During his tenure at Texas, the Longhorns have claimed 10 National Championships and 76 conference (Southwest and Big 12) titles in nine different sports. UT has earned 15 bowl berths, received an NCAA basketball tourney bid 13 times and won two NCAA baseball titles while advancing to the College World Series 10 times under Dodds’ watch. The Horns also have claimed eight NCAA titles and 22 conference swimming & diving crowns, made 11 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament in tennis (seven league titles) and been a regular among the nation’s best in golf (nine conference crowns and 12 Top 10 NCAA finishes) and track & field (14 conference indoor/outdoor titles).

With all of UT Athletics’ storied history in mind, one would be hard-pressed to find a more successful two-year run at Texas than in 2001-02 and 2002-03.

In 2001-02, Texas established itself as the only NCAA Division I-A school to finish among the Top Five in football, earn a spot in the “Sweet 16” in basketball and reach the College World Series in baseball. Augie Garrido’s baseball team capped the remarkable year by capturing the National Championship. The rare triple play occurred only once before in UT history, when in 1962-63, the Longhorns ranked fourth in football, advanced to the “Sweet 16” and tied for third at the College World Series.

In addition to the success of the football, basketball and baseball programs, swimming & diving won its third consecutive NCAA title, golf finished tied for third nationally, tennis reached the NCAA Round of 16, outdoor track tied for ninth and indoor track tied for 23rd at nationals and cross country placed 28th at the NCAA Championships. Every Texas men’s athletics program advanced to its respective NCAA postseason competition and finished among the nation’s Top 30 teams.

In 2002-03, Texas became the first Division I-A school in NCAA history to accomplish all of the following in the same academic season:
» have its football program rank in The Associated Press’ final Top 10
» have its men’s basketball program advance to the Final Four
» have its baseball program advance to the College World Series

In addition to the success of the “Big Three,” swimming & diving placed second at the NCAA Championships, golf tied for ninth nationally, tennis reached the NCAA Round of 16, indoor track placed ninth and outdoor track tied for 21st at nationals and cross country placed 23rd at the NCAA Championships. Every UT men’s athletics program advanced to its respective NCAA postseason competition for the second straight year, and all finished among the nation’s Top 25 teams.

In each of the last two years (2001-02 and 2002-03), Texas has placed second in the final NACDA Directors’ Cup standings, the national all-sports competition that recognizes all NCAA Championship sports for both men’s and women’s athletics and ranks the top overall athletics programs in the country. The Longhorns accomplished that despite the fact that they do not field teams in 12 of the 32 sports which can be counted to the school’s overall points total.

The Longhorns have prospered in the classroom as well under Dodds’ leadership. A total of 84 UT men’s student-athletes earned a spot on the Fall 2002 Big 12 Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll (min. 3.0 GPA) and 102 garnered mention on the Spring 2003 list.

Dodds was honored as the 2002 National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Division I-A West Region Athletic Director of the Year. He also was chosen as the recipient of the 2003 Carl Maddox Award for Sports Management from the United States Sports Academy. The award honors an individual who exhibits mastery of all management function, is well known in the sports arena and has an abiding belief in the need for ethical behavior in sports management.

The future at Texas under Dodds’ leadership has never appeared brighter. The football program is one of just two nationally to sport a current streak of five consecutive nine (or more) win seasons. It also is the third-winningest program (22-4) in Division I-A over the past two seasons. Along the way, the Longhorns featured a Heisman Trophy winner (Ricky Williams, 1998), won or shared the Big 12 South Division Championship three times in the past four years, appeared in five consecutive bowl games and have posted five straight Top 25 finishes in both major polls. Basketball has made a school-record five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, including trips to the “Sweet 16” in 2002 and the Final Four in 2003. The Longhorns featured a Wooden and Naismith awards winner (T.J. Ford, 2003) and have set a school record for most wins (116) in a five-year period. Texas is the only school to feature both a Heisman and Wooden Award winner in a five-year window since the awards began.

Baseball has reached the College World Series three times in the past four seasons, making its NCAA-record 30th appearance at the CWS in 2003 after winning the program’s fifth national title in 2002. Swimming & diving has claimed three of the last four and eight overall NCAA team titles during Dodds’ tenure, while golf has registered three Top 10 finishes at the NCAA Championship in the past four years. Tennis has advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 in four of the last five seasons, while track & field has produced seven NCAA individual champions and eight national Top 15 team finishes in the last five years (indoor and outdoor).

In addition to spearheading the Longhorns’ success on the field, Dodds has changed the face of UT Athletics. He led the way in the creation of the Longhorn Foundation, which has grown to more than 12,000 members whose annual gifts have increased to more than $16 million.

Dodds, who manages a $75 million athletics budget at UT, currently is overseeing the completion of a three-step $52 million makeover of the Frank Erwin Center, the home of Texas Basketball. Prior to that, he set the stage for a $90 million expansion and renovation project at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium/Jamail Field that re-established that facility among the nation’s elite. Dodds also spearheaded the construction of the Dana X. Bible Academic Center, Frank Denius Fields (football practice facility), the Moncrief-Neuhaus Athletic Center, Mike A. Myers Track & Soccer Stadium and the Penick-Allison Tennis Center.

While overseeing the athletics department at Texas, Dodds also has been a pivotal force in some of the most significant events in college athletics. He played a major role in the development of the Big 12 Conference, is a past president of the NCAA Division I-A Directors of Athletics, served as a member of the prestigious NCAA Basketball Committee and was an original member of the NCAA Postseason Football Committee. He currently is chair of the NCAA Football Issues Committee, as well as a member of the newly formed NCAA Football Study Oversight Committee (a group composed primarily of college presidents and charged with enhancing the status of college football).

After completing his tenure on the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee in Spring 1997, Dodds is now a leader in the future planning for college football, concentrating on the issue of a playoff for NCAA Division I-A football. Dodds has chaired the College Football Association Television Committee, was appointed to head a subcommittee to study the possibility of a NCAA football playoff to determine a National Champion and served on the NCAA Governance Committee (dealt with critical issues of women’s athletics and NCAA restructuring).

Prior to coming to Texas in 1981, Dodds turned a struggling, “in-the-red” athletics department into a money-maker in three years as director of athletics at Kansas State. He also served as assistant commissioner of the Big Eight Conference for two years.

A 1959 graduate of Kansas State with a degree in physical education and a minor in psychology, Dodds was a prep football, baseball and track standout whose football career at Kansas State was cut short his freshman year by a knee injury. He won the Big Eight Championship in the 440-yard dash as a junior, anchored a pair of league-champion mile relay teams and ran a personal-best 45.9-second quarter-mile
during his collegiate career.

After spending time in graduate school and serving six months in the Army, he returned to his alma mater as assistant track coach in 1961. He became head coach in 1963 and served in that position for 14 years. During that time, he guided K-State to six Big Eight titles (four in cross country/two in indoor track).

A member of the NCAA Track & Field Rules Committee from 1977-81, Dodds was inducted into the Drake Relays Coaches Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Kansas State Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995. He also earned his place in the prestigious Longhorn Hall of Honor in 1997.

A native of Riley, Kan., Dodds and his wife, Mary Ann, have three children (Doug, Deidre and Debra) and six grandchildren (Steffan, Hailey, Will, Sommer, Emily and Alexis).