Jimmy Taylor (2000) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

Jimmy Taylor

Induction:
2000

If you look back to the weeks and months before the start of the 1957 football season at Southern Miss, Coach Thad “Pie” Vann and his coaching staff were excited about the prospects for the upcoming year. They were coming off a 8-3 season and had a strong nucleus coming back. Plus a bunch of young players that had shown loads of potential the previous year and in the spring.
One of those young players was 5-foot, nine inch, 195-pound guard Jimmy Taylor from Biloxi. Why was the coaching staff excited about Taylor. Because despite being a bit smaller than those he had to go up against and a bit lighter as well, there was something about his approach to the game, that gave Vann and his staff an idea Taylor might just turn out to be something special.
And Coach Vann who always seemed to have a knack for watching a kid play and see something in them that no one else could see, was right again. Because Jimmy Taylor was someone just a little bit different. Someone who could take whatever handicaps he might have and turn them into plusses.
Jimmy Taylor was described by his teammates and coaches back then as, among other things, as being “ a rugged little guy with plenty of heart and desire”, “having plenty of ability, determination and desire”, “having good speed” and “a little ball of fire”. One of his nicknames was “Steady Jim.”
It was those attributes that made Taylor one of the school’s greatest linemen.
He arrived at Southern from Biloxi, one of the first players from there in years to play for the school. And although he knew he was going to have to put on a lot of weight and add lots of muscle to make the team and make a contribution, that “determination and desire” would help him reach that goal.
Although weight and conditioning programs weren’t the norm back in the 1950s I can picture Jimmy staying after practice and running, perfecting his blocking and tackling skills and doing whatever he could to attract the attention of Pie Vann and his staff.
Taylor sat out the 1954 season as a red-shirt and saw limited action during the 1955 season. But as the 1956 season began Taylor has nearing his goal. He had worked his way up to become a regular on the second unit and by now had won the respect and admiration of his teammates with his never quit attitude and his selfless play.
By 1957 Taylor was not only a regular at guard for Southern, but one of the teams finest players. The 1957 team finished the year with an 8-3 record and a berth in the Tangerine Bowl and with Taylor solidly entrenched in the starting lineup the defense shutout seven of its 10 opponents and allowed only 62 points during the regular season. Offensively Taylor among with fellow inductee John Perkins opened holes that made the Southern offense one of the best at running the football.
In 1958 Taylor was one of the permanent co-captains of the Southern Miss team that went 9-0 and won the UPI College Division National Championship. The three teams that Taylor lettered on at Southern went 24-5-1 .