Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum exists to tell — and preserve — the stories of these Mississippi’s greatest athletes and coaches, who are some of the world’s greatest athletes and coaches. Question: What other state can boast the leading scorer and receiver in NFL history (Jerry Rice), the leading passer in NFL history (Brett Favre), the second leading rusher (Walter Payton) and the patriarch of the first family of football (Archie Manning)?

L.T. Smith

Born: September 10, 1918

Died: October 2, 2002

Hometown: Jackson, MS

Year of Induction: 1998

High School Career

Lanier High School (1932-1938)

College Career

Jackson State College (1938)

Tougaloo College (1939, 1946-1947)

Coaching Career

• Alexander High School, Brookhaven, MS (1942-1944)

• Bell Street High School, Grenada, MS (1944-1945)

• Head Coach, Lanier High School, Jackson, MS (1945-1968)

• SWAC football and basketball official for 30 years

• Father of the JSU homecoming parade

Hall of Fame Memberships

• Tougaloo College (1993)

• Mississippi Association of Coaches (1979)

• Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame (1998)

Did You Know?

Until 1951, Coach Smith’s football teams had to use shoe polish to write numbers on their jerseys. A picture of the jerseys is upstairs in the high school gallery.