FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Shirley Luna – MAY 7, 2004

Rice University Football Coach To Speak at SFA Graduation

Ken Hatfield, head coach of the Rice University football team, will speak at Stephen F. Austin State University commencement exercises at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, May 15, in William R. Johnson Coliseum. Hatfield has garnered a 155-108-4 record in 23 seasons and has demonstrated the ability to win regardless of the conference, competition or program.

Hatfield is a native of Helena, Ark., and graduated from the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting. He received the Swartz Award, presented annually to Arkansas’ top student-athlete.

Hatfield’s college playing career was a fitting prelude to his coaching prosperity. An academic all-America selection for Arkansas’ 1964 national champions, he led the nation in punt returns in both 1963 and ’64 after a second-place finish as a sophomore in 1962. He remains the only college player to finish in the top two in punt returns for three straight seasons and his 16.2 yard average on 70 career returns still ranks 12th in NCAA history.

He immediately went into coaching after graduation, first at the high school level and then as an assistant coach. In 1978, he was named offensive coordinator at the U.S. Air Force Academy on Bill Parcells’ coaching staff. A year later, Parcells was wooed to the professional game, and Hatfield had his first head coaching position.

The Falcons had not had a winning season since 1973, but by his fourth season Hatfield had led the Academy to an 8-5 record and a Hall of Fame Bowl win over Vanderbilt. In 1983, the Falcons went 10-2, including wins over Notre Dame, Navy and Mississippi in the Independence Bowl. Hatfield won the Bobby Dodd Award as the national coach of the year and was selected by the American Football Coaches Association as its national honoree.

Returning to Arkansas in 1984, the Razorbacks became the Southwest Conference’s dominant team during his tenure. His Arkansas squads compiled a 55-17-1 record and appeared in the Liberty, Holiday, Orange and Cotton bowls. The 1988-89 teams won conference championships, and he was the league’s coach of the year in ’88.

The Houston Post named Hatfield the conference’s coach of the decade in the 1980s, and in 1990, Hatfield moved on to Clemson. By winning another title in his first season back in the league, Hatfield joined a short list of conference coaches who won three straight titles.

Clemson remained one of the best programs in college football under Hatfield. His first team in 1990 compiled a 10-2 record, and the ’91 squad won the conference championship. All four of his Clemson teams spent time ranked among the nation's top 20 teams.

When he arrived at Rice in December 1993, Hatfield was one of only three active coaches to lead three different programs to top-20 seasons and was the only active Division IA coach to gain 10-win seasons at three different schools.

In his first season at Rice, he became only the second Southwest Conference coach to win a league championship at two different schools. It was the first championship for Rice since 1957.

Hatfield-coached teams have excelled offensively and defensively, but they have been particularly successful in rushing offense and defense. Each of his last 17 teams have finished in the top 20 nationally in rushing offense, including nine top-10 finishes. The 2002 Owls were second nationally, only trailing Nebraska in the category.

Hatfield was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1989 and is an active leader of the American Football Coaches Association. He is president of the American Football Coaches Foundation, the charitable arm of the association.

The SFA graduating class for spring 2004 includes 1,038 candidates for degrees, including 821 candidates for bachelor’s degrees, 207 candidates for master’s degrees and 10 candidates for doctoral degrees.