FLATS – The Georgia Tech athletic department is mourning the loss of legendary former athletic director Dr. Homer Rice, who passed away on Monday, June 10, at the age of 97.
Rice served as the Yellow Jackets' athletic director from 1980 to 1997. Under his direction, Georgia Tech revitalized its athletic program and won its fourth football national championship in 1990. The men's basketball team won its first Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 1985 and made its first NCAA Final Four appearance in 1990. Also under Rice's tutelage, the school's baseball team advanced to the College World Series for the first time in 1994.
As AD, he hired some of Tech's most successful and legendary head coaches, including Bobby Cremins in basketball, Bobby Ross and George O'Leary in football, Jim Morris and Danny Hall in baseball and Bruce Heppler in golf. During his tenure, the Yellow Jackets won 16 ACC championships across five sports.
But perhaps Rice's greatest achievement was the Total Person program, which he developed and implemented at Tech and which served as the model for the NCAA Life Skills program now used throughout college sports. Rice most recently taught leadership classes at Georgia Tech. Rice has written a number of books on success leadership, including “Leadership for Leaders” in 1984, “Leadership for Leaders” in 2000 and “Leadership Fitness” in 2004.
“Throughout his career, Homer reminded us that the ultimate goal of college sports is for student-athletes to develop fully as human beings,” Georgia Tech President Angel Cabrera said. “At a time of great change in the sports world, Homer's message and legacy of excellence is more important than ever.”
Among countless honors and distinctions, the Homer Rice Award is presented annually to the NCAA Division I FBS athletics director who has made significant and meaningful contributions to intercollegiate athletics.
In 2021, a statue of Rice was erected outside Bobby Dodd Stadium. Rice is one of only three athletes to have statues erected at Georgia Tech, joining John Heisman and Bobby Dodd. In addition to being legendary coaches at Georgia Tech, Heisman and Dodd also served as athletic directors at the university during their time at the NFL. Some of the most prominent awards in the country are named after them, including college football's Player of the Year (Heisman), Coach of the Year (Dodd) and Athletic Director of the Year (Rice).
Dr. Rice was preceded in death by his wife of 64 years, Phyllis, who passed away in November 2013. He is survived by three daughters, Nancy Hetherington, Phyllis Ingle and Angela Miller, his wife, Karen, whom he married in 2015, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
“The Georgia Tech athletics community is deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. Homer Rice,” said Georgia Tech athletic director J. Butt. “Coach Rice was a giant in the fields of coaching and sports administration. He oversaw the most successful era in Georgia Tech athletics while continuing to positively impact millions of student-athletes across the country through his Total Person program. His legacy will be forever remembered at Georgia Tech and in the intercollegiate athletics community. My heartfelt condolences go to his wife Karen, his daughters, his entire family and countless friends. He will be greatly missed.”
Before arriving at Tech, Rice began his career as a high school football coach, as head coach at Wartburg Central High School (Tennessee), Spring City High School (Tennessee) and Fort Thomas Highlands High School (Kentucky), where he compiled a record of 101 wins, 9 losses and 7 ties over 11 seasons, before moving on to assistant coaching at Kentucky (1962-65) and Oklahoma (1966). In 1967, he was named head coach at Cincinnati (1967-68), but left after two seasons to become athletic director at North Carolina. After serving as AD at the University of North Carolina for six years (1969-75), he moved to Rice University, where he served as AD and head football coach for two years (1976-77). He then moved to the NFL, where he was head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals in 1978 and 1979, and was named AD at Georgia Tech in 1980.
Rice was born on February 20, 1927 in Bellevue, Kentucky, and attended Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where he was an All-American in football in 1948 and also played baseball. He is inducted into the Centre College Athletic Hall of Fame, and the Colonels' football MVP award is still called the Homer Rice Award.
Alexander Tharp Foundation
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is Georgia Tech's athletic fundraising arm, providing scholarships, operational and facilities support to the university's more than 400 student-athletes. Support the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which provides direct scholarships to Georgia Tech student-athletes, and help develop Yellow Jackets who will thrive academically and compete at the highest level of championships in collegiate sports. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
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