The University of Southern Mississippi first fielded a football team in 1912. And over the last 113 years, this football team has undergone many changes and successes. Through six mascots, four conferences, eight conference championships, 25 bowl games, but many do not know about the two national championships USM won. But for Richard Johnston, the first national championship is still a fresh memory.
Johnston got his start in football playing for Biloxi Middle School in 6th grade. He held mostly second-string positions even into early high school. By 10th grade, as Johnston says, “I was fortunate that the coach split my center and linebacker duties to play me as a first-string.” Johnston then earned full first-string availability in his junior and senior seasons of high school. Playing both sides of the ball, he played in the Mississippi North/South All-Star Game in his senior year, which he proudly proclaimed, “the South did win!”
Following his senior year of high school, Johnston was bombarded by offers from five Southeastern Conference (SEC) teams: Tulane, Alabama, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and Vanderbilt. Johnston made trips to check out Alabama, Ole Miss, and Tulane, but says, “Since I was born in New Orleans, I kind of had it made in the back of my mind to go to Tulane.” However, Johnston says this wasn’t right for him. He couldn’t fit in right at Tulane, so he got in contact with A.J Smith who was in charge of recruiting football players at Mississippi Southern College about attending and playing. Johnston was then offered a scholarship and had to redshirt his freshman season due to the late start.
Richard Johnston started his Mississippi Southern football career in 1954. That year the Southerners finished with a record of 6-4, including a win over 14th-ranked Alabama. In 1955, as a redshirt freshman, Johnston was still not able to see field time due to NCAA rules stating that freshmen cannot play varsity sports. “We [the freshmen] ended up playing the first-string in practice for their tackle practice,” Johnston quips. In 1956, his sophomore year, Johnston was promoted to second-string. “Coach [Thad] Vann believed in us playing, so each game was split in half for me and the first string center.”
The 1956 season saw the Southerners finish with seven wins, one loss, and one tie. Then, the Southerners were invited to play in the Tangerine Bowl against West Texas State. MSC would drop that game 13-20.
1957 saw Johnston gain his starting position full-time as a junior. The Southerners finished the season with a regular season record of 8-2. This season concluded with yet another trip to the Tangerine Bowl, to face East Texas State, who MSC would lose to 9-10. After that season, Richard Johnston was drafted 7th in the 15th Round of the 1958 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams, but declined to play his senior season.
The United Press International, a large news agency, announced they would release their own “Small College” Top 25 and name a “Small College National Champion.” In the preseason polls, Mississippi Southern sat atop the poll. The Southerners beat teams like Trinity, Memphis, North Carolina State, Virginia Tech, and Chattanooga to go undefeated and be named the UPI’s first Small College National Champions. Richard Johnston has his memories to keep that season alive.
Facing #7 Chattanooga at the end of the year, the Southerners were in for a game against a tough match, but Mississippi Southern was just a bit tougher. With a touchdown separating the score, the Southerners fumbled the ball near the goal line in the late fourth quarter. Johnston says, “We never remembered who fumbled the ball. It could’ve been me or the quarterback. But we’ve kidded about it since.” Chattanooga recovered the fumble but the defense, of which Johnston also played as linebacker, held the Mocs near the line for all four downs, and MSC was able to secure the game.
After the Chattanooga game, Mississippi Southerners received their third straight Tangerine Bowl invite, and it was left up to the players to choose if they accepted the invite. Many players wanted to go play in a bowl, but Johnston felt the undefeated Southerners deserved better. “We were in the running for the Gator Bowl that year, and Ole Miss was up for the Sugar Bowl,” Johnston says. “But Ole Miss lost one of their last games to Tennessee and that dropped them to the Gator Bowl, and us to the Tangerine Bowl.” The first team vote ended in a tie to go and stay out of the Tangerine Bowl. So Johnston campaigned with his team to vote against it and hope for better, and the vote did swing his way. “But that ended up being a mistake,” Johnston says. Mississippi Southern did not receive a second bowl invite, and finished the season with a 9-0 record. Johnston was selected to play in the North vs. South Senior Bowl, coached by NFL legend Paul Brown. Brown and Johnston’s South team won the game 21-12.
After graduating from Mississippi Southern, Johnston went undrafted and was given an offer by Pete Rozelle, then General Manager of the Los Angeles Rams, which would be the standard lineman contract of $6,250 a year ($69,75.45 in 2025.) “I turned it down,” Johnston recalls, “because I was married and already starting my family and couldn’t take care of a wife and two kids on that in 1959.”
Since his freshman season in 1954, Johnston says he has been a loyal fan of the school and football team. In 1978, he was inducted into USM’s M-Club Hall of Fame. He has also served on the board of directors for the M-Club for roughly 20 years and also served as President of the M-Club three times. Johnston was also inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame in 2010. “I still make as many home games as I can,” Johnston says, “and we also make at least one away game each year.” He says he feels the football program is heading in the right direction, with lots of faith in Coach Huff. “I feel Huff is the guy to take us all the way, but we just need to stand behind him and support him.”
