Richard Copeland Slocum (born November 7, 1944)[1] is a former American football player and coach who is currently a special assistant to the president at Texas A&M University.

[3] He has two sons; the older, Shawn Slocum, was an assistant coach at Texas A&M under his father and has been the special teams coordinator for the Arizona State Sun Devils since 2015.

Slocum spent the 1981 season as the defensive coordinator at the University of Southern California (USC) under John Robinson.

Bellard left A&M in 1978, moving on to Mississippi State and taking defensive coordinator Melvin Robertson with him.

He has the best winning percentage in SWC history, one spot ahead of the legendary coach Darrell Royal who is number 2.

Slocum inherited an Aggie football program that had just finished 7-5 and had been slapped with severe NCAA sanctions for violations under Sherrill.

'[6]After fourteen years as head coach, Slocum was forced to resign in 2002 following only the second non-winning season of his career, and his only losing record in conference play.

He immediately assumed a position as special adviser to Texas A&M president Robert Gates.

[7] On April 19, 2019, Slocum was named interim athletic director for Texas A&M after the sudden departure of Scott Woodward to LSU.

Following Ross Bjork's departure for the athletic director role at Ohio State in January 2024, Slocum again served as interim AD before the hiring of Trev Alberts.