Our hearts go out to Coach Slocum

R.C. Slocum is a Aggie legend, coaching the football team to their most successful run in the modern era, and also spending recent decades as an outstanding ambassador for Texas A&M. Earlier this week, he revealed that he had been undergoing tests at M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston (a world-renowned cancer center).

“A couple of years ago, I asked my Facebook friends to pray for my son John Harvey Slocum who had a major heart event in Midland. God answered those prayers in a big way,” Coach Slocum said, “Today, I am coming again asking for prayers but these are for me. I have spent several days at M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston this past week doing various tests. Not sure what all is going on but it is serious. I am meeting with my doctor Monday afternoon at MDA to find out. Please put me you on your prayer list. I am a firm believer that God is in control and can still do miraculous things. Thanks R.C.”

As we found out today, the results are heartbreaking.

Beyond his coaching accomplishments (which are numerous), I had the pleasure of meeting Coach Slocum on two occasions. The first time was while he was still our head coach, when he came to speak to my statistics class while I was an undergraduate at A&M (a surprise to us all when we walked into class that day). I honestly don’t remember what he talked about because I was so in awe, but he stayed for the entire class, then hung around afterward to shake the hands of the many students who wanted to meet him. The second time was in 2008. It was a Friday night before a home game, and my friend and I were hanging around Kyle Field (like one does), when Coach Slocum approached in a tuxedo. It turned out he was being inducted into the Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame that night, but it didn’t stop him from taking a few minutes to chat with us and pose for a photo.

Nothing Coach Slocum did in our brief interactions was extraordinary, but in many ways, that’s the point. He made time for everyone, he treated everyone with respect. It’s something that seems easy but so many of us fall short of, especially people in power.’

I’ll always have an immense about of respect for Coach Slocum for the Aggie Football program he helped build, but even moreso for the man he has proven himself to be in his decades of service to Texas A&M.

We’ll be praying for you, Coach.