Former Razorback Head Baseball Coach Norm DeBriyn has been named the recipient of the 2025 Legends Award presented by the Brandon Burlsworth Foundation.
DeBriyn, the 16th recipient of the award, will be honored at a fundraising event on Thursday, Oct. 23, at the Fayetteville Public Library. He is considered the father of Razorback baseball and served as a coach and mentor to current head Hog Dave Van Horn.
DeBriyn led the Razorbacks to four NCAA College World Series appearances, 15 NCAA tournament berths and more than 1,150 career wins in 33 seasons as head coach, taking an afterthought of a program and building it into a national power. He was named conference coach of the year seven times and inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2003.
DeBriyn is the winningest coach in school history. With a career mark of 1,161-650-6, DeBriyn retired as the 14th-winningest coach all-time among NCAA Division I head coaches.
He launched his coaching career with a five-year stint as head baseball coach and assistant football coach at Hortonville High School in his native Wisconsin. He then moved to the University of Northern Colorado, where he served as a freshman baseball coach while earning a master’s degree in physical education. He came to Arkansas in the fall of 1969 and has been in Fayetteville ever since.
Even after his retirement as the Razorbacks’ baseball head coach, DeBriyn continues his work for the Razorbacks, serving as the director of development for the Razorback Foundation.
The Burlsworth Legends Award is presented annually to a leader who has made a significant positive impact on the state and embodies Brandon Burlsworth’s legacy of excellence. Past honorees include Gov. Asa Hutchinson, John E. Brown III, Judy McReynolds, Kevin Scanlon and Sen. John Boozman.
For more details on the upcoming event or to get involved as a sponsor, please contact Reilly Hopper, director of development for the Brandon Burlsworth Foundation, at reilly@burlsworth.org
The Brandon Burlsworth Foundation was founded in 1999 in honor of the former Razorback all-American, who was tragically killed in a car accident 11 days after being drafted by the Indianapolis Colts. The foundation honors Brandon’s legacy by helping underprivileged children in need through various programs, including the Eyes of a Champion program, Burls Kids, Burlsworth Football Camps and more. Burlsworth’s biography, “Through the Eyes of a Champion, the Brandon Burlsworth Story,” written by Jeff Kinley, was released in 2001. The motion picture, “Greater,” based on the Burlsworth story, was released nationally in 2016. Visit brandonburlsworth.org for more information.
The Burlsworth Foundation also presents the Burlsworth Trophy each December, awarded to the nation’s top Division 1 college football player who began his college career as a walk-on. Notable former winners include Grant Morgan of Arkansas, Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma, Stetson Bennett of Georgia and Hunter Renfrow of Clemson.
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