Coach Tom C. Driscoll +

Tom Driscoll joined St. Thomas as head football coach in 1944 after completing service in WWII managing a military shipyard. For thirteen years he coached St. Thomas football teams that won 74 of 125 games against the best teams in south Texas. St. Thomas’ offense was ahead of its time and inspired blocking assignments and faking developments in the offenses of Rice, SMU and other college teams. Although coaching was his passion, Tom was one of the great athletes of his time: all-state in high school, all Southwest Conference in football at Rice in 1932 and a world class sprinter.

After graduating from San Jacinto High School, Tom, along with his twin brother Vic, entered Rice Institute where he earned varsity letters in football, basketball and track in 1930, ’31 and ’32. In 1932 he was Capitan of the football and track teams and was consensus all-conference in both sports. He graduated in 1933 and stayed on to coach freshman football at Rice.

There were many great seasons at St. Thomas during Coach Driscoll’s years: state championships in 1951, 1954 and 1955, defeating the Houston public school champion (and state runner up) in 1951, but the most exciting year was 1949. In 1949, the team traveled to Rochester, NY, and played the championship Aquinas team. The game was broadcast back via radio to Houston--unheard of at the time. Later that year 1,000 people attended the sports banquet to hear Frank Leahy, the Notre Dame head coach, praise St. Thomas football.

Coach Driscoll never mentioned his own accomplishments but was known to brag on his players. To remember him is to remember his players. In the mid-1940’s the ‘T’ formation was the new thing and Tom was one of its developers. The ‘T’ called for intricate timing and faking and endless drills and practice. This offense allowed quarterbacks and as a result of the fakes, running backs, to do spectacular things against bigger and stronger opponents.