By T. Scott Boatright
The definition of the word “mize” is to overlook/ignore something or someone intentionally.
That was an impossibility for the late Louisiana Tech and field coach Jimmie Mize. There is no way to overlook true greatness.
Mize, who was not only track and field coach by a longtime assistant football coach, and his wife Minnie were LA Tech athletics royalty
And royalty should always be acknowledged in proper fashion.
Louisiana Tech did just that Saturday morning during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new signage leading into the Jim Mize Track and Field.
Simply put, Mize was the architect that designed the program into the Tech track and field force that exists today.
Mize, who came to Tech as a student/athlete in 1934, ended up retiring from the coaching profession in 1977 after a 31 year career.
He was the first assistant coach ever for coach L.J. “Hoss” Garrett at Ruston High in 1938 and 1939 and in 1940 became the head football coach at Arcadia and proceeded to direct his club to the 1940 class B state championship.
After then serving in the U.S. Air Ford then entered the Air Force, flying more than 300 combat missions, Mize moved on to earn a Master’s degree from LSU in 1946 before becoming head coach of track and cross country and assistant coach in charge of the offensive line in football for the Bulldogs.
Mize gave up his football coaching career in 1970 but remained as the track coach through 1977.
During Mize’s coaching career, Louisiana Tech won three conference championships at Tech, first in 1961 in the Gulf States Conference and later in 1973 and 1974 in the Southland Conference..
Mize several Bulldog all-Americans and one of his finest performers. Bruce Lenior (1952-56), has preceded him into the Tech Hall of Fame. Upon retirement Mize had 39 years within the state department of education,
He was honored as District 6 “Coach of the Year” in 1973 and won numerous coaching honors on the conference level.
The entrance to the Tech track and field now bears Mize’s name, and there is a sign nearby with verbiage written by former Tech Sports Information Director Keith Prince and Tech graduate and Louisiana Hall of Fame Sports Writer Teddy Allen.
John Allen, a 1973 business graduate and shot putter that helped the LA Tech track and field team earn a Southland Conference track and field championship the year he graduated, served as keynote speaker during the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Mize coached his teams to three conference championships, first in 1961 in the Gulf States Conference and later in 1973 and 1974 in the Southland Conference.
