Texas Longhorns Legend Mike Cotten Passes Away at 84

One of the greatest Texas Longhorns to ever step on the football field, former star QB Mike Cotten has passed away at the age of 84.

Matt Galatzan | May 27, 2024

AUSTIN - The Texas Longhorns family lost a legend on Saturday after former star quarterback Mike Cotten passed away after a battle with an undisclosed illness. He was 84.

Whether it was Bobby Layne, James Street Peter Gardere, Marty Akins, Major Applewhite, James Brown, Colt McCoy or Vince Young, Texas has always had a rich history of quarterbacks throughout their time in both the Southwest Conference and the Big 12. And Cotten belongs right up there with the rest of those names, as one of the best to ever do it in Austin.

Cotten was a two year starter for the Longhorns at QB, helping to impliment Darrell K. Royal's famous flip-flop offense into the program - an offense that would go on to change the college football landscape, and help the Horns bring home three national titles in the process.

After taking over as the fulltime starting QB In 1960, Cotten would go 17-4-1 in his two seasons, going undefeated against both Texas A&M and Oklahoma.

In his final season in 1961, he led the Southwest Conference in passing touchdowns with seven, and guided the Longhorns to a 10-1 record and a Cotton Bowl win over Ole Miss. The Horns finished that year with the No. 3 overall ranking.

Cotten was eventually inducted into the Texas Athletics Hall of Fame in 1981, and became one of the founding members of the Stadium Veterans Committee in 1996.

He is survived by his survived by his daughters, Ashley Putman and Lesley Childress.

Published May 27, 2024|Modified May 27, 2024

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com, AllAggies.com, and the Managing Editor of BuckeyesNow.com and TheGroveReport.com He is also the Editor-In-Chief of RamDigest.com and TexansDaily.com. Galatzan graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry under Mike Fisher at DallasBasketball.com in 2014, which at the time was part of the 247Sports network. He also spent two years covering the SMU Mustangs for PonyStampede.com on the 247Sports network. When DallasBasketball.com and CowboysCountry.com moved over to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, Galatzan followed suit, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com and AllAggies.com a year later. Through the years, Galatzan has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, former Longhorns players Dan Neil and Phil Dawson, and many other recruits, and current/former players for each of the teams he has covered. Galatzan is also a full-time employee in the digital media department for Audacy and KRLD FM's 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, which is the official radio home of the Dallas Cowboys. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan For any inquiries, please email matt.galatzan@gmail.com