The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Hall of Honor
- Induction:
- 2015
- Class:
- 2015
Sport: Football
Position: Head Coach (1977-86); Assistant Coach (1966-74)
Inducted: 2015
Hometown: Blytheville, Ark.
Fred Akers spent 19 years on the football staff at The University of Texas, including a 10-year stint as head coach where he took teams to nine bowl games and had two teams achieve the nation's No. 1 ranking during the regular season. Akers came to Texas as an assistant to Darrell Royal in 1966. Following the 1974 season, he served two years as head coach at Wyoming before returning to Austin to succeed Royal as the Longhorns' head coach in 1977. With a young staff and a stable of talent, he led the Longhorns to a No. 1 national ranking before losing to No. 5 Notre Dame in the 1978 Cotton Bowl. His switch to the "I" formation prior to the 1977 season helped running back Earl Campbell post a record-setting season and eventually earn UT's first Heisman Trophy. Akers' 1981 Texas team finished 10-1-1 and No. 2 nationally following a 14-12 Cotton Bowl win over Bear Bryant and No. 3 Alabama. His 1983 team carried an 11-0 record and No. 2 regular season ranking into the Cotton Bowl before losing to Georgia, 10-9. That team also produced a record 18 players who were taken in the NFL Draft in the spring of 1984. During the 1984 season, the Longhorns again earned a No. 1 regular season ranking before a 15-15 tie with No. 2 Oklahoma. Akers' teams won two Southwest Conference titles (1977 and 1983), and his teams finished in the nation's top five three times in his first seven years. His career mark at Texas was 86-13-2 (60-19-1 in SWC), third on the all-time UT victory list behind Royal and Mack Brown.
