R.C. Slocum considers his retirement from Texas A&M and his 53-year career.

Texas’s College Station (KBTX) On Thursday, Texas A&M great R.C. Slocum formally announced his retirement, capping a 53-year career that influenced Aggie football and made a lasting impression on the school.

For Texas A&M, it’s a time of mixed emotions. “The most successful football coach in Aggie history,” declared Mark Welsh III, president of Texas A&M University. “I know we are all thankful for everything Coach Slocum has done for this university over the years. He is one of the best Aggies and the kindest person you will ever meet.”

On January 2, 1972, Slocum joined Emory Bellard as a young assistant coach at Texas A&M. With a 123-47-2 record over his 14 years as head coach from 1989 to 2002, the 80-year-old departed exactly 53 years later as the program’s most successful coach.

I arrived at A&M on January 2, 1972. Therefore, I felt it was appropriate to choose January 2, 2025, as my retirement date,” Slocum said. That’s more than fifty years here. For 30 of those years, I served as a head coach or an assistant coach.

Texas A&M won four conference titles under Slocum’s direction, including the Big 12 Title in 1998, and gained notoriety for their renowned “Wrecking Crew” defense. In 2012, Slocum was elected into the College Football Hall of Fame after he never had a losing season.

But his greatest achievements are not only victories and titles.

“Watching the young men I coached succeed is the most meaningful thing to me,” Slocum disclosed. Like myself, many of them were from low-income homes. The most enduring thing is to watch them graduate and watch their families prosper.

He remembered a recent incident involving Richmond Webb and Ty Warren, two of his former players who were both first-generation college attendees. “They were up here, up here in this location, last December. They were getting their Aggie rings for both of their daughters. In the households I was connected with, that represents the second generation of educated youth.

Along with his coaching history, Slocum most recently served as the president’s special assistant. He also held the positions of interim athletic director twice, in 2019 and 2022.

“I was asked to be the interim athletic director twice,” Slocum recalled. “Being asked to step in and try to keep the ball rolling in a positive direction until a full-time person came aboard was a great compliment and it was enjoyable.”

Looking back on his career, Slocum expressed his belief that his concern for his players will define his legacy.

“My goal is for people to see me and my players to think, ‘That’s a coach who cared about his players and pushed them to be all that they could be,'” Slocum said.

Slocum also talked on how the Aggie culture has shaped his life, starting with his first Texas A&M game as a child in Orange, Texas, which was attended by local Aggie Homer Stark.

After surviving stage four lymphoma in 2021, Slocum is cancer-free and intends to enjoy retirement, but he is still willing to help Texas A&M when necessary.

Slocum said, “I told Dr. Welsh that nothing really changes.” “As long as I’m physically capable, I’ll go speak somewhere or show up if you need me to.”