Former men's soccer coach Richard Lowe

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Lowe heads UNT’s ’06 Class

08:59 AM CDT on Tuesday, July 11, 2006

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Denton Record-Chronicle

Richard Lowe came to an understanding with the North Texas athletic department before he agreed to take over as the Mean Green’s men’s soccer coach in 1980.

Lowe had a job in the history department and didn’t want to venture too far from his career path, so he agreed to coach for one season. More than a decade later, Lowe was still UNT’s soccer coach and the Mean Green were a national power.

UNT was ranked as high as No. 7 in the national poll and became the first team in school history in any sport to advance to the NCAA Tournament during Lowe’s tenure that lasted from 1980-93.

UNT honored Lowe for those accomplishments on Monday when the athletic department included him in its 2006 Hall of Fame Class that features six former Mean Green greats.

Vidal Carlin, Troy Redwine and Dick “Rosebud” Lindsay all represented the football program while Victor Rodriguez (track and field) and Bill Eschenbrenner (golf) also joined Lowe in UNT’s latest induction class that will be honored on Oct. 7 during homecoming.

That ceremony will offer a reminder of one of the greatest teams in UNT history, one that Lowe helped build from a club program in the early 1970s.

“We felt like we had a chance to be a good soccer program back when it was just a club team,” Lowe said. “We played against college teams and the Dallas-Fort Worth area was one of the hottest spots in the country for soccer talent.”

Lowe started out as a faculty sponsor of the club team from 1971-75 and helped convince the UNT athletic department to elevate the team to varsity status in 1976. When Simon Sanchez resigned as head coach in 1980, athletic director Andy Everest asked Lowe to take over.

Lowe faced what looked like an insurmountable task in his first game as head coach, when the Mean Green took on national power Indiana.

“They were ranked first or second in the country, depending on what poll you were going by,” Lowe said. “Horacio Duhart beat their goalkeeper on a breakaway to give us the win. I thought about retiring right there.”

Indiana went on to win the national title that season, while Lowe had found a job for the next 14 years.

UNT was ranked among the top 20 teams in the nation for much of Lowe’s tenure and never had a losing season. In 1981, Lowe’s team qualified for the NCAA Tournament and won its first-round game over Eastern Illinois.

John Hedlund served as an assistant under Lowe before starting the UNT women’s soccer program from scratch in 1995.

“I learned a lot from Richard that I have used in the women’s program,” said Hedlund, who has led UNT to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons. “He taught me all phases of how to run a program from recruiting to the budget to how to build a relationship with players.”

Lowe’s tenure as UNT’s men’s soccer coach came to an end when the program was disbanded. Lowe said the decision was based in part on concerns about Title IX gender equity legislation that requires schools to offer equal opportunities to male and female athletes.

The scores and records from that era have been lost over the years, but live on with Lowe and his former players.

“It’s nice to have this happen,” Lowe said. “It brings back some of the memories from that era.”

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com .