Before TCU was a national name, or NIL was a thing, this man led its fundraising
Decades before “NIL” was a thing, and payments for college student-athletes were strictly an under-the-table proposition, there were men and women who “collectively” raised money for athletic departments in the name not of facility upgrades, or to fund a coach’s buyout, but rather just to provide scholarships.
How novel.
As college sports has evolved, people who started those private fundraising missions have either moved on, aged on or passed away.
One of TCU’s original leaders in this mission was the first director of its Frog Club, Hal Roach, who died on Oct. 17 at the age of 86. His memorial service is scheduled for Saturday at Trinity Episcopal Church.
People like Roach created countless opportunities for college athletic departments to cover the expenses of scholarships when the money wasn’t always there.
No one could have loved his alma mater more than Roach, who started fundraising for TCU athletics in 1979 when it was called “Advance,” when the ideas of TCU winning a Rose Bowl, reaching the national title game, much less being in something called “The Big 12” conference were fiction. The staff was basically himself.
“For him to do what he did for as long as he did speaks volumes, because for a long time he was selling when there was nothing to sell,” John Denton, a former TCU kicker, radio color man and associate director of athletics, said. “The man knew everybody’s name. It didn’t matter how big, or ‘small,’ you were, Hal knew your name.”
Building TCU Frog Club
For much of Roach’s time with TCU, either as a student or employee, the football team’s success was mostly non-existent. These were not the years but decades that would try the souls of a fan that would make them ask, “What am I doing with my life?”
Regardless of results, Roach remained a loyal and devoted fan of TCU.
It was not until the late ‘90s when the team started to win. He was named the director of the Frog Club in 1992.
“Hal loved Colorado, but TCU was as much his home as was Colorado,” said former TCU Frog Club director Mark Mourer, who was hired by Roach to be his assistant in 1999 and succeeded him when he retired in 2003.
“Remember, when I was there he had to deflect a lot of the anger from donors and boosters who were upset about the changes that had to be made. He could disarm donors.”
Handling booster disputes
This sort of altercation was common at colleges when athletic departments started tying donations to seat locations of season ticket packages. That meant a person’s seats 10 rows up on the 50-yard line that they had for 30 years now came with a donation, or else.
“They could call him and complain and complain, and he knew how to deal with every one of them,” Mourer said. “One guy might call on a Monday and yell at him, and hang up on him. Hal would give it a day or two and call the person back and say, ‘Don’t punish the kids because you’re mad at the play calling.’ He was so sincere and genuine about it.”
The only thing that Roach loved more than TCU was his family; he and his wife, Becky, had two children and several grandchildren. Hal also loved talking about the weather. Hal talked about the weather long before it was “age appropriate.”
Born in 1939 in Beaumont, he graduated from TCU in 1961. He met his wife in high school in Evergreen, Colorado. They were married for 65 years.
He moved to Fort Worth in 1971, when he took a job in the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office.
Win or lose, blowout or shutout, rain, wind or snow, Roach was there to support his school. He was renowned for his ability to run a party, as the man seemingly always had “drink tickets” for anyone who needed one.
“We had a golf outing for donors one morning at the Mobile Bowl, and a lot of us had been out late the night before,” Mourer said. “Again, it’s in the morning. He sees me and says, ‘You look like you could use a beer, and a cheeseburger.’ We got everyone set up for the tournament, and then that’s what we did.
“Hal was the face of athletic giving for years, and it was an honor to ride his coattails.”
This story was originally published October 30, 2025 at 12:17 PM.
