dpDennis Franchione’s head coaching career lasted from 1985 to 2015, he won the Iron Bowl and the Lone Star Showdown, but it was his three years at TCU that were his greatest contribution to the sport.
The coach whose era gave birth to a new era of growth and prosperity for TCU, and the city of Fort Worth, died on Tuesday at the age of 75 in Austin after a decade with cancer. Family members confirmed the news this morning.
He was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his kidney in 2016, and cleared that. In 2021, he was given a more dire cancer diagnosis, but after treatment was in full remission. According to family friends, the cancer returned earlier this year, and he was moved to hospice care in October.
He most recently returned to TCU as a guest of coach Sonny Dykes to attend a spring football game in 2022, which unofficially ended any remaining bad feelings from members of the community towards Fran. For a long time, some members of TCU’s fanbase could not get over how he handled his exit from the school after the end of the 2000 regular season.
Franchione said later in life that his greatest coaching years were those spent at TCU.
Dennis Franchione changed TCU
Before he was hired by TCU after the 1997 season, Fran had successful runs at Pittsburg State, Southwest Texas State (now Texas State) and New Mexico.
He arrived at TCU to replace coach Pat Sullivan, who in his final season with the school finished 1-10. The football team was bad, morale in the athletic department was terrible, and the school was in the first phase of a massive effort to catch up to the rest of higher education, and NCAA athletics.
After arriving, he made it a point to invite anybody who wanted to be around the football team, including booster Dick Lowe; a successful energy man, Lowe was a proud alum who loved TCU but whose involvement with the program helped lead to crippling NCAA sanctions in the ‘80s. Lowe’s return, and his considerable donations, helped make a variety of scenarios possible for the school.
In Fran’s first season, TCU finished 7-5, which included a surprise trip to the Sun Bowl, and even more stunning win over USC in the game.
“I can pick three or four games, but that was maybe the biggest win of my career,” Fran told the Star-Telegram in an interview in 2018.
The next season, TCU finished 8-4, with a win in the Alabama Bowl. The season featured the full unveiling of a fullback-turned running back, LaDainian Tomlinson. Against UTEP that season, Tomlinson ran for a then-FBS-record 406 yards with six touchdowns.
Between Fran, the success of the team and LT, TCU was nationally relevant. By the middle of 2000, Fran was a target for bigger schools, LT was a candidate for the Heisman Trophy, and TCU was in the discussion as a “BCS Buster.”
Fran wanted to win a national title, so when Alabama called, he accepted the job. TCU finished 10-2 that season, and ranked 21st in the final AP poll; it was the first time the team finished ranked in the final AP poll since 1959.
TCU hired Fran’s defensive coordinator as the new head coach, Gary Patterson.
Patterson’s era receives most of the credit for forming TCU into what it is today, but it started with Dennis Franchione.
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Franchione’s time at Alabama and Texas A&M
It is unfathomable to conceive that a coach would leave Alabama without being fired, but that’s what Fran did.
Fran inherited a job at ‘Bama that was under investigation by the NCAA for various potential sanctions. He and his wife, Kim, didn’t love the scrutiny that came with being the head coach of the University of Alabama football team.
He coached at ‘Bama for two years, which included a 10-3 record in 2002. Earlier that year, the team was hit hard by the NCAA for various penalties, at which point Franchione and Alabama had issues about his contract.
Texas A&M called, and he left for College Station.
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Despite the highest of hopes, Fran’s era at A&M turned out to be like so many others there. He took over a bad team, and in his first season the Aggies suffered a 77-0 loss at No. 1 Oklahoma, and it was as if the team never recovered.
While Mack Brown had Texas rolling, Fran’s A&M team couldn’t catch up.
Five years later, he was essentially run out after the infamous “Insider Newsletter” was leaked and used as a reason to fire him. His final regular-season game at Kyle Field, in November 2007, was a 38-30 upset win over No. 13 Texas. He had already accepted a buyout before the game to leave as coach.
He returned to coaching in 2012 to take over Texas State, a program that was moving up in NCAA classifications; the Bobcats had one winning season in his four years in San Marcos. With no fanfare, Fran retired after the 2015 season.
Dennis Franchione’s legacy
At Franchione’s house in Horseshoe Bay, his office was full of mementos from a coaching career that spanned 40 years. A picture with the ESPN “College GameDay” crew when he was the head coach at Alabama. Photographs from TCU’s Sun Bowl win.
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And then there were grandchildren. Family photos. Of a life.
At the time of his interview with the Star-Telegram in 2018, he had already gone through one bout with cancer. He watched a lot of college football, but he played a lot of golf and spent a lot of time with his family.
His perspective about life, and his career, was full.
He left Alabama to chase something that he wanted: A national title, a high point that ultimately he never came close to achieving.
It was only until later that he realized how good he had it at TCU, a school that continues to benefit from his presence to this day.
This story was originally published October 6, 2026 at 9:03 AM.
Mac Engel
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
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