Fort Smith native and former Arkansas defensive lineman and assistant coach Dick Bumpas was elected to the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame on Friday.
Bumpas played college football at the defensive tackle position for the University of Arkansas and was named the Southwest Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 1970 and a consensus first-team selection to the 1970 College Football All-America Team.
He played professional football for the Memphis Southmen of the World Football League and the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. He later became a football coach and served as the defensive coordinator at Texas Christian University for 11 seasons where he was a 2010 finalist for the Broyles Award, given annually to the nation’s top assistant coach. He was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2010.
He began his 38-year coaching career in 1977 as a graduate assistant for the Razorbacks and went on to coach at 12 different schools. As a coach, he won championships in four different conferences, coached in 21 bowl games and coached at all three service academies.
He retired from the TCU staff in early 2015.
Bumpas is the 36th former Arkansas player or coach to be inducted into the SWC Hall of Fame. Each year a committee selects nine new members - one each from the nine schools that comprised the conference.
This year’s induction ceremony will be Oct. 2 on the TCU campus in Fort Worth, Texas.
