HOUSTON – The Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas Committee has selected the 2012 class of Gridiron Legends presented by Wrangler Jeans and Cavender’s Boot City, the Bowl announced today. The group will be publically introduced on Saturday, Aug. 18 at halftime of the Houston Texans’ preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers.

The class of 2012 is headlined by a pair of College Football Hall of Fame coaches in legendary Texas coach Darrell Royal and long-time SMU, North Texas and Iowa head coach Hayden Fry. Between them, they combined to win 416 games in a combined 60 years on the sidelines. 1990 Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer rounds out the trio of college greats, while legendary Aldine High School head coach Bill Smith represents the Texas high school community.

The Gridiron Legends presented by Wrangler Jeans and Cavender’s Boot City are all individuals who made a significant contribution to the game of football in the state of Texas, either at the high school, collegiate or professional level.

“Each year, it seems like there is no way to top the previous class of Gridiron Legends, but this year’s group has raised the bar once again,” said Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas executive director Heather Houston.  “Coach Royal is without question one of the greatest icons in all of Texas football, and Coach Fry is one of the all-time greats in his own right. When you add a Heisman Trophy winner and one of the most successful high school coaches in Texas history, this year’s Gridiron Legends class is a truly special one.”

The most successful college football coach the state of Texas has ever seen, Royal guided the University of Texas to three national championships and 12 Southwest Conference titles. His Longhorns went to 16 bowl games and recorded 10 top-10 finishes. His 167 wins remain the most in Texas’ storied history. Under Royal, the Longhorns revolutionized college football by debuting the “Wishbone” offensive attack, which led to 30 consecutive victories and two national titles from 1968-70. Royal retired from coaching following the 1976, but remained in Austin as the athletic director until he retired in 1980. Prior to becoming a coach, Royal was an All-America quarterback at Oklahoma under the legendary Bud Wilkinson, making him one of the very few people to have competed in the heated Texas-Oklahoma rivalry on both sides. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983.

Fry spent 37 years as a head coach at Southern Methodist, North Texas State and Iowa, compiling a record of 232-178-10. His 232 wins were the tenth-most in college football history at the time of his retirement in 1998. Born in Odessa, Texas, Fry played collegiately at Baylor from 1947-50. His first college head coaching job came at Southern Methodist in 1962. Perhaps his most significant and lasting impact was his recruitment of Jerry LeVias in 1965, making LeVias the first African-American scholarship athlete in the Southwest Conference. The following year, Fry led the Mustangs to their first Southwest Conference title since 1948. Fry moved up I-35 to North Texas in 1973, where he took over a program on the brink of being abandoned and won a share of the Missouri Valley Conference championship in his first season. Fry is best known in coaching circles for his success at Iowa, where he coached from 1979-98 and led the Hawkeyes to three Big Ten titles. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003.

Detmer was born in San Marcos and graduated from San Antonio Southwest High School, where he was named an All-American and was the Texas High School Player of the Year in 1986. Detmer moved on to Brigham Young, where he became one of the greatest passers in college football history in famed head coach LaVell Edwards’ wide-open offense. In 1989, his first year as a full-time starter, Detmer led BYU to the WAC championship, throwing for 4,560 yards and 32 touchdowns in the regular season. He followed that up with one of the greatest years in college football history in 1990. That year, he threw for 5,188 yards and 41 touchdowns in 12 regular season games, including a 406-yard, three-touchdown performance to defeat the reigning national champion Miami Hurricanes. He finished the year with 42 NCAA records and tied for five others. For his performance, he was named a consensus All-American and won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Trophy and the Davey O’Brien Award.

With over 230 wins at the helm of Aldine High School, Bill Smith joins the Gridiron Legends as a renowned Houston-area high school coach.  Smith led the Mustangs for over 29 years, winning the state and national championships in 1990 and picking up numerous accolades along the way.  In 2004, Aldine renamed its stadium to honor Coach Smith for his service to the school and community.  Fans, please join me in honoring Coach Bill Smith.

The 2012 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas will feature teams from the Big 12 and Big Ten conferences and will kick off at 8:00 9.m. CST Friday, Dec. 28 and will be televised nationally on ESPN. The Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas holds the fifth choice among non-BCS bowls in each conference.