.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Legend Tom Swayze Passes Away At 93
2/1/2003 | Baseball
Feb. 1, 2003
OXFORD, Miss. - Thomas King Swayze, 93, a legend in Ole Miss sports history who became the South's first football recruiting coordinator and guided championship baseball teams at the University of Mississippi, passed away here Friday at Hermitage Gardens.
A grave side service is set for 2:00 p.m., Monday, February 3, at the Oxford Memorial Cemetery, with a memorial service to follow at 3:00 at Oxford-University United Methodist Church. Visitation will be from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., Monday afternoon in Wesley Hall at the church. Rev. Warren Black, Rev. R. Glenn Miller, and Rev. Harry Middlebrook will be officiating, with Waller Funeral Home in charge.
The family has requested memorials may be sent to the Ole Miss Loyalty Foundation or Oxford-University United Methodist Church.
"Coach Tom Swayze devoted his life to young people and to the University of Mississippi," said Ole Miss Chancellor Robert C. Khayat, who was a two-time All-Southeastern Conference catcher for Swayze. "As an outstanding student-athlete and then later as recruiting coordinator for football and head baseball coach, he was a major contributor to the extraordinary success of Ole Miss football and baseball.
"From 1947 to his retirement from coaching in 1971, the University enjoyed great success in athletics. Continuing his commitment to the University, he led the Loyalty Foundation in its infancy to a position of strength and a critical funding source for athletics.
"His values and competitive spirit inspired thousands of student-athletes and was the basis for the naming of the baseball field in his honor. The University community is profoundly grateful for his many years of leadership and service, and we mourn his passing."
A native of Yazoo City, Miss., Swayze was born on March 15, 1909. He attended school at Raymondville, Texas, High School and Edinburg (Texas) Junior College before enrolling at Ole Miss in 1929.
Swayze earned three letters in football (1930-31-32) at Ole Miss, playing end on Ed Walker's first three teams, while earning considerable all-star mention, including being a member of the South team in the 1932 North-South All-Star football game in Miami, Fla.
He also earned four letters (1930-31-32-33) in baseball as a southpaw pitcher and compiled an outstanding winning record. While a student at Ole Miss, Swayze was a member of the M-Club and Blue Key.
After earning his B.A. degree from Ole Miss in 1933, Swayze played professional baseball for the Memphis Chicks (1933-34-35) in the old Southern Association and with Columbus and Cleveland in the Cotton States League before heading for the more lucrative semi-pro fields in Georgia, North Carolina, and Canada.
Following his career in professional and semi-pro baseball, Swayze was a successful football coach at Benoit, Miss., for five seasons, leaving in 1940 to enter the insurance business.
He later ran a tire recapping plant in Yazoo City before returning to coaching, this time at Moss Point, Miss., where he coached football and basketball and was high school principal.
Swayze became the South's first football recruiter when he returned to Ole Miss in 1947, and was a pioneer in the area as other schools followed his lead. As assistant football coach (Contact Man and then Field Representative) under John Vaught, serving as chief recruiter through the 1971 season, the Rebels won six Southeastern Conference championships (1947-54-55-60-62-63) and a share of three national championships (1959-60-62) recognized in the NCAA Record Book.
"Tom was a wonderful man and a great friend of mine," Vaught said. "He meant so much to our football program and the University. He was a shrewd recruiter and had the ability to see the potential in a player better than any other coach I've known. He will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him."
Swayze also served as head baseball coach at Ole Miss (1951-71) and later as Director of the Loyalty Foundation (1971-75). In 21 seasons as head baseball coach (1951-71), the Rebels were 361-201-2 overall and 195-120-1 in Southeastern Conference play. His 361 coaching wins were the most at Ole Miss until 1986 when Jake Gibbs moved ahead.
Swayze's squads captured four SEC baseball titles (1959-60-64-69) and three NCAA District III crowns (1956-64-69), which advanced the Rebels to the College World Series all three times. In three NCAA District III tournaments, Ole Miss was 10-1. Swayze was selected SEC "Coach of the Year" four times (1959-60-64-69) and also earned NCAA District III "Coach of the Year" honors.
He helped develop four All-Americans at Ole Miss -- third baseman Jake Gibbs, second baseman Bernie Schreiber, shortstop Donny Kessinger, and shortstop Jimmy Yawn. Eight of Swayze's Rebels made the All-District teams, including Archie Manning at shortstop in 1970, and he developed 38 All-SEC performers. Five of his players reached the major leagues -- pitcher Joe Gibbon, catcher Jake Gibbs, shortstop Donnie Kessinger, outfielder Jack Reed, and shortstop Steve Dillard.
The school's previous baseball diamond on All-America Drive was named in his honor on May 8, 1976, and the current stadium on Old Taylor Road also bares his name, "Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field," which was dedicated on April 22, 1989.
Following his retirement from coaching at Ole Miss in 1971, he was honored with "Tom Swayze Day." He then became Director of the Loyalty Foundation, a position he held until 1975. Swayze returned to Ole Miss athletics in the Spring of 1986 as a "Volunteer Baseball Coach" and served through the 1988 season. He also worked as a realtor in Oxford.
Swayze was selected to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1978, was chosen as a Charter Member of Ole Miss Sports Hall of Fame in 1986, and was named to the American Association of College Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1982.
He was proceeded in death by six sisters and two brothers, and is survived by his wife, Mary Clifton Swayze of Oxford, Miss.; three daughters, Kay Swayze Alford of Ridgeland, Miss., Martha Rhodes Collins of Jackson, Miss., and Beth Rhodes Harris of Charlotte, N.C.; five grandchildren, Swayze Alford of Oxford, Miss., Phyllis Daniels of Oxford, John Alford of Oxford, Molly Harris of Charlotte, N.C., and Sam Harris of Charlotte; and four great grandchildren, Lilli and Grace Alford and Grant and Clayton Daniels, all of Oxford.
He and the late Phyllis Finch of Cleveland, Miss., were married in 1936 and their daughter, Kay, is a 1961 Ole Miss graduate and the wife of former Ole Miss Athletic Director Warner Alford, who played football for the Rebels. He married the former Mary Rhodes of Kosciusko on June 29, 1974.
