Fred Akers, who served as an assistant coach at Texas under Darrell Royal and succeeded the legendary head coach at the helm of the program for 10 seasons, died Monday at the age of 82 according to a report from former Austin television reporter Mike Barnes. In his time as the head coach of the Longhorns, Akers posted an 86-31-2 record and led Texas to a pair of Southwest Conference championships in 1977 and 1983.
Only Royal (167 wins) and Mack Brown (158) had more wins as the program’s head coach than Akers. Over 10 seasons on the job, Akers guided the Longhorns to six Associated Press Top 25 finishes, including four top-10 rankings and two top-five finishes.
The best AP Top 25 finish under Akers came in 1981 when Texas completed a 10-1-1 campaign by defeating Bear Bryant and Alabama in the Cotton Bowl en route to a No. 2 national ranking. The two conference championships the Longhorns won under Akers were seasons where Texas went 11-0 in the regular season and headed into the Cotton Bowl with a chance to win a national championship. From Horns 247
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