Eggert ends 38-year career as trainer
Assistant athletic director for medical services and head athletic trainer Allen Eggert (Will Rice ‘63) announced his retirement two weeks ago at Rice after being at Rice for 38 years.
At the recommendation of head football coach Todd Graham and through the approval of Athletic Director Bobby May (Will Rice ‘65), the athletic department hired Clint Haggard, former assistant football trainer at the University of Alabama, to replace Eggert. Haggard graduated from the University of Georgia in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in sport science and received a master’s degree in health sciences from Alabama in 2003.
“[Eggert] had a significant impact on all the athletes’ lives,” assistant athletic trainer Jimmy Roton said. “For some people he was a father figure, for others he was a brother or an uncle, but for most he was a friend. He was the biggest fan of Rice students and the biggest defender of Rice athletes.”
Only the second head athletic trainer in Rice history, Eggert transferred to Rice from Kilgore Junior College after then-trainer Eddie Wojecki offered him a scholarship for athletic training. After graduating, he took a job as athletic trainer at San Diego’s California Western University. But he returned to Rice in 1968 when Wojecki’s death left the head athletic trainer position open. In 1997, he accepted the position of assistant athletic director for sports medicine, narrowing his duties to the football team.
Eggert served under 9 athletic directors, as well as 11 football coaches — beginning with Jess Neely as an undergraduate and finishing with Ken Hatfield last season. Despite the ups and downs of Rice athletics during Eggert’s tenure, his work in athletic training brought him national recognition, and in 1989 he was inducted into the Southwest Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame.
“You had a respect for Allen because he took care of the players,” Athletics Executive Associate Barbara Tolar said. “He’s brought a lot to athletic training, and I think that you’ll find he’s well-respected for his abilities around the country, and not just in Texas.”
Eggert’s retirement comes amid a series of departures in the athletic department — Graham replaced Hatfield in January, and May announced his retirement a month ago. Eggert said he hopes the training office continues to provide similar care.
“We’ve been able to give our athletes health care that’s second to none,” he said. “I’ve often felt that the real measure of sports medicine is not what you can accomplish when an athlete is 19, 20, 21 years old — what counts is what happens to him when he’s my age, and I hope they just continue that tradition.”
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