LIKE IT IS: Broyles as enthusiastic as ever nearing 85

— If you didn't know Frank Broyles and you closed your eyes and just listened to him, you would think you were listening to a man half his age.

 Frank Broyles speaks to the Little Rock Touchdown Club

Broyles at the Touchdown Club

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Broyles, who turns 85 in December, has incredible energy and enthusiasm, both of which were very evident Monday when he spoke to the Little Rock Touchdown Club.

When the subject of Alzheimer's disease came up, so did the passion in his voice.

Broyles' wife of 59 years, Barbara, died of Alzheimer's in 2004, but almost since the day of her diagnosis, five years after she began showing symptoms, the former athletic director at the University of Arkansas has campaigned for more funding for research and even written a book, Playbook for Alzheimer's Caregivers, to help people cope when a loved one has the disease.

On Nov. 18 at the J.A. Gilbreath Conference Center at Baptist Health Medical Center-Little Rock, Broyles will speak on how he played every position in dealing with his family's Alzheimer's.

Just recently he taped a segment with Dr. Phil that will air soon.

By no stretch of the imagination did Broyles spend the majority of his time Monday talking about Alzheimer's disease.

He talked about his personal history and how he came to Arkansas, 10 years after he first decided it was where he wanted to be.

Broyles talked about his first season and how he installed a new offense, and admitted he scrapped it after a season-opening loss to Baylor because he didn't really know what he was doing.

He told his team to not let losses get them down, and they finished with four victories, starting with a 21-8 victory over Texas A&M.

"After two busted plays, we led 7-0, and I told my staff we were gonna kick the hell out of them, and we did," he said.

Broyles won three consecutive conference championships after that and would have won a fourth but a 7-3 loss to Texas ended the run.

"Did you know back then all the officials in the Southwest Conference were from Texas?" he said with a smile. "It took 10 years to get that changed."

Other than saying Jeff Long, who replaced him as athletic director, thanked him for enlarging Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Broyles made no comments about the current administration or coaching staff.

He didn't talk about how he said Gus Malzahn's Spread offense wouldn't work in the SEC either, but he did talk about the downside of Spread offenses, especially on goal line stands.

He explained the offensive line spends the majority of the game dropping back to pass protect and when they get on the 1-yard line they don't know how to push forward.

"I know one thing I'd do, I'd change the offensive line to a four-point stance when we got on the goal line, that way after the snap you aredriving forward in your opponent's territory."

Broyles talked about the great attendance at SEC games and how back in the 1960s he believed too much television would hurt attendance.

"I was wrong," he said. "What we found out was that it made football fans out of kids 9, 10 and 11 years old. All over the country now you hear people say they are looking forward to football season, except in Arkansas, and we say I can't wait."

He said he sat home last Saturday and watched college football, and that between 11 a.m. and 11 p.m. there were 22 games televised.

A lot of things have changed since Broyles came to Arkansas on Dec. 6, 1957, but one thing has remained constant - his energy and enthusiasm.

Sports, Pages 13 on 09/29/2009

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