Tom LeGros (1999) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

Tom LeGros

Induction:
1999

Tom LeGros will be the first to admit he might not have been the most talented athlete. But those that watched him play and those that played with him, will tell you that he was one of the most versatile players the school as ever seen.
   Tom came to Southern Miss as a 17-year old freshman quarterback in the fall of 1948 and although his impact on the football wouldn’t be felt immediately, it was obvious to the coaching staff, that he had the potential to make big contributions. He had thought about accepting a baseball scholarship to Alabama, but instead came
   He spent his freshman year of 1948 watching and learning the college game from Vernon (Zipper) Wells and Hall of Famer Maxie Lambright. He threw only four passes that first year, but those close to the program knew they had something special in LeGros.
   Although his playing time was limited as a rookie during the 1948 season, Tom started to come into his own in 1949, when he shared the starting quarterback duties with Bobby Holmes. He completed 31 of 65 passes that season for 680 yards and five touchdowns and leading the team to a 7-3 record and directing an offense that averaged 29.9 points and 379.2 yards a game. More times than not that year LeGros was on the throwing end of a pass caught by end Cliff Coggin, who set a national record that year with 53 catches for 1,087 yards.
   His junior football season of 1950 was limited due to injury, and the team struggled that season to a 5-5 finish. The loss of LeGros’ versatility for a majority of that season, limited what the potent Southern Miss offense could do. That offense only averaged 240 yards and 13.4 points a game with LeGros sidelined.
   He came back strong in 1951 to lead the team to the Gulf States Conference Championship and throwing for 698 yards and eight touchdowns. That team is still the third highest scoring team in school history with 306 points. Four times that season the team scored 40 or more points, including a modern day school record 76 in a shutout win over Northwestern State. His favorite target that season was his roommate Bob McKellar
Who caught 23 passes and Elmo Lang who caught six touchdown passes.
LeGros would finish his career passing for 1522 yards and 15 touchdowns.
He spent three seasons as a pitcher for the Golden Eagle baseball and finished his freshman year with a 4-5 record, followed, was 3-3 as a sophomore and 3-5 as a junior, giving him a 10-13 career record. Although that record may not dazzle you, keep in mind it was LeGros that Coach Heifer Stuart turned to in all the big games. He was good enough as a pitcher to sign following the 1951 season with the Chicago Cubs and spent three seasons in their minor league organization before a auto accident broke his pitching arm and ended his career.
   Basketball was one of his loves and the versatile LeGros played his freshman season for Coach Jess Thompson and was one of the key players on the team that year.