View source for R. C. Slocum

{{Short description|American football player and coach (born 1944)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{BLP sources|date=September 2011}}
{{Infobox college coach
| name = R. C. Slocum
| image = RC slocum.JPG
| alt = 
| caption = Slocum gives a gig 'em with his Big 12 Championship ring
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1944|11|7}}
| birth_place = [[Oakdale, Louisiana]], U.S.
| death_date = 
| death_place = 
| player_years1 = 1965–1967
| player_team1 = [[McNeese State Cowboys football|McNeese State]]
| player_positions = [[Tight end]]
| coach_years1 = 1968–1969
| coach_team1 = Lake Charles HS (LA) ([[Defensive coordinator|DC]])
| coach_years2 = 1970
| coach_team2 = [[Kansas State Wildcats football|Kansas State]] (freshmen OL)
| coach_years3 = 1971
| coach_team3 = Kansas State (freshmen)
| coach_years4 = 1972
| coach_team4 = [[Texas A&M Aggies football|Texas A&M]] (offensive asst.)
| coach_years5 = 1973–1978
| coach_team5 = Texas A&M (defensive asst.)
| coach_years6 = 1979–1980
| coach_team6 = Texas A&M (DC)
| coach_years7 = 1981
| coach_team7 = [[USC Trojans football|USC]] (DC)
| coach_years8 = 1982–1988
| coach_team8 = Texas A&M (DC)
| coach_years9 = 1989–2002
| coach_team9 = Texas A&M
| admin_years1 = 2019 & 2024
| admin_team1 = [[Texas A&M Aggies|Texas A&M]] (interim AD)
| overall_record = 123–47–2
| bowl_record = 3–8
| tournament_record = 
| championships = 3 [[Southwest Conference|SWC]] (1991–1993)<br />1 [[Big 12 Conference|Big 12]] (1998)<br />2 [[Big 12 Conference|Big 12 South Division]] (1997–1998)
| awards = 
* 3× [[Southwest Conference|SWC]] Coach of the Year (1991, 1992, 1993)
* [[Amos Alonzo Stagg Award]] (2014)
* [[Texas Sports Hall of Fame]] (2005)
| coaching_records = 
| CFBHOF_year = 2012
| CFBHOF_id = 2320
}}
'''Richard Copeland Slocum''' (born November 7, 1944)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tamu.scout.com/player/27159-r-c-slocum/analysis |title=R.C. Slocum|publisher=Scout.com|access-date=January 18, 2015}}</ref> is a former [[American football]] player and coach who is currently a special assistant to the president at [[Texas A&M University]]. He has also served as interim athletics director at the university from January through June 2019 and again from January through March 2023,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=RC Slocum Named Interim |url=https://12thman.com/news/2024/1/22/rc-slocum-named-interim-athletics-director}}</ref> and previously served as the head football coach there from 1989 to 2002. He has won more games as coach (123) than anyone else in [[Texas A&M Aggies football]] history. Slocum was inducted into the [[College Football Hall of Fame]] as a coach in 2012.

==Personal life==
Raised in [[Orange, Texas]], Slocum  graduated from [[West Orange-Stark High School|Stark High School]] in Orange in 1963 and attended [[McNeese State University]] in [[Lake Charles, Louisiana]]. Slocum earned a B.S. in physical education in 1967 and M.S. in educational administration in 1968, both from McNeese State.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sports.tamu.edu/sports/football/coach/rcslocum.html |title=Head Coach R.C. Slocum |website=sports.tamu.edu |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961120010043/http://sports.tamu.edu/sports/football/coach/rcslocum.html |archive-date=20 November 1996 |url-status=dead}}</ref> 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 the [[Arizona State Sun Devils]] since 2015.

==Coaching career==

===Early career===
Slocum began his career as a football coach at [[Lake Charles, Louisiana|Lake Charles]] High School in 1968. Two years later, in 1970, Slocum became a graduate assistant at [[Kansas State University]] under head coach [[Vince Gibson]], also coaching the offensive linemen on the freshman team. In 1971, he was named head freshman coach.

===USC===
Slocum spent the 1981 season as the [[defensive coordinator]] at the [[University of Southern California]] (USC) under [[John Robinson (American football coach)|John Robinson]]. Slocum's defense led the [[Pac-12 Conference|Pacific-10 Conference]] in total defense that season.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pac-10.org/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/pac10/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/release1-Records |title=2007 Pac-10 Football Guide Records }}{{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The team lost to [[Penn State]] in the [[1982 Fiesta Bowl]], finishing with a 9–3 record.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_game_by_game.php?coachid=2002&year=1981|title=USC 1981|access-date=July 9, 2008|archive-date=February 8, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208171959/http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_game_by_game.php?coachid=2002&year=1981|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Texas A&M===
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 coordinator [[Melvin Robertson]] with him. Former A&M offensive coordinator and new head coach [[Tom Wilson (American football)|Tom Wilson]] chose Slocum as his defensive coordinator in 1979. After serving [[USC Trojans football|USC]] as defensive coordinator in 1981, Slocum returned to A&M in 1982 as defensive coordinator under [[Jackie 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.

====Head coach====
[[File:Slocum-rc TAMU1.JPG|thumb|left|Slocum as head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies]]
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 the [[Big 12]] title in 1998 and two Big 12 South Championships in 1997 and 1998. Additionally, he led the Aggies to become the first school in [[Southwest 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 coach [[Darrell Royal]] who is number 2.

Under his tenure, Slocum helped make A&M's [[Kyle 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 would 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 the [[NFL]] 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 didn't take long to clean up the program. He was quoted in 2002 as saying:

{{blockquote|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.'<ref>{{cite news|last=Justice |first=Richard |title=Legacy of tenure at A&M is reform |newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]] |date=December 3, 2002 |url=http://www.pngindians.com/news/2002/slocumfired.html |access-date=March 12, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050509214936/http://www.pngindians.com/news/2002/slocumfired.html |archive-date=May 9, 2005 }}</ref>}}

After fourteen 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 president [[Robert Gates]].

In May 2012, Slocum was inducted into the [[College Football Hall of Fame]].<ref>[http://www.kwtx.com/_254sports/home/headlines/Former_AM_Coach_R_C_Slocum_Named_To_Hall_Of_Fame_151556165.html Former A&M Coach R. C. Slocum Named To Hall Of Fame] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120906100725/http://www.kwtx.com/_254sports/home/headlines/Former_AM_Coach_R_C_Slocum_Named_To_Hall_Of_Fame_151556165.html |date=September 6, 2012 }} kwtx.com Retrieved May 15, 2012</ref>

On April 19, 2019, Slocum was named interim athletic director for Texas A&M after the sudden departure of [[Scott Woodward (athletic director)|Scott Woodward]] to [[LSU]]. Following [[Ross Bjork]]'s departure for the athletic director role at Ohio State in January 2024, Slocum again served as interim AD before the hiring of [[Trev Alberts]].<ref name=":0" />

==Head coaching record==
{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = both}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name      = [[Texas A&M Aggies football|Texas A&M Aggies]]
 | conf      = [[Southwest Conference]]
 | startyear = 1989
 | endyear   = 1995
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship =
 | year         = [[1989 NCAA Division I-A football season|1989]]
 | name         = [[1989 Texas A&M Aggies football team|Texas A&M]]
 | overall      = 8–4
 | conference   = 6–2
 | confstanding = T–2nd
 | bowlname     = [[1989 John Hancock Bowl|John Hancock]]
 | bowloutcome  = L
 | bcsbowl      =
 | ranking      = 
 | ranking2     = 20
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship =
 | year         = [[1990 NCAA Division I-A football season|1990]]
 | name         = [[1990 Texas A&M Aggies football team|Texas A&M]]
 | overall      = 9–3–1
 | conference   = 5–2–1
 | confstanding = T–3rd
 | bowlname     = [[1990 Holiday Bowl|Holiday]]
 | bowloutcome  = W
 | bcsbowl      =
 | ranking      = 13
 | ranking2     = 15
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = conference
 | year         = [[1991 NCAA Division I-A football season|1991]]
 | name         = [[1991 Texas A&M Aggies football team|Texas A&M]]
 | overall      = 10–2
 | conference   = 8–0
 | confstanding = 1st
 | bowlname     = [[1992 Cotton Bowl Classic|Cotton]]
 | bowloutcome  = L
 | bcsbowl      =
 | ranking      = 13
 | ranking2     = 12
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = conference
 | year         = [[1992 NCAA Division I-A football season|1992]]
 | name         = [[1992 Texas A&M Aggies football team|Texas A&M]]
 | overall      = 12–1
 | conference   = 7–0
 | confstanding = 1st
 | bowlname     = [[1993 Cotton Bowl Classic|Cotton]]
 | bowloutcome  = L
 | bcsbowl      = yes
 | ranking      = 6
 | ranking2     = 7
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = conference
 | year         = [[1993 NCAA Division I-A football season|1993]]
 | name         = [[1993 Texas A&M Aggies football team|Texas A&M]]
 | overall      = 10–2
 | conference   = 7–0
 | confstanding = 1st
 | bowlname     = [[1994 Cotton Bowl Classic|Cotton]]
 | bowloutcome  = L
 | bcsbowl      = yes
 | ranking      = 8
 | ranking2     = 9
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship =
 | year         = [[1994 NCAA Division I-A football season|1994]]
 | name         = [[1994 Texas A&M Aggies football team|Texas A&M]]
 | overall      = 10–0–1
 | conference   = 6–0–1
 | confstanding = <nowiki>*</nowiki>
 | bowlname     = <nowiki>*</nowiki>
 | bowloutcome  =
 | bcsbowl      =
 | ranking      = 
 | ranking2     = 8
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship =
 | year         = [[1995 NCAA Division I-A football season|1995]]
 | name         = [[1995 Texas A&M Aggies football team|Texas A&M]]
 | overall      = 9–3
 | conference   = 5–2
 | confstanding = T–2nd
 | bowlname     = [[1995 Alamo Bowl|Alamo]]
 | bowloutcome  = W
 | bcsbowl      =
 | ranking      = 15
 | ranking2     = 15
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name      = [[Texas A&M Aggies football|Texas A&M Aggies]]
 | conf      = [[Big 12 Conference]]
 | startyear = 1996
 | endyear   = 2002
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship =
 | year         = [[1996 NCAA Division I-A football season|1996]]
 | name         = [[1996 Texas A&M Aggies football team|Texas A&M]]
 | overall      = 6–6
 | conference   = 4–4
 | confstanding = 3rd <small>(South)</small>
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  =
 | bcsbowl      =
 | ranking      = 
 | ranking2     = 
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = division
 | year         = [[1997 NCAA Division I-A football season|1997]]
 | name         = [[1997 Texas A&M Aggies football team|Texas A&M]]
 | overall      = 9–4
 | conference   = 6–2
 | confstanding = 1st <small>(South)</small>
 | bowlname     = [[1998 Cotton Bowl Classic|Cotton]]
 | bowloutcome  = L
 | bcsbowl      =
 | ranking      = 21
 | ranking2     = 20
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = conference
 | year         = [[1998 NCAA Division I-A football season|1998]]
 | name         = [[1998 Texas A&M Aggies football team|Texas A&M]]
 | overall      = 11–3
 | conference   = 7–1
 | confstanding = 1st <small>(South)</small>
 | bowlname     = [[1999 Sugar Bowl|Sugar]]
 | bowloutcome  = L
 | bcsbowl      = yes
 | ranking      = 13
 | ranking2     = 11
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship =
 | year         = [[1999 NCAA Division I-A football season|1999]]
 | name         = [[1999 Texas A&M Aggies football team|Texas A&M]]
 | overall      = 8–4
 | conference   = 5–3
 | confstanding = T–2nd <small>(South)</small>
 | bowlname     = [[1999 Alamo Bowl|Alamo]]
 | bowloutcome  = L
 | bcsbowl      =
 | ranking      = 20
 | ranking2     = 23
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship =
 | year         = [[2000 NCAA Division I-A football season|2000]]
 | name         = [[2000 Texas A&M Aggies football team|Texas A&M]]
 | overall      = 7–5
 | conference   = 5–3
 | confstanding = 3rd <small>(South)</small>
 | bowlname     = [[2000 Independence Bowl|Independence]]
 | bowloutcome  = L
 | bcsbowl      =
 | ranking      = 
 | ranking2     = 
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship =
 | year         = [[2001 NCAA Division I-A football season|2001]]
 | name         = [[2001 Texas A&M Aggies football team|Texas A&M]]
 | overall      = 8–4
 | conference   = 4–4
 | confstanding = T–3rd <small>(South)</small>
 | bowlname     = [[2001 Galleryfurniture.com Bowl|Galleryfurniture.com]]
 | bowloutcome  = W
 | bcsbowl      =
 | ranking      = 
 | ranking2     = 
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship =
 | year         = [[2002 NCAA Division I-A football season|2002]]
 | name         = [[2002 Texas A&M Aggies football team|Texas A&M]]
 | overall      = 6–6
 | conference   = 3–5
 | confstanding = 5th <small>(South)</small>
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  =
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      =
 | ranking2     = 
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Texas A&M
 | overall    = 123–47–2
 | confrecord = 78–28–2
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record End
 | overall   = 123–47–2
 | yearstart = 1992
 | yearend   = 1998
 | poll      = two
 | polltype  =
 | extrafootnotes = <nowiki>*</nowiki> A&M was ineligible.
}}

==See also==
* [[Legends Poll]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020606233942/http://sports.tamu.edu/sports/football/coach/RCslocum.html Texas A&M profile] (archived June 6, 2002)
* {{College Football HoF|2320}}

{{Texas A&M Aggies football coach navbox}}
{{Texas A&M Aggies athletic director navbox}}
{{Amos Alonzo Stagg Award}}
{{Paul "Bear" Bryant Award Lifetime Achievement Award}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slocum, Rc}}
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American football tight ends]]
[[Category:Kansas State Wildcats football coaches]]
[[Category:McNeese Cowboys football players]]
[[Category:Texas A&M Aggies athletic directors]]
[[Category:Texas A&M Aggies football coaches]]
[[Category:USC Trojans football coaches]]
[[Category:High school football coaches in Louisiana]]
[[Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:College Football Playoff Selection Committee members]]
[[Category:People from Oakdale, Louisiana]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Orange, Texas]]
[[Category:Coaches of American football from Texas]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Texas]]