Pat Ferlise (1977) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

Pat Ferlise

Induction:
1977

   Was a standout defensive guard for Coach Thad (Pie) Vann’s Southern Miss teams in 1951 and 1952.
   Ferlise was a standout player at Phillips High School in Birmingham, Alabama, where as captain in 1949 he was named first team all-state and played in the first ever Alabama High School all-star game.
   He originally signed a football scholarship with Auburn University, but transferred to Jones Junior College in Ellisville, Mississippi, then came to USM.
   The 1951 team that Pat played on finished with a 6-5 record, but the defense spearheaded by Ferlise recorded three shutouts and eight times that year held their opponents to 14 points or less.
   The team recorded victories that year over East Carolina, McMurray, Southwestern Louisiana, Southeastern Louisiana, Northwestern Louisiana and Louisiana Tech and captured the Gulf States Conference Championship.
   The 1952 team enjoyed one of the better seasons in Southern Miss football history. After dropping their first game of the season to Alabama 20-6, the team won its next 10 games to finish the regular season with a 10-1 mark. They earned a berth to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, where they lost to the College of the Pacific 26-7 to end the year 10-2.
   That 1952 team was an outstanding defensive squad as well, recording two shutouts and six times holding the opposition to 14 points or less.
   The 1952 team had wins over Memphis, Tampa, Southwestern Louisiana, Southeastern Louisiana, Tennessee-Chattanooga, Northwestern Louisiana, Florida State, Louisiana Tech, Louisville and Stetson.
   Although few defensive statistics were kept back then, Ferlise would have been one of the team’s leaders in tackles and tackles for a loss.
   Ferlise’s aggressive style and play and quickness made him one of the school’s great defensive linemen.
   Following his stellar career at Southern Miss, Ferlise has continued to make great contributions to the University of Southern Mississippi.
   In 1994 he donated $100,000 to the USM Eagle Club to fully fund a football scholarship annually for a defensive lineman. The gift was the largest ever, fully funded contribution to the Eagle Club for an athletic scholarship and the first established by a Southern Miss letterman.
   In 1995 Ferlise and his family gave a gift of $250,000 to build a new athletic ticket complex, which now bears his name, The Pat Ferlise Center.
   The new facility houses the Eagle Club fund raising arm of the athletic department, along with the complete athletic ticket operation and a Golden Eagle athletic merchandise sales outlet