H.C. "Bill" McLellan (2001) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

H.C. "Bill" McLellan

Induction:
2001

H.C. (Bill) McLellan, who became just the third full-time athletic director in the history of the school in the summer of 1986. When Roland Dale elected to step down as athletic director in the spring of 1985, Southern Miss officials knew they must have a man with a wealth of experience, a man of vision and a man familiar with taking an athletic program and helping guide it to the next level.
McLellan had served as assistant athletic director and athletic director of Clemson University for nearly 30-years when he arrived at Southern Miss and had help take a small athletic program and deliver them to the national stage.
Golden Eagle fans grew to appreciate, as athletic people all over the country already did, the contributions of H.C. (Bill) McLellan to the University of Southern Mississippi. We all have banged heads with him on occasion and disagreed with him from time to time. But in the end there was never a doubt that when he made a decision, he never made it with any other consideration other than what he thought was best for this athletic department and the University.
When you look back over his tenure at Southern Miss, one is struck by the many accomplishments of Bill McLellan. Think for a moment of what has happened in his 13-years at Southern Miss. The major facility improvements and additions like the Track and Soccer Complex, the Pat Ferlise Center, the new state of the art scoreboard at Roberts Stadium, the new Student Services for athletics facility, Pete Taylor Park and the M-Club annex. Finalizing the plans for construction of the new Fairchild Complex. Major personnel changes that he has brought about. The addition of at least four women’s sports.
Head coaches in sports that never had them before. Coordinating an athletic budget at Southern Miss that grew from 2.7 million in 1986 to almost 10 million when he left and overseeing a program that won championships, played in bowl games and post-season competitions, and competed successful on as high a level as any school in the country.
He was a major force in the formation of Conference USA. Undoubtedly the biggest step in the history of the University. And as Conference USA Commissioner Mike Slive says, "“the accomplishments and achievements of Conference USA in the short time it has been in existence would not have occurred without the input and great leadership provided by Bill McLellan.”
This evening we honor a man who dedicated 13-years of his life to Southern Miss. A man who spent nearly every waking moment striving to make sure that the Golden Eagles competed on the highest levels as any school in the country and that when they arrived there had the where with all to stay there. Although he doesn’t probably get the credit that he deserves for his vision, he had a dream for Southern Miss and worked as hard as anyone, to make that dream come true. Unlike most of us, we knew where he wanted his athletic program to go, how he wanted to get it there and how to maintain it.
He made a commitment to Southern Miss and never stopped honoring that commitment for 13-years