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Former BYU athletic director Glen Tuckett dies at 93

By Jared Lloyd - | Oct 26, 2021

Richard Watkins/lensart photography Lifetime Achievement Award-winner Glen Tuckett (center) and his wife Jo visit with well-wishers prior to the awards ceremony at the Grand America Hotel on Sept. 16, 2009.

One of the most influential coaches and administrators in BYU sports history, Glen Tuckett, died after suffering a stroke Monday night, according to former colleague Ralph Zobell. He was 93.

“Coach Glen Tuckett, 93, passed last night at his Provo home after a stroke,” Zobell tweeted from his @RalphZobell Twitter account. “Funeral Nov. 6, viewing Nov. 5. I was 1 of a handful who worked with him his entire time as BYU AD & privileged he called me “almost like a son,” though I didn’t play baseball for him. #GoCougs #ReptheY.”

Tuckett served as the head BYU baseball coach from 1959-76, compiling a 445-256-4 record (.634), and then was the athletic director at BYU from 1976-93. He also served as athletic director at the University of Alabama from 1995-96.

“We offer our heartfelt condolences to the Tuckett family at Glen’s passing and want to express our immense gratitude for everything he did for BYU Athletics,” Tom Holmoe, BYU director of athletics, said in a statement. “The awards and statistics during Glen’s tenure speak for themselves. What Glen did here was remarkable, and much of the success we experience here today can be traced back to the foundation Glen helped lay.”

Former BYU athletic director Val Hale tweeted from his @UtahHale account: “He was an amazing man and leader. I could tell Glen Tuckett stories all day. His players called him The Sargeant. He was old school and did it right.”

Utah Sen. Mike Lee recalled what his dad, former BYU President Rex E. Lee had stated about Tuckett.

“My dad once said, ‘the mark that Glen Tuckett left on BYU’s athletics is remarkable and may be unparalleled and historic.'” Mike Lee tweeted from his @SenMikeLee Twitter account. “Today, my own thoughts and gratitude are with the Tuckett family and all @BYUCougars.”

Here is Tuckett’s complete BYU bio:

“As one of BYU’s winningest coaches, Glen finished 17 seasons, his entire coaching career at BYU, above .500. His teams won 13 division baseball titles and three conference championships. Under his direction, the Cougars posted two NCAA District 7 crowns and went to the College World Series in Omaha twice in 1968 and 1971. He was District 7 Coach of the Year three times.

“After graduating from Murray High School, he entered professional baseball but continued his studies, obtaining his B.S. degree in 1953. Glen spent nine years in the professional ranks before launching his coaching career at West High School in Salt Lake City.

“A native of Murray, Utah, Glen came to BYU in 1959 where he served as an assistant football coach and head baseball coach. One of the highlights of this career came in 1974 when he was chosen as coach of the United States team, which won the World Amateur Baseball Tournament for only the second time in the tourney’s 27-year history. He was the 1977 president of the American Baseball Coaches Association and in 1979 was inducted into the ABCA Hall of Fame. At the time of his retirement he was the ninth-winningest baseball coach in the NCAA.

“Glen took over as BYU’s athletic director in 1976, replacing Stan Watts. Since then he has served in a variety of committees, including NCAA Committee on Committees, NCAA Television Committee, College Football Association Executive Committee and College Football Association Television Committee. He is recognized as one of the leading forces in the Cougar Stadium expansion.

“In 1985 he was inducted into to the Utah Old Time Athletes Association Hall of Fame and in 1995 to the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Hall of Fame. He also has been inducted to the Murray High School Hall of Fame, and the Utah Summer Games Hall of Fame. In 1990 he received the Lefty Gomez Award by the ABCA.

“Tuckett served as athletic director at the University of Alabama from 1995-96 and was the athletic director at BYU from 1976-93. He was BYU head baseball coach from 1959-76, compiling a 445-256-4 record (.634).

“Tuckett led BYU to 16 football bowl appearances and one trip to Japan in 17 years as the director of athletics. He was the driving force in the expansion of our football stadium in 1982 which seated 30,000 and improved to 65,000 seats. Consequently, with the expanded stadium paired with the success of the program he helped foster, he was able to schedule games only dreamed of: home-and-home series with Notre Dame, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Texas, Miami, Washington and UCLA.

“In 1990, he was the athletic director when BYU’s Ty Detmer won the Heisman Trophy. The BYU athletic program won 17 Western Athletic Conference overall supremacy trophies in his span as athletic director. During this time BYU also won the 1981 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship and was the 1984 National Champions with a perfect 13-0 record in football.”

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