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Steve Sloan, the youthful coach who led the Texas Tech football program to a 10-win season in 1976 and jolted the Red Raiders a year later by returning to his Southeastern Conference roots, died Sunday in Orlando, Florida, where he had lived in retirement.
According to an obituary written by former Alabama sports information director Wayne Atcheson, Sloan had been in memory care the past three months and died at Orlando Health Phillips Hospital. He was 79.
Sloan’s 1976 Tech team won its first eight games and was ranked No. 5 before a loss to Houston. The Red Raiders lost to Nebraska 27-24 in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, finishing 10-2 and No. 13 in The Associated Press final poll.
Sloan, 23-12 in three seasons at Tech, is one of five Red Raiders coaches with a season of at least 10 wins.
“I got really close with coach Sloan, even enough to name my son Sloan, so that tells you what I thought of him,” said Rodney Allison, the quarterback in ’76. “He was like a father figure to me pretty much my whole life. Coach Sloan to me was a great coach, but probably an even better human being. I’ve told people this a lot: He was probably the greatest human being I’ve ever met in my life, still believe that to this day.”
Related: Pettit: Raider players affected Parcells’ coaching style
Related: Texas Tech welcomes back Sloan, Dockery teams
With roots as an all-American quarterback and assistant coach at Alabama, Sloan was viewed as a potential successor to Bear Bryant, but a different SEC school took him from Tech.
On Dec. 1, 1977, with the Red Raiders still to play Florida State in a bowl game, Ole Miss hired Sloan to his third head-coaching job in five years. At the local press conference arranged by Tech, Sloan choked up to the point publicist Ralph Carpenter read Sloan’s prepared statement.
Sloan, an Austin native, grew up in…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/steve-sloan-coach-texas-tech-054337993.html
Author : Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Publish date : 2024-04-15 05:43:37
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