North Texas Athletics Hall of Fame
Richard Lowe served as the head men's soccer coach at North Texas for 14 seasons, from 1980 to 1993, and guided the Mean Green to a winning record each year. Lowe actually got his start with the soccer team as the faculty sponsor for the team when it was a club sport from 1971 to 1975 and was one of several people who urged the university to elevate the sport to varsity status, which was done in 1976.
In 1980, athletic director Andy Everest named Lowe the team's head coach and, in his first game at the helm, Lowe led the Mean Green to a season-opening victory at Fouts Field over national power Indiana. The next year Lowe led North Texas to its first NCAA Tournament berth in any sport and won an opening-round game over Eastern Illinois. Among the teams that North Texas defeated during Lowe's tenure as head coach were UCLA, Saint Louis, Southern Illinois, Indiana and Connecticut, all former NCAA champions and frequently ranked at the top of the men's college rankings. In fact, North Texas was frequently ranked in the national polls and achieved a its best ranking at No. 7.