Cliff Coggin (1968) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

Cliff Coggin

Induction:
1968

Cliff Coggin is recognized as one of the most talented receivers that has ever played at Southern Miss and although his career lasted only two seasons, he established himself as the team’s clutch receiver down the stretch during the 1948 and 1949 seasons.
          Coggin is remembered as being one of the first ends at Southern Miss that could really take charge of a game. Numerous times during his career when it appeared the team was in trouble, Coggin would spearhead a rally to more times than not bring the team back to win.
          He was known for racing down the sidelines to catch a pass from Golden Eagle quarterbacks like Vernon (Zipper) Wells, Bobby Holmes or Tom LeGros, but also for being big enough and strong enough to go over the middle to catch a pass with a defender bearing down on him.
          In 1948 Coggin was the key on a Southern Miss offense that posted a 7-3 record. It was an era in which the Golden Eagles did not throw the ball a great deal but when the team did throw the football Coggin was usually the No. 1 target. The team that season completed 43 of 133 passes and Coggin was on the receiving end of 19 of those (44.2-percent). Those 19 passes were good for 455 yards and six touchdowns. His 23.6 yards per catch average that season is one of the highest in school history as is the six touchdowns. His yardage that season was 49-percent of the passing yardage by the team that year.
          In 1948 Coggin teamed with end Henry (Hindu) Reynolds to give Southern one of the most potent pass catching duos in the South. Along with the 19 catches Coggin had Reynolds hauled in 11 for 300 yards, meaning the two combined for 30 catches for 755 yards and 10 touchdowns.
          Coggin would set Southern Miss receiving records in 1949 that still stand today. He would catch an incredible school record 53 passes that year in leading the team to another 7-3 record. Those 53 catches would be good for 1,087, another school record and the only player in school history to catch passes for over 1,000 yards in a season. He would also catch nine touchdown passes in 1949, a mark equalled only once in Southern Miss history.
          Those stats are even more impressive when you consider the team only completed 92 passes that year and Coggin owned 53 of them and the team passed for 1,704 yards and he had 1,087 of those.
          One of his best games occurred in 1949 when he caught six passes against Louisiana Tech for 173 yards, a mark that would last until 1996. He also set a school record with nine catches that season in a game against Tennessee-Chattanooga, a mark equalled but never beaten at Southern Miss.
          Coggin still ranks as Southern’s all-time leader in career pass receiving yardage (1,542), career touchdowns receiving (15) and career yards per catch average (21.4). Although he played only two seasons only 10 players still have ever caught more career passes than Coggin.
          Coggin was the 7th round draft pick of the Los Angeles Rams in the 1950 NFL draft and played in the 1949 Blue-Gray game and the 1950 Senior Bowl.