Kenneth Gene Stephens (April 2, 1931 – August 28, 2023) was an American football coach. He served as head coach the University of Central Arkansas from 1972 to 1981 Lamar University from 1982 to 1985, and Arkansas Tech University from 1986 to 1992, compiling a career

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

coaching record of 106–106–8. Stephens was a graduate of Central Arkansas, where he played as a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

and still holds the record for interceptions in a game with five. Stephens also competed in track and field, where he was the NAIA runner-up in the 120-yard hurdles in 1951 and 1952. He began his coaching career at the high school level, winning three state championships at North Little Rock, Arkansas, before moving on the Arkansas State University and the University of Arkansas as an assistant. He was appointed head coach at his alma mater in 1972. In 10 seasons, Stephens built a 67–35–6 record at Central Arkansas, third-best in school history only to his two successors, winning four Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference titles and taking the Bears to four NAIA playoffs, the first in school history. In 1982, Stephens went on to coach at Lamar University in

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...

, but resigned in 1985 after four consecutive losing seasons. He then became head coach at Arkansas Tech, spending seven seasons there before retiring in 1992. Stephens returned to coaching in 2001, taking over as head coach at

Ranger College Ranger College is a public community college in Ranger, Texas. The college's website asserts that it "is one of the oldest public two-year colleges in continuous operation in the state of Texas." In conjunction with its main campus in Ranger, the ...

in Ranger, Texas, for four seasons. On February 28, 2014, Stephens was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame. Stephens died in Conway on August 28, 2023, at the age of 92.

Head coaching record

College football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Ken 1931 births 2023 deaths American football defensive backs Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches Arkansas State Red Wolves football coaches Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys football coaches Central Arkansas Bears football coaches Lamar Cardinals football coaches Ranger Rangers football coaches College golf coaches in the United States College men's track and field athletes in the United States High school football coaches in Arkansas High school football coaches in Oklahoma People from Conway, Arkansas Players of American football from Arkansas