Former Arkansas team captain Richard Bell, who later served as head football coach at South Carolina, has died.
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The 88-year-old passed away this past Saturday, his family announced in his obituary.
Bell died in an assisted living facility in Woodstock, Georgia. His obituary reads that he passed “after a lifetime spent pouring himself into others as a husband, father, grandfather, coach, and friend.”
“Good, better, best. Never rest, until your good is better and your better is best.” Coach Richard Bell, you were the best! Thank you for a life of service, integrity, leadership, and thank you for influencing me and thousands of people. pic.twitter.com/C60DBZdJI5
— Richard Ricketts (@PACSAthletics) December 13, 2025
Tim Horton, a former Arkansas player and assistant coach who worked with Bell at the Air Force Academy from 1999 to 2005, spoke of Bell’s profound impact.
“In my lifetime, I would say he would be in the top three in terms of the man that he was, just his character and his beliefs and the way he lived his life was just so, so impressive,” Horton said. “I would venture to say that every player who ever played for him would say the same thing.”
Richard Bell’s Prolific Coaching Career
Richard Bell played for Arkansas from 1956 to 1959 before starting his coaching career. He began as a graduate assistant with the Razorbacks and later served as an assistant coach at VMI, Georgia Tech, West Virginia, and Texas Tech.
Before becoming South Carolina’s defensive coordinator from 1975 to 1981, Bell served as the defensive coordinator for West Virginia and Texas Tech. He was promoted to head coach of the Gamecocks in 1982 but was fired after a 4-7 season.
He later served as an assistant coach at Duke, East Carolina, Georgia, Navy, and Air Force, spending a total of 44 years coaching college football.
Bell concluded his coaching career as the defensive coordinator for Prince Avenue Christian School in Bogart, Georgia, from 2010 to 2017.
“Faith was the foundation under it all. A devoted follower of Christ, he taught Sunday school, encouraged student ministries, worshiped at Prince Avenue Baptist Church, and loved to remind his players that Faith, Fitness, Football, and Family were the true pillars of a life well-lived,” Bell’s obituary detailed. “He met the love of his life, Marilyn Crawford, in Little Rock, and their marriage of more than sixty years was marked by deep devotion and a home where faith and laughter were always welcome.”