Renowned Texas sports journalist and founder of the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine, Dave Campbell, died last week. According to NBC 5, Campbell, 96, passed away in his Waco home on Friday, December 10.
Campbell founded the football preview magazine in 1960, and it is now known as “the bible of Texas football.” He was also the sports editor of the Waco Tribune-Herald.
After 25 years, he sold the magazine and became known for Baylor coverage in his role with Tribune-Herald, NBC 5 reported. Baylor’s McLane Stadium named their press box after Campbell.
In 1993 he retired from the paper but still attended athletic events up until his death.
According to NBC 5, Campbell’s magazine was initially a guide to high school teams and the Southwest Conference. It eventually gained a reputation as the primary place for coverage in Texas.
Even after selling the magazine, Campbell continued to serve as its editor-in-chief through 2021. According to NBC, football fans and players looked forward to the bi-annual publication’s release each year.
Todd Dodge, a coach at Austin Westlake, told NBC the magazine is still a big deal today.
“I grew up with the magazine and it’s the law when it comes to Texas high school football. I was in the magazine in the summer of 1980, and we couldn’t wait to get that magazine and even today it’s still a big deal for the kids now,” Dodge said.
Campbell was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. KXAN Austin stated that he was once president of the Football Writers Association of America and will be remembered for his passion for the sport.
A tribute was posted to Campbell’s Texas Football website to honor him.
“In 1959, Campbell hatched the idea at his kitchen table for a magazine devoted to football in the Lone Star State — intended to make up for what he perceived to be a shortage of coverage of the Southwest Conference, along with coverage of the state’s schoolboy teams,” the tribute states.
Grant Teaff, a former football coach for Baylor, told The Eagle that Campbell changed the way the media in Texas viewed football.
“Dave revolutionized the media aspect of football in the state,” Teaff said. “He’s had a profound impact on the growth and improvement of high school football because he brought it to everybody’s attention. People still can’t wait to see Texas Football because they want to see where they rank.”
According to The Eagle, being on the cover of Campbell’s Texas Football was always seen as an accomplishment, and still is.
Former coach for Texas A&M, R.C. Slocum, said he once found himself on the cover.
“One time Dave put me on the cover and that was a significant thing. I felt like I had really arrived. When I got to meet Dave it was a real honor, and I felt he was one of the nicest and classiest men that I’d ever met,” Slocum explained.
Campbell’s wife, Reba Campbell, died in 2020 at 70 years old.
