L.T. Herrmann (2002) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

L.T. Herrmann

Induction:
2002

The lineman might have the toughest job in all of football. Down in the trenches, beaten and bloody, with very little recognition. Very few people realize the sacrifices they make, so that the team can be successful. Over the years this organization has made a concerted effort to recognize the players whom for whatever reason might not have gotten the recognition they deserved over the years.
I don’t think that there is any doubt that our next inductee falls into that category. L.T. Herrmann has always been considered on the finest lineman in school history and was an important part of the success of Southern Miss football in the early 1950s. For whatever reason he has never received the recognition that he deserves, but tonight we will correct that as we invite him into the most exclusive club of all.
Herrmann was as tough as any player to ever play for the Golden Eagles and at 5-10, 202-pounds, sports information director Jimmie McDowell said of him in the 1953 media guide, “He’s as solid as a fire hydrant and just about as easy to move.”
As a regular at guard for Southern Miss in 1952 and 1953, he might have been the most valuable player on the team. Opening holes for backs like Hall of Famers Bucky McElroy and Hugh Lauren Pepper, he was a part of the 1952 offense that still holds the school record for total yards in a season, averaging 415.9 yards per game. No team has ever rushed for more yards than that team compiling 3,651 yards.
The 1953 team was nearly just as potent averaging 375.6 yards per game and rushing for 2,854 yards. Ask anyone that played on that team and he will tell you, the play and leadership of L.T. Herrmann was the key to that team’s success.
Those teams won 19 of 23 games and played in back to back Sun Bowls with L.T. Herrmann leading the way.
L.T. Herrmann was on the brink of stardom as the 1954 season was about to unfold. He was getting attention all over the South and the nation for that matter for his line play and if he could have the kind of year everyone seemed confident that he would have the sky was the limit for Herrmann and Southern Miss.
Southern opened the 1954 season with and second straight win over Alabama by a score of 7-2, but Herrmann unfortunately suffered a knee injury in that game and would have a hard time returning to top form. The effects of playing without Herrmann or with Herrmann at less than top form was obvious as the team went 6-4 that season and the offense was no where near as potent as in years past.
One can only speculate what kind of year it might have been with a healthy L.T. Herrmann because the four losses that year was by just a total of 28 points.
.