Thamas Coleman (2000) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

Thamas Coleman

Induction:
2000

Few people in the coaching profession, especially as an assistant coach, remain in the same place as long as Thamas Coleman has, but in his 20-years as a Golden Eagle, he became one of the architects of our football program’s greatness.
   His coaching career probably started sooner than he would have liked when as a 180-pound tight end/defensive end at Auburn a shoulder injury limited, and then finally ended his contributions to the War Eagle football team. But not the Auburn football program, because as a senior he was asked to coach the defensive ends on their freshman football team. He also played basketball for two seasons on the Plains.
   He spent the next 17-years coaching high school football at three Atlanta area schools before taking the job as defensive end coach at Ole Miss in 1973.
   Coleman came to Southern Miss in 1978 to coach the Golden Eagle linebackers for Coach Bobby Collins and the effect was immediate. The Golden Eagle defense jumped from 108th in 1977 to 23rd in the country with Coach Coleman aboard.
   Coleman took over as defensive coordinator of the Golden Eagles in 1982 and remained in that position through the 1986 season.
The 1981 Golden Eagle defense he was a part of ranked 5th in the country in total defense allowing only 239.0 yards per game and led the nation in scoring defense allowing only 8.1 points per game.
His 1983 defense ranked 6th in the country in total defense allowing just 273.8 yards per game, was 5th in scoring defense allowing just 11.6 points per game and 6th in passing defense allowing only 134.6 yards per game.
His 1985 Golden Eagle defense ranked 10th in the country in total defense allowing just 288.1 yards per game and was 20th in the nation in scoring defense allowing just 14.5 points per game.
The school’s top three career tacklers, Clump Taylor, Onesimus Henry and Sidney Coleman all learned the game from Coach Coleman.
The trademark of a Thamas Coleman’s defense was a hard-nosed, attacking, gang tackling, and never quit unit that caused confusion and terror in the other team.
Following the 1986 season Coach Coleman became the administrative assistant on the Golden Eagle coaching staff, working for head coaches Jim Carmody, Curley Hallman and Jeff Bower.
Coleman’s philosophy as been simple. When asked if players have changed over the years he says, “Maybe in other sports they have, but not so much in football. It may be the one true sport where discipline is still the rule. I think the majority of players today still think that there are certain things that have to be done to be a good football player. And this is a team game where everybody has to do the job if you’re going to be successful.”