Former BYU athletic director Glen Tuckett dies at 93

Glen Tuckett, coach of the BYU baseball team from 1959 to 1976 and athletic director from 1976 to 1994, died Monday at the age of 93.

Tuckett was raised in Murray, Utah, and played for the Salt Lake Bees before beginning his coaching career and coming to BYU.

“Glen Tuckett is a legend,” BYU football alumnus and radio host Ben Criddle said on Twitter. “He did so much for BYU athletics during the ‘glory days.'”

Tuckett was responsible for the initial hire of legendary BYU football coach LaVell Edwards and his eventual promotion to head coach of the Cougars. Tuckett led BYU to 16 football bowl appearances and a national championship in 17 years as athletic director.

He retired in 1994 but was hired soon after to be the athletic director of the University of Alabama from 1995 to 1996 in the wake of an NCAA investigation of violations in the program.

He was inducted into the BYU Hall of Fame in 1982 and in 2007 was given the BYU Distinguished Service award.

Tuckett’s teams won 13 division baseball titles and three conference championships. Under his direction, the Cougars posted two NCAA District 7 crowns and went to the College World Series in Omaha twice, in 1968 and 1971.

In 1979, Tuckett was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. At the time of his retirement, he was the ninth-winningest baseball coach in the NCAA.

Tuckett was chosen as head coach of the 1974 Team USA squad that won the World Amateur Baseball Tournament for only the second time in the tourney’s 27-year history.

Former BYU sports information director Ralph Zobell said in a tweet that Tuckett died from a stroke, and his funeral will be on Nov. 6.