The University of Texas at Austin opened its doors in 1883, and a decade later, the school’s first permanent football team was created.
The sport looked different back in the day from what fans might recognize now, of course. And the setting where the students played was also different. UT’s iconic football stadium wasn’t built until 1924 – and it just celebrated its 100th birthday.
Danny Davis, who covers UT sports for the Austin American-Statesman, said the team originally played on a field called Clark Field from the late 1800s until midway through the 1924 season.
“They decided that wasn’t good enough for what Texas wants to be: always bigger, better,” he said. “They built the Memorial Stadium and headed on over there.”
Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium is the eighth biggest college football stadium in the U.S., with a capacity of just over 100,000. Its initial capacity was 27,000.
“The first A&M game drew a little over 30,000. That was considered a big deal back then,” Davis said. “And then obviously through renovations throughout the years, including one a couple of years ago, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger over there.”
Crowds walk in front of DKR before a game against Texas Christian University in 2022.
Gabriel C. Pérez / KUT News
The stadium was originally called the Memorial Stadium in honor of veterans who served in World War I. Royal’s name was added in honor of his prolific coaching career.
“He’s the greatest coach in school history, won three national championships with the school and kind of helped set Texas up for what Texas football is known to be,” Davis said. “Thinking about the greats, obviously you have the great players such as Ricky Williams, Earl Campbell, Vince Young, obviously, and those players have their numbers retired and they’re honored in different ways throughout the stadium.
“But Darrell, they put his name on the stadium because he’s the greatest coach and kind of made Texas football what Texas football is.”
Davis, who compiled 50 fun facts about the stadium for its anniversary, said some of his favorites include very early history.
“This was a completely student-funded stadium, pretty much. They did a lot of fundraising to get the stadium off the ground when it was originally financed,” he said. “It originally cost $275,000 to build the stadium; the students, the alumni who were the ones who helped fund that.
“[It was also fun to see] who rushed for the most yards at DKR – that would be Ricky Williams – or who passed for the most yards in a single game – that would’ve been Colt McCoy. I think TCU is the team that’s recorded the most wins at DKR as an opposing team.”
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UT Austin’s current coach, Steve Sarkisian, also has pre-game rituals related to the historic stadium.
“I think Steve fancies himself as a football historian, and I think he kind of realizes the significance of a place like DKR,” Davis said. “He’s played in historical places like BYU and coached at USC and Alabama. He knows football stadiums that mean a lot to a lot of people. Regardless of where he’s at, he likes to do a lap around the stadium with his security detail.
“And he was telling us that he likes to kind of envision Darrell Royal coaching or Mack Brown coaching, likes to envision Vince Young playing, Ricky Williams playing and kind of soak in the atmosphere whenever he’s at home. He had some memorable moments himself – not quite as many as Mack Brown, but he’s getting there. With this team that he has this year, maybe he can add a couple more memories.”
