Arno Vincent (1968) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

Arno Vincent

Induction:
1968

The Southern Miss Sports Hall of Fame is loaded with outstanding athletes who have made great contributions to their school both on and off the field. Maybe somewhat surprising a large number of those athletes were football linemen. Although that might be surprising to many people, it shouldn’t be to those that follow the school’s football program.
   Linemen are the unsung heroes of a football team and unlike the more popular skill position players, don’t receive the attention and the media hype. What the linemen do is play the game for all the right reasons and no one did it any better than Arno Vincent.
   As an offensive and defensive guard on Coach Reed Green’s first two teams in 1936 and 1937, Vincent was the typical Southern Miss player. There weren’t a lot of frills and fancy things, but that was all right with Vincent, who was just interested in playing football, competing and most importantly winning.
   Vincent did all of that during his two-year career and did it with great skill and enthusiasm.
   He wasted little time cracking the starting lineup at offensive and defensive guard and Green relied on his remarkable blocking and tackling skills to help get the team off to a good start. They won their first three games by a combined score of 65-0 and would go on to have a 7-3 year. The offense with Vincent as one of its key players, got better and better as the year went along and in back to back games at midseason defeated Alabama State Teachers 58-0 and Troy state 53-0.
   Vincent’s presence could also be felt on the defensive line as well. His speed and quickness allowed him to be a frequent visitor in the opposing backfield and he developed a reputation as one of the most bruising tacklers on the squad. That 1937 defense shutout seven opponents that season and allowed only 24 points all year.
   The 1938 team might have been even better and the squad began its second season under Green. Now that he had gained a year of experience, Vincent had become one of the leaders of the team and he provided great leadership for the team, both on and off the field.
   Vincent’s leadership and sparkling play from his offensive guard slot helped the Southern Miss offense become very explosive that season, while defensively his play at guard that season helped the team to six more shutouts on the way to a 7-2 mark.
   In the 19 games that Vincent played at Southern Miss the defense recorded 13 shutouts, while the team had a 14-7 overall record.
   Ask the players that played with Vincent and they will tell you how valuable he was to the team. A leader on the field, who was willing to go that extra mile to help the team win a game and a player who enjoyed every minute that he was on the field.
   There are a number of linemen in the Southern Miss Hall of Fame and it is because of great players like Arno Vincent that there contributions are noticed.
He was also a standout basketball player during the 1937-38 and 1938-39 seasons.