Tommy Hudspeth, who spent two years as head coach of the Detroit Lions, has died at the age of 83.
Hudspeth, who was also head coach at BYU, UTEP and for the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts, died of cancer in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
A 1953 graduate of the University of Tulsa, Hudspeth spent two years in the military and two seasons as a high school football coach before getting an assistant-coaching job at his alma mater in 1957. In the 1960s he spent time as an assistant for the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders before becoming head coach at BYU in 1964.
After eight seasons at BYU, Hudspeth gave way to one of his assistants who became his successor, the legendary Lavell Edwards. Hudspeth then coached UTEP for two years and spent one year with the Chicago Fire of the World Football League before becoming the head coach of the Lions in 1976 and 1977. He later worked as both head coach and general manager of the Toronto Argonauts. In recent years he has worked in fundraising at the University of Tulsa.