Texas football: Former Texas coach, recruiting coordinator and administrator Ken Dabbs passes away

Dabbs worked under legendary Longhorn coach Darrell Royal

By Bill Little

It will take all of the angels and archangels — and probably those gathered both above and below — to listen to the stories of Ken Dabbs.

And oh, how we wish we could hear them one more time.

Ken Dabbs died Wednesday night, a conqueror of more than 84 years of living and a victim of a prolonged battle with cancer and other maladies. He had gone home, home from the hospitals and rehab facilities, at last at peace, celebrating a life well-lived and honored by more friends than a young boy born in the post-World War II era in the tiny town of Freer could have ever imagined.

He was, in no particular order — a friend, a confidant, a father figure, a teacher, a coach and a special soul. He laughed from the inside. It came out through his eyes.

Hired by legendary Longhorn Darrell Royal and a critical staff member for Texas icons Fred Akers and DeLoss Dodds, he could pick up the telephone and call giants in the world of sports and beyond. And the impressive thing was, they would always answer.

He helped people, and we loved him because he loved us. Most of all, he helped kids…hundreds of them. He changed lives. A conversation with Ken would be a wonderful chance to share in a success or could calm the tempest of any turmoil we have come to know as life.

A native of Ranger, Texas and four-sport standout at Freer High School, he graduated in 1951 and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Sam Houston State and then a master’s degree from North Texas. By the late 1950s, he began a highly-successful high school coaching career that was recognized with a spot in the Texas High School Coaches Association Hall of Honor in 2003. His first head coaching job came at Irving High, where he led the Tigers to a state 4A quarterfinal appearance. From there, he made his way to Austin and the Eanes Independent School District, starting up the football and athletics programs as Westlake High School’s first-ever football coach and athletic director in 1969. The fieldhouse at Westlake was named in his honor and he earned a spot in the Irving ISD Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018.

After four football seasons at Westlake, his life would turn in a new direction. It was a direction that would change the face of college football in the Southwest. He agreed to join Darrell Royal’s staff, and, in the spring of 1973, his first assignment was a big one that would have an immeasurable impact on Longhorn Football and Texas Athletics.

He went to Tyler, Texas, and recruited a running back named Earl Campbell.

In those days, coaches had unlimited visits with recruits, and Dabbs joined a long line of those who came courting Campbell. Where others offered illegal incentives, Dabbs offered friendship. He warmed at the kitchen table with Campbell’s mom, Ann. He told the truth — which was too often a unique approach for the era.

Campbell chose to come to Texas, and the rest is history as he went on a record-setting career, won the Heisman Trophy and eventually became an NFL Hall of Famer. Dabbs also landed star lineman Brad Shearer, whom he had coached at Westlake. As a rookie recruiter, he had corralled a future Heisman Trophy winner and a future Outland Trophy winner. It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

For the next 20 years, until he retired as associate athletics director overseeing all recruiting operations for Men’s Athletics in 1995, Dabbs became a larger-than-life figure in the Texas Football building. He was inducted into the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor in 2014 and was recognized with a Special Contributor to Amateur Football Award from the Greater Austin Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame in 2000.

He was the perfect fit in every role he served. He seemed to know everybody, and they all respected and loved Dabbs. Legendary NFL player and Longhorn Bobby Layne was one of his best friends.

“It didn’t matter whether it was at Texas or somewhere else,” said Craig Helwig, who worked with Dabbs at Texas and had stops at several schools in the southwest. “If you needed something from somebody, you could call Dabbs.”

“He would find somebody who could help you.”

“Help” was the operative word when it came to Ken Dabbs.

That is what he did best.

Darrell Royal once said that, “The mark of a man is how he treats people who can never do anything for him.”

That was Ken Dabbs at his best.

He got his message across not with lectures, but with the stories he told – stories of life as he had seen it, stories of life as he had lived it.

And there was always a story.

For the last dozen or so years, some of the coaches and players who were part of Coach Royal’s era at Texas have gathered on the first Thursday of each month at Rosie’s Tamale House on Highway 71, west of Bee Cave. Sadly, time has taken its toll. Coaches Royal, Willie Zapalac, Leon Manley, R. M. Patterson and Spike Dykes and Eddie Joseph were regulars. Sadly, all are now gone, but we are blessed with their memories.

And then there was Ken Dabbs. It seemed he would always be there. In fact, it still does. You expect him to walk up and start a conversation with the words, “Did I tell you about the time….?”

On a bad day, you might have thought to answer, “Yes.”

But there were no bad days with Ken Dabbs. That is why, time after time, you would say, “Yes, but tell me again….”

Often in the spring or offseason, Mack Brown would gather Coach Royal, Ken, Eddie Joseph and me, and we would head to Dan’s Hamburgers on the east side for lunch. It was a safe place, where only after cell phones and photos were popularized did anybody ever approach the table.

Wednesday, Mack reflected from North Carolina on those days, and those special moments.

“Ken was amazing. You could never count his many friends. He touched us all. He was a great friend, a caring father figure, and a good football coach. Most of all, he touched lives in a way that few can. He always had a story, and he always brightened your day.

“I will miss him very, very much.”