A Celebration of Life service for Bill Little – the face and the voice of the Texas Longhorns for more than 50 years – was held October 1, 2023 at the Lady Bird Johnson Auditorium in the LBJ Library on The University of Texas campus.
For those wishing to honor and remember Bill, the family encourages contributions to three of Bill’s favorite organizations, including Friends of the Daily Texan, https://friendsofthedailytexan.com/donations/, which ensures long-term funding of scholarships for staff members of The Daily Texan, or by mail: Friends of The Daily Texan, P.O. Box 8383, Austin, Texas 78713
Little worked with five football coaches, five basketball coaches and four athletic directors, and was long the authority on UT Athletics history. During his time at UT he served as mentor and father figure to countless student-athletes. Bill, who began his career at The Daily Texan at UT, is a member of The Daily Texan Hall of Fame, sponsored by Friends of the Daily Texan, Inc.
Bill Little and wife Kim Scofield
Read more about Bill’s amazing contributions to UT student athletics and the University of Texas at Austin below:
Bill Little, 81, the legendary University of Texas Athletics Administrator, passed away peacefully surrounded by family on Friday, August 18 at his home in Austin. Born on May 14, 1942, in Winters, Texas, Little was the face — and often the voice — of Longhorn athletics for more than 50 years. Long before sports reporting turned digital, Little, as sports editor of The Daily Texan, was hammering out copy on a manual Royal typewriter. He continued to masterfully and skillfully share stories of Longhorn Athletics through the many transformations of broadcast radio and television, varying forms of delivering news, and from the 24-hour news cycle to the non-stop news cycle that took over the industry.
Little grew up in the small West Texas town of Winters, the hometown that, while encompassing under three square miles and a population of just more than 2,500, nurtured the man with an enormous heart and passion for people. Growing up a Longhorn fan cheering on everything UT, he was thrilled to follow in the footsteps of both his parents when he began his college career at Texas in 1960.
After his 1964 graduation, Little spent two years writing for The Austin American-Statesman, then moved to Oklahoma City to write for The Associated Press. After two-years with The AP, he returned home to Austin and to The University of Texas for good.
“I saw there was this really good job in public relations at The University of Texas,” Little said during his time at UT. “I called Coach Royal, and I said, ‘Coach, I want to come back.’ And he said, ‘I’d like to have you back.’ And that was the extent of it. I started that spring.”
It seems incredible that Darrell Royal hired the then-26-year-old Little as Texas’ assistant SID based only on a two-sentence interview. Yet Royal knew Little’s work, knew his character, and knew he’d be loyal and always professional. Royal’s assessment was on the money.
Inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor in 1993, Little served UT in many capacities: first as assistant SID under the legendary Jones Ramsey, then as Sports Information Director, as Special Assistant to the Athletics Director, as Assistant AD for External Communications, then head of communications for Mack Brown. The job titles changed, but the office address, infectious smile, and endless Texas hospitality stayed the same.
Bill Little
And whether it was on the radio, in his eloquently crafted commentaries, a roundtable discussion with media and broadcast teams, or a spontaneous conversation with a fan, Little’s knack for storytelling always stood out. He was passionate about the people who played the games, and saw the mediums and media he worked with as the window to the world to share their stories and welcome everyone in.
Little often said, “I always found that, if you can write something that can make a difference to somebody, it can change a life. I was a bad golfer and a worse tennis player. And I wasn’t big enough to play football, and I was too short to play basketball, so my only gifts were to write and talk. And if I was going to do what God put me on this planet to do, then I needed to do those things.”
Little did them at a world-class level. In his half century at Texas, he worked with five football coaches, five basketball coaches, and four athletic directors. Decades of Longhorn football, basketball and baseball fans will forever recall that familiar voice they long heard over the public address system in stadiums, on radio broadcasts, emceeing banquets, or introducing coaches at donor and fan events.
Little’s legacy to The University is remarkable. He served as mentor and father figure to countless student-athletes through the years. CoSIDA’s Academic All-America Committee acknowledged Little’s influence on UT’s athletes by awarding him the Lester Jordan Award in 1996, “for exemplary service…and the promotion of the ideals of being a student-athlete.” He was inducted into the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor in 1993 and the Big Country Hall of Fame, which honors legends of West Texas, in 2006.
Little was long the authority on UT Athletics history, and his award-winning columns and commentaries have left the Longhorn Athletic Department a written history — a vast archive — of its athletics programs and those who made it great. He authored or co-authored nine books on UT and college athletics.
One of the most decorated SIDs and writers in the profession, the Football Writers Association of America honored him with their Lifetime Achievement award in 2015, and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association awarded him the Wilbur Snypp Award “for outstanding contributions to college baseball” in 1991.
Bill Little and Family
Little brought great honor to The University, to the profession he loves, and to himself and his family. His influence was so great that the football and baseball press boxes at Texas are both named the “Bill Little Media Center,” a gift from longtime friend and UT athletics supporter Marian Dozier in 2014.
Upon retirement in 2014 Little said, “Texas Athletics has pretty much been my life for close to 60 years. But now, I think I’ve earned the right to set my bucket down.” Little continued as an advisor to the Athletics Department for many more years, celebrated 50 years of broadcasting Longhorn baseball games in 2017 and remained a significant presence in Texas Athletics until the year he passed.
Little is survived by his beloved wife of 45 years, Kim Scofield, three children and 10 grandchildren; Bobby Little and his wife Lindsay and their children, Justin, Ty, Cole, and Sunny of Bedford, Texas; David Little and his wife Amy and their children, Sam, Ashley, Sarah, and Jacob of Dripping Springs, Texas; and Elle Fawns and her husband, Brian Fawns and their children, Luke and Courtney, of Wheat Ridge, Colo. He was preceded in death by his father, W.E. “Eddie”, mother Ida Ruth, and brother Harvey Edward.
A Celebration of Life service will take place on Sunday, October 1 at 2:30 p.m. at the Lady Bird Johnson Auditorium in the LBJ Library (2313 Red River St, Austin, Texas 78712) on The University of Texas campus.
In lieu of flowers, the family encourages contributions to three of Bill’s favorite organizations:
Friends of the Daily Texan, https://friendsofthedailytexan.com/donations/, which ensures long-term funding of scholarships for staff members of The Daily Texan; The Bill Little Legacy Scholarship at Texas Exes Cheer and Pom Alumni Network Operating Endowment, (https://www.texascheerandpomalumni.org/; and Hospice Austin, https://www.hospiceaustin.org/get-involved/donate/.
Reprinted from the Austin American-Statesman.