football coach Dennis Franchione, who worked his way up from NAIA Southwestern to Alabama over 30 years as a head coach, died on Tuesday, TCU confirmed on social media. He was 75. Franchione had one of the most colorful coaching careers of the 21st Century. He recorded more than 200 wins and eight conference championships in his career, including eight bowl appearances at the FBS level. His career featured stints at New Mexico, TCU, Alabama, Texas A&M and multiple tenures at Texas State. The Kansas native won big at the sub-FBS level, capturing five straight conference crowns at Pittsburg State, before landing at TCU in 1998. Behind a running back named LaDainian Tomlinson and a defensive coordinator named Gary Patterson, he immediately turned the Frogs around from 1-11 to three straight winning records. Then, he made a big leap to the University of Alabama, which was going through a dark period. He quickly took them to a 10-win season and an Independence Bowl win. Alabama reportedly offered him a 10-year contract to stay with the team, but with NCAA sanctions looming for violations under former coach Mike DuBose, Franchione stunned the college football world by leaving to replace R.C. Slocum at Texas A&M. His tenure with the Aggies was doomed from the start, bottoming out in a historic 77-0 loss to Oklahoma in 2003. With rival Texas competing for national championships, Franchione was unable to turn the tide in College Station. Pressure mounted after it was revealed that he was privately selling a newsletter to top donors that gave inside information of the team. Franchione was fired after the 2007 season. In 2011, Franchione was hired by Texas State for the second time to help lead the program through its transition to the FBS level. He posted a 7-5 record in 2014, though the program was not selected for a bowl game. Franchione was diagnosed with cancer a decade ago, according to the Star-Telegram. The cancer returned this year, and he was moved to hospice care in Austin.