Dennis Franchione

Dennis Franchione, known as Coach Fran, was a college head football coach for 30 years and coached at both the high school and college levels for over four decades. Coach Fran got his start in coaching in 1973 at Miller High School in Missouri after earning his bachelors degree from Pittsburg State University. He coached at the high school level for four years before earning a spot on the Kansas State University staff in 1978. After serving as an assistant at K-State and Southwestern from 1978 to 1982 he was hired as the offensive coordinator at Tennessee Tech in 1983. He served in that role until being hired as the new head coach at his alma mater in 1985. From 1985 to 1989 he led Pittsburg State to a 53-6 overall record with three consecutive undefeated seasons in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and an undefeated season in the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association. In 1990 he headed to Southwestern Texas State as the head coach of the Bobcats and then headed to the Western Athletic Conference as the head coach at New Mexico University in 1992. He remained in that position until 1997 and then served as the head coach at TCU, Alabama and Texas A&M until landing his last gig as the head coach at Texas State University in 2011.