Rest in peace, coach
It’s still surreal to say this, but Texas A&M has lost one of the most beloved assistant coaches in the history of its football program. Terry Price, who had served as defensive line coach at A&M since December 2011, has passed away at the age of 55. The details of his passing are not yet known, but they also don’t particularly matter. What matters is that we lost a great coach and a great man.
Price, originally from Atlanta, GA, was as Aggie as you can get, playing defensive end for the Aggies from 1986-89 under Jackie Sherrill and R.C. Slocum, and graduating in 1992. Price started his coaching career as a volunteer at A&M that same year.
Price would go on to coach at Ole Miss and Auburn under Tommy Tuberville and Houston Nutt. He was courted to come back to A&M by Mike Sherman but chose, instead, to stay in the SEC (at that time). In December of 2011, Price accepted an offer to coach for Tommy Tuberville at Texas Tech…But then new Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin called and asked if he wanted to come back to College Station…and so Price came home.
He was one of the very few members of Kevin Sumlin’s staff who was retained when Jimbo Fisher came on board in December 2017, and his results speak for themselves. In his more than a decade at the helm, the defensive line became the unquestioned strength of the A&M team, both in recruiting, in on-field performance and in the NFL Draft, putting nine players into the league, including No. 1 overall pick Myles Garrett in 2017.
But talking about him as a coach is only part of his story. Terry Price was a genuinely wonderful person. And despite not knowing him personally, we could all tell what kind of a man he was from a distance.
Terry Price was authentic. He was real. And you could see that in everything he did. Nothing he did was for show. It was all for the love of his school, his job, and his family.
The d line cookout tweets weren’t a recruiting tool. They were genuine and heartfelt moments where Coach Price and his family opened their home to fellowship and comfort for young men from across the country. In every video you hear him say “Make sure you get some of this” or “yall don’t hold back” or something to that effect because Coach Price was just that kind of guy. It was authentic love that he shared with his players. He loved his players in the same way he loved his family. Wholeheartedly, fully, and without any hesitation.
It was a joy to see his son, Devin, who was the spitting image of his daddy, play ball at A&M. How wonderful must it have been for Coach Price to see his son don his beloved maroon and white and for them to share those moments at Kyle Field.
Coach Price left an indelible mark on the Texas A&M football program and the players that he coached. He left us far too soon and will be deeply missed.
Price is survived by his wife, Kenya, and two sons, Alexander and Devin, both of whom received degrees from Texas A&M in May. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers in what has to be an unimaginably painful time. We genuinely thank them for sharing their husband/father with us and hope they know that the Aggie Family is deeply indebted to them for everything they’ve done and given.