Sports
Remembering Former Football Coach Jim Carmody

Story from USM Athletics:
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The University of Southern Mississippi remembers the legacy of former Southern Miss football coach Jim Carmody, who passed away Thursday at the age of 89.
Carmody holds a high place in the rich and proud football tradition at Southern Miss, whose legacy contains some of the finest and most dominating defensive football teams to ever play the game. Over a 10-year period from 1978 to 1987, Carmody was the architect of one of the greatest eras of defensive football in Golden Eagle history. He had as a profound effect on Southern Miss football as anyone in the long history of the storied football program.
The architect of what became known as “The Nasty Bunch” defense as both an assistant coach and then head coach, it was a defense that played with the proverbial chip on their shoulder, that played tougher, hit harder, played smarter and was more dedicated and determined than any of their opponents. That helped him earn the nickname “Big Nasty” from his players.
Carmody joined the Southern Miss football coaching staff as an assistant coach and defensive coordinator in 1978 and remained in that position until 1980, when he left to coach the defense line for the Buffalo Bills for the 1981 season.
The 1978 team finished with a 7-4 record and held seven of their opponents to 16 points or less. The 1979 squad had a 6-4-1 record and held seven of its opponents to 10 points or less, including a 22-0 shutout of Memphis. The 1980 “Nasty Bunch” helped the team to a 9-3 record and held eight of its 12 opponents to 14 points or less. That team also advanced to the Independence Bowl, the school’s first bowl appearance as a Division I member.
Carmody returned to become the school’s head coach in 1982, replacing Bobby Collins, and remained until 1987. During his time as defensive coordinator of the “Nasty Bunch” defense, he established the Golden Eagle defense as one that opponents feared and spent countless hours trying to figure out how to move the ball. But Carmody’s football teams always seemed to be always just a step ahead of the opposition.
His defensive units were always ranked among the nation’s leaders in the NCAA statistics. His defensive units finished in the Top 10 nationally in total defense in four of his nine seasons with the program, including a No. 6 in 1983. He also directed a defense that ranked in the Top 10 twice in rushing defense, three times in opponent’s passing yards and four times in scoring defense.
As head coach, the Golden Eagles posted a 37-29 record over his six seasons, including five winning seasons.
Among his greatest achievements as head coach was defeating No. 17 Alabama and Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant 38-29 in 1982, snapping the Crimson Tide’s 56-game home winning streak in the legendary coach’s final home game.
The Louisiana native played collegiately at Copiah-Lincoln Community College, before finishing his career at Tulane for the 1954-55 seasons.
Carmody’s coaching assignments included being an Armed Forces coach in Korea (1957-58), assistant coach at Holy Cross High School in New Orleans (1959-60), freshman coach at both Tulane (1961-62) and then Kentucky (1963-64), before joining the staff as an assistant coach at Mississippi State (1964-66).
Following that stop, Carmody worked on the staffs as an assistant coach at North Carolina (1967-73) and Ole Miss (1974-77), before coming to Southern Miss. Following his stint with the Bills, and his return to Southern Miss as its head coach, he worked as the defensive coordinator at Mississippi State from 1989-90, before joining Mississippi College as assistant head coach in 1991. He returned to Ole Miss as assistant head coach from 1992-95, before finishing his coach and scouting career for the Arizona Cardinals from 1994-2005.
Carmody holds a spot in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, as well as the Southern Miss M-Club and Copiah-Lincoln Community College Halls of Fame.
A memorial service for Carmody will be held Jan. 12, at 3 p.m., at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in Jackson. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations made to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame or the Jim Carmody Scholarship Fund at Southern Miss.
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