Thad "Pie" Vann (1977) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

Thad "Pie" Vann

Induction:
1977

   Few individuals have had greater impact on the great tradition of Southern Miss football than did the legendary coach Thad (Pie) Vann. Through a 33-year career at the school Vann helped take the school from its small college status to become what is today one of the nation’s most successful and competitive programs.
   Vann is the winningest football coach in the history of the University of Southern Mississippi. During his 20-years as head coach he posted a record of 139 wins, only 59 defeats and two ties.
   His 1958 team is still regarded as one of the better teams in school history as they finished the season 9-0 and captured the UPI small college national championship.
   The 1962 team that he coached finished 9-1 and again captured the UPI small college championship.
   Vann began his 33-year stay at USM when he became an assistant coach under head coach Reed Green prior to the 1937 season. Although he left for a four-year hitch in the United States Army during World War II, Vann returned to Southern following the war to assist Green, until taking over as the head coach in 1949, when Green became the school first full-time athletic director.
   The Southern Miss teams coached by Vann in the 1950s were some of the school’s greatest teams. The 1952 team finished 10-2 and earned a berth against The College of the Pacific in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas and the 1953 team defeated Alabama’s Crimson Tide 25-19 and finished 9-2 and went to the Sun Bowl to play Texas-El Paso.
   Vann’s 1954 squad also defeated Alabama 7-2 to give the school back to back wins over the Crimson Tide.
   After the school attained major college status in football in the early 1960s, Vann’s Southern Miss teams established themselves as being among the best defensive units in the country. They led the nation in total defense on three separate occasions in 1963, 1965 and 1966.
   Vann’s contributions to the prestige and the progress of the Southern Miss football were recognized near the end of his brilliant career when the school’s new athletic dormitory was named Thad Vann Hall as a perpetual memorial to the great legend.
   Affable and easy going in other areas, Vann was always a stern disciplinarian on the field. His teams were also known for their skill in the fundamentals of football— blocking and tackling — and their willingness to hit.
   Vann was a graduate of the University of Mississippi where he was the captain of the football team his senior year. He earned four football letters there as a tackle, and a like number as a catcher on the Rebel baseball team
   In World War II, Vann spent more than three years in Europe. He entered the service as a second lieutenant in the field artillery and retired from the U.S. Army Reserve as a full colonel with 30 years of service. Among his eight decorations and awards is the Bronze Star medal awarded during the invasion of Europe.
   Vann is also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.