Billy Mikel (1984) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

Billy Mikel

Induction:
1984

   Billy Mikel became one of the best pass receivers to ever play for the Golden Eagles while playing from 1968 to 1970. His size, strength and speed, along with his great hands made him the all-time leading pass receiver in school history.
   Known for his great concentration Mikel not only had the ability and the size to go over the middle and catch the ball with a defender baring down, but also the speed and quickness to beat a defensive back down the sidelines.
   Mikel had been an outstanding player at Choctawhatchie High School in Fort Walton Beach, Florida before joining Southern Miss.
   Mikel joined the Golden Eagles in 1967 and after playing a season with the freshman team quickly and quietly moved into the starting lineup. He was an alternate starter that year but certainly made his presence known finishing the year as the third leading receiver by catching 21 passes for 241 yards. Mikel along with split end Danny Haley and halfback Tony Yelverton were the favorite targets of quarterback Tommy Boutwell on a Southern Miss team that would finish the year with just a 4-6 record.
   The 1969 season established Mikel as one of the best wide receivers in the nation. He caught 47 passes that season, the second best in school history at the time, for 774 yards and a then school record nine touchdowns. The Golden Eagles, who for the most part had always been a team that liked to control the ball on the ground, now started to go to the passing game. In fact that year the Golden Eagles ran 397 times and passed 310. The team would finish the year with a 5-5 record, but rallied to win four of their last five games under first year coach P.W. Underwood. The Golden Eagles ranked 29th in the country in passing that year averaging 195.9 yards a game.
   The Golden Eagles continued to air it out in 1970, but spread things out and threw to more receivers. Mikel was the team’s leading receiver for a second straight year, this time with 26 catches for 299 yards and a touchdown. Five players that year would catch 20 or more passes. The team would finish 5-6 that year, but recorded perhaps the biggest win in school history, a 30-14 win over No. 4 Ole Miss. The Golden Eagles were the 37th best passing team in the country that year averaging 173.5 yards a game.
   Mikel’s 94 career pass receptions have never been topped since his final season in 1970; the closest has been fellow USM Hall of Famer Louis Lipps with 91. Mikel’s 94 career catches were good for 1,314 yards (5th best at USM) and four players have only topped his 10 touchdowns. Only two players in Southern Miss history have ever averaged more catches per game then Mikel’s 3.24.
   Few players in the history of Southern Miss football have caught the ball as consistently as Billy Mikel.
   He also played a season of baseball for the Golden Eagles in 1970.