Theron J. Fouts

{{Short description|American football player, coach, and administrator (1893–1954)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Theron J. Fouts

| image = Theron J. Fouts.png

| alt =

| caption = Fouts pictured in The Yucca 1922, North Texas State Normal yearbook

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1893|7|5}}

| birth_place = Gonzales, Texas, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1954|4|28|1893|7|5}}

| death_place = Denton, Texas, U.S.

| alma_mater =

| player_years1 = 1914–1917

| player_team1 = Baylor

| coach_sport1 = Football

| coach_years2 = 1920–1924

| coach_team2 = North Texas State Normal/Teachers

| coach_sport3 = Basketball

| coach_years4 = 1920–1921

| coach_team4 = North Texas State Normal

| coach_sport5 = Baseball

| coach_years6 = 1920

| coach_team6 = North Texas State Normal

| admin_years1 = 1948–1954

| admin_team1 = North Texas State

| overall_record = 23–14–2 (football)
5–3 (basketball)
4–2 (baseball)

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships =

| awards =

| coaching_records =

}}

Theron Judson Fouts Sr. (July 5, 1893WWI Draft Registration Card, National Archives – April 28, 1954) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as head football coach at North Texas State Normal College—renamed as North Texas State Teachers' College in 1923, and now known as the University of North Texas—from 1920 to 1924. Fouts amassed a 23–14–2 record. He also started the school's track and field program and initiated the drive to build the 20,000-seat Eagle Stadium on campus. The venue was named Fouts Field in his honor.

Born in Gonzales, Texas, Fouts was a football player at Baylor University, where he lettered for four years (1914–1917). He died of a heart attack on April 28, 1954, in Denton, Texas.{{cite news |title=Theron J. Fouts |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1954/04/29/83330796.pdf |newspaper=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press |date=April 29, 1954 |accessdate=February 19, 2011}} Fouts was married to Leslie Vann Sams Fouts and had two daughters and a son: Mary Lee Fouts (born October 20, 1920, in Crockett, TX), Dorthy Nell Fouts Crockett (born November 7, 1924, in Denton), and Theron Judson Fouts Jr. (born March 3, 1926, in Denton).