1958 and 1962 National Championship Teams to be Inducted into Legends Club
8/31/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 31, 2011
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - As part of its M-Club Hall of Fame game celebration against Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 17, the Southern Miss Department of Athletics will induct the 1958 and 1962 College Division National Championship football teams into the Legends Club.
The Legends Club recognizes former university athletic standouts that made prominent contributions in their individual sports, while participating as student-athletes. The idea of the Legends Club was inspired by former Golden Eagle great, Sammy Winder.
The players' athletic feats are enough to deserve the highest honor in the world of sports - having their respective jerseys retired. But with the Legends Club, Southern Miss' standouts do not have their jerseys retired. Instead, the players are honored by being recognized with membership in this prestigious club. The members of those two teams will be displayed prominently in the Athletic Center. Six of the current 15 members in the Legends Clubs include former football players, Reggie Collier, Fred Cook, Hanford Dixon, Brett Favre, Ray Guy, Derrick Nix and Winder.
Under coach Thad "Pie" Vann, the then known Southerners assembled teams that were dedicated enough and worked hard enough to earn the ultimate prize -- a national championship -- and those two teams will forever be remembered as two of the greatest in school history.
Some of the great names in the history of the school were members of the 1958 squad. Players such as Hugh McInnis, Bob Yencho, George Sekul, Willie Coats and J.C. Arban were just a few of the standouts in whom Vann relied. The team was captained by Richard Johnston and the co-captain was Jimmy Taylor.
When the first ever United Press International poll was released during the 1958 season, the Southerners were named No. 1 in the rankings and never relinquished that spot for the entire year. The closest that anyone came to defeating them was an Oct. 4, game against Memphis State in which the Southerners won 24-22 over the Tigers. McInnis kicked a 22-yard field goal with 43 seconds left to secure the victory and went on to complete the year 9-0. The 1958 team is the only squad from Southern Miss, post World War II, to finish undefeated in a campaign.
That team wrapped up the UPI College Division National Championship with a 20-13 road victory at Chattanooga and it became official the following week when the final poll was announced.
The 1962 Southerners would be the final year of competition as a college division team. That squad finished with a 9-1 record with the only blemish on the schedule, an 8-6 loss at Memphis State. The 1962 team, led by Harold Hays and Johnny Sklopan, allowed only 63 points in the 10 games played that season, while scoring 258 points.
The team also included standouts Ben Willoughby, Jimmy Havard, Marvin Breazeale, Dr. Ben McLeod and Sam Bella.
Both teams will be honored at halftime of the game against the Lions.