royal took over as head coach at the university of texas (ut) on december 18, 1956. the team went from a 1–9 record, their worst record ever, in 1956 to a 6–4–1 mark and a berth in the sugar bowl in 1957. within two years, royal had the longhorns in the cotton bowl as the number-four team in the country. in royal's 20 years as head coach, texas never had a losing season. royal posted a 167–47–5 career record at texas. his overall coaching record was 184–60–5. some of his most memorable games were against the university of arkansas razorbacks, and fellow college football hall of fame head coach frank broyles.