 | Thisbiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "R. C. Slocum" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(September 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 Slocum gives a gig 'em with his Big 12 Championship ring | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1944-11-07)November 7, 1944 (age 80) Oakdale, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1965–1967 | McNeese State |
| Position | Tight end |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1968–1969 | Lake Charles HS (LA) (DC) |
| 1970 | Kansas State (freshmen OL) |
| 1971 | Kansas State (freshmen) |
| 1972 | Texas A&M (offensive asst.) |
| 1973–1978 | Texas A&M (defensive asst.) |
| 1979–1980 | Texas A&M (DC) |
| 1981 | USC (DC) |
| 1982–1988 | Texas A&M (DC) |
| 1989–2002 | Texas A&M |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 2019 & 2024 | Texas A&M (interim AD) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 123–47–2 |
| Bowls | 3–8 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 3SWC (1991–1993) 1Big 12 (1998) 2Big 12 South Division (1997–1998) | |
| Awards | |
| |
| College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 2012 (profile) | |
Richard Copeland Slocum (born November 7, 1944)[1] is an American formerfootball player and coach who is currently a special assistant to the president atTexas A&M University. He has also served as interim athletic director at the university from January through June 2019 and again from January through March 2024,[2] and previously served as the head football coach there from 1989 to 2002. He has won more games as coach (123) than anyone else inTexas A&M Aggies football history. Slocum was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2012.
Raised inOrange, Texas, Slocum graduated fromStark High School in Orange in 1963 and attendedMcNeese State University inLake Charles, Louisiana. Slocum earned a B.S. in physical education in 1967 and M.S. in educational administration in 1968, both from McNeese State.[3] He has two sons; the older,Shawn Slocum, was an assistant coach at Texas A&M under his father and has been the special teams coordinator for theArizona State Sun Devils since 2015.
Slocum began his career as a football coach atLake Charles High School in 1968. Two years later, in 1970, Slocum became a graduate assistant atKansas State University under head coachVince Gibson, also coaching the offensive linemen on the freshman team. In 1971, he was named head freshman coach.
Slocum spent the 1981 season as thedefensive coordinator at theUniversity of Southern California (USC) underJohn Robinson. Slocum's defense led thePacific-10 Conference in total defense that season.[4] The team lost toPenn State in the1982 Fiesta Bowl, finishing with a 9–3 record.[5]
In 1972, Slocum was hired as receivers 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 linebackers coach. Bellard left A&M in 1978, moving on to Mississippi State and taking defensive coordinatorMelvin Robertson with him. Former A&M offensive coordinator and new head coachTom Wilson chose Slocum as his defensive coordinator in 1979. After servingUSC as defensive coordinator in 1981, Slocum returned to A&M in 1982 as defensive coordinator underJackie 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.
In December 1988, Sherrill was forced to resign, and Slocum was named his successor. 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 theBig 12 title in 1998 and two Big 12 South Championships in 1997 and 1998. Additionally, he led the Aggies to become the first school inSouthwest 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 coachDarrell Royal who is number two.
Under his tenure, Slocum helped make A&M'sKyle Field one of the hardest places to play in the nation, only losing 12 home games in 14 years, going parts of seven seasons without a home loss. After a home loss to Arkansas on November 24, 1989 (which broke a streak of 19 consecutive SWC home victories), they did not lose again in College Station until December 2, 1995, when his Aggies lost to Texas 16–6, although they did tie Baylor (20–20) on October 20, 1990. With Miami's 58-game, nine-season home winning streak ending in 1994, A&M owned the longest active home winning streak in the nation for much of 1994 and 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 theNFL during Slocum's career as head coach.
Slocum inherited an Aggie football program that had just finished 7-5 and had been slapped with severe NCAA sanctions for violations under Sherrill. He did not take long to clean up the program. 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.'[6]
After 14 years as head coach, Slocum was forced to resign in 2002 following only the second non-winning season of his career, and his only losing record in conference play. He immediately assumed a position as special adviser to Texas A&M presidentRobert Gates.
In May 2012, Slocum was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame.[7]
On April 19, 2019, Slocum was named interim athletic director for Texas A&M after the sudden departure ofScott Woodward toLSU. FollowingRoss Bjork's departure for the athletic director role at Ohio State in January 2024, Slocum again served as interim AD before the hiring ofTrev Alberts.[2]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas A&M Aggies(Southwest Conference)(1989–1995) | |||||||||
| 1989 | Texas A&M | 8–4 | 6–2 | T–2nd | LJohn Hancock | 20 | |||
| 1990 | Texas A&M | 9–3–1 | 5–2–1 | T–3rd | WHoliday | 13 | 15 | ||
| 1991 | Texas A&M | 10–2 | 8–0 | 1st | LCotton | 13 | 12 | ||
| 1992 | Texas A&M | 12–1 | 7–0 | 1st | LCotton† | 6 | 7 | ||
| 1993 | Texas A&M | 10–2 | 7–0 | 1st | LCotton† | 8 | 9 | ||
| 1994 | Texas A&M | 10–0–1 | 6–0–1 | * | * | 8 | |||
| 1995 | Texas A&M | 9–3 | 5–2 | T–2nd | WAlamo | 15 | 15 | ||
| Texas A&M Aggies(Big 12 Conference)(1996–2002) | |||||||||
| 1996 | Texas A&M | 6–6 | 4–4 | 3rd(South) | |||||
| 1997 | Texas A&M | 9–4 | 6–2 | 1st(South) | LCotton | 21 | 20 | ||
| 1998 | Texas A&M | 11–3 | 7–1 | 1st(South) | LSugar† | 13 | 11 | ||
| 1999 | Texas A&M | 8–4 | 5–3 | T–2nd(South) | LAlamo | 20 | 23 | ||
| 2000 | Texas A&M | 7–5 | 5–3 | 3rd(South) | LIndependence | ||||
| 2001 | Texas A&M | 8–4 | 4–4 | T–3rd(South) | WGalleryfurniture.com | ||||
| 2002 | Texas A&M | 6–6 | 3–5 | 5th(South) | |||||
| Texas A&M: | 123–47–2 | 78–28–2 | |||||||
| Total: | 123–47–2 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||